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Justin Harvey has done South Africa proud by making it to the top four in the Korean Netflix reality show Physical: 100.
In the series, which is streaming now, 100 people compete in physically demanding tasks to test their strength.
“It's a competition where the participants include Olympic gold medalists and UFC contenders – they’re some of the biggest and brightest, best and strongest athletes in Korea. For me to just participate, that was already an honour as an actor,” Bloem-born Justin (33) tells YOU.
Justin, who’s lived and worked in South Korea for nearly a decade, says he wanted to make it to the top 20 and after evaluating the performance of his competitors, he believed he could get even further.
“I thought, ‘I've got the tenacity to make it’. And so yeah, it was just a systematic process, week by week. And then, before I knew it, I was in the top four. And to me, that was already like winning.”
Justin, who’s starred in several Korean movies, says it took him a while to find his footing as an actor in an unfamiliar country.
“I was kind of nervous but luckily I built a good rapport with my co-stars and I think that kind of set my mind at ease.”
In 2022, after several years of working as a model and appearing in commercials, he landed a role in the sci-fi horror movie The Witch: Part 2, directed by Park Hoon-jung.
His first day on set, recalls Justin, “was daunting. I was a nervous wreck because I’d just come from doing small commercials and shoots to being in a movie with one of the biggest directors in Korea and in the sequel to one of the biggest movies in Korea.”
His other movie credits include the Korean movies Ashfall, The Childe and the upcoming TV series Tyrant.
After living in Bloemfontein, Justin and mom moved to the East Rand in Gauteng when he was six, after his parents’ divorce.
He loved playing rugby and cricket but he loved being in school plays even more.
“I wanted to be an actor since I was seven years old. Some of my earliest memories are sitting in front of a mirror doing my mascara, getting ready for the school plays.”
In high school he choreographed and directed plays, but after matric, he chose a “safe” option and studied law at at the University of Pretoria.
“I enjoyed university but studying law just was okay,” he says, laughing.
In his final year of varsity, he dated a Canadian woman who was very well travelled, and he decided he wanted to see the world too.
“When we eventually broke up, I was like, I'm not gonna go straight into a legal practice. I want to see the world and spread my wings.”
He decided to visit a country where he was unfamiliar with the culture and chose South Korea. After arriving, he attended a language school for a month to learn Korean and used language apps.
Justin got his foot in the local showbiz scene by appearing in adverts and on TV variety shows.
In 2021 he was awarded honorary citizenship award by Seoul’s Mayor Oh Se-hoon after he saved a person who was attempting to commit suicide.
He’s the first South African to receive the award since its inception in 1958.
Justin was walking along the Han River in Seoul with his dad and stepmother, who were visiting him, when they heard shouting and saw someone jumping into the river, he recalls.
Without hesitating, he dived into the water to rescue the jumper.
“I was just helping someone in need. Then, a few days later I found out that someone from the police or fire marshals nominated me for the award.”
After receiving the award, he wrote on Instagram that it was “with a heavy heart that I had to accept the award on account of saving someone attempting suicide, but I am happy to be a contributing member of society and thankful to this city that I call home”.
What’s next for the real-life, SA-born action hero? Hollywood, of course. “The ultimate goal for me is to go to Hollywood in the next four years or so, but I need to establish myself here first.”
