Pinay actress in 'All Of Us Are Dead' opens up on her beginnings in the K-drama industry

Noreen Joyce Guerra is living "the life" after working as a background actress in several Korean dramas, including hit zombie series "All of Us Are Dead."

So how did she land those gigs?

According to an episode of "Share Ko Lang," Noreen moved to South Korea in 2015 for her studies then later became a full-time manager in a financial company. She did not plan to act at all.

She knew some people from the entertainment industry back when she did volunteer work for the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines, however, and she was able to reconnect with them in Korea.

"We did Korean cultural caravans and K-pop group meetings," she said. "They introduced me to several part-time jobs related sa industry like events coordination, backstage directing, awards nights," she said.

"From there, a producer, a director came over to me and suggested na we do on-cam gigs. Tinry ko [I tried it] and it was fun. Doon nag-start 'yung pagiging  [That's how I started as a ] background actress ko," she added.

Noreen, 30, said she immediately felt from that experience that she will be doing this for a long time. The actress said it's like having a totally different identity since she almost always plays high school roles.

"Isa ako sa matatanda and they don't know 'yung age ko so they speak informally to me. Sa Korea kasi, bawal na bawal mag-speak informally sa mga taong medyo matanda sa 'yo," she said.

("I am one of the older ones and they don't know my age so they speak informally to me. In Korea, you cannot speak informally to your elders.")

"Na-enjoy ko yung experience kasi they treat me as like the same as them," she added. "It's very fun."

("I enjoyed the experience because they treat me as like the same as them.")

Noreen goes on tapings on her rest days. Though it gets tiring at times, the actress said it also serves as her "playground" and stress-reliever as it's actually more lax than being at her full-time job.

"In the set, medyo lie low siya and you get to relax kasi kung ano lang sasabihin, 'yon lang gagawin mo. Susunduin mo lang 'yung sinasabi nila. It's a very end to end gap between my personal and set life."

("In the set, it's a bit lie low and you get to relax because you just have to do what they say. You just need to follow their instructions.")

Noreen said she previously received an offer to act in a non-background role, but she turned it down because of her schedule. She said she would like to stay as a background actress rather than a lead since the latter has a stricter time on set.

Noreen has participated in almost 85 Korean shows including hits "Hospital Playlist," "Itaewon Class," "True Beauty," and "Extraordinary You."

—Franchesca Viernes/MGP, GMA News