Actor Kim Hye-yoon, who plays Su-in in the film ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min. Photo ㈜Showbox
If you only discovered actor Kim Hye-yoon recently, you may have seen a lot of lovableness, cuteness, and innocence in her. That is largely because of the image she showed in her breakout ‘Seonjae Eopgo Twieo’ and in the recently concluded SBS series ‘Oneulbuteo Inganimnida-man’.
Yet Kim Hye-yoon has long been multifaceted. From Ye-seo, who shouted and raged in ‘SKY Castle’, to Eun Dan-oh of ‘Eojjeoda Balgyeonhan Haru’ with her forthright personality, to Kim Jo-i of ‘The Royal Inspector and Joy’, who stood firm even as a divorcee in the Joseon era, and Gye Bun-ok of ‘Seolganghwa’, who made every situation difficult with jealousy and vanity, she has shown many sides. This time, she reemerges as the lead of a chilling horror film.
“I have always liked horror films. Watching ‘Simya Gwaedamhoe’, I remembered an episode I once found scary, and I was thrilled to end up filming at the very location that appeared in that scene. A horror screenplay came to me for the first time, which is why it stands out in my memory even more. It feels like a genre you enjoy through sustained tension until the ending, and then through the relief and sense of release once you know the ending.”
Actor Kim Hye-yoon, who plays Su-in in the film ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min. Photo ㈜Showbox
She takes on her first horror film since debut with ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min, which opens on the 8th. Set against the reservoir ‘Salmokji’ in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, known for strange rumors, she appears as Su-in, a member of the crew that records the road-view feature of a map application. Drawn to Salmokji by circumstances they cannot avoid, Su-in and her companions become trapped by unforeseen events and, as night falls, suffer harm from unidentified beings.
“Su-in seems both like a victim and a perpetrator, with multiple layers of meaning. I felt I needed to show a controlled gaze, and it was hard since it was a kind of acting I had never tried, but Director Lee Sang-min watched the monitor and guided me, setting the direction. The parts where Su-in looks and is startled were similar to the parts where I looked and was startled.”
Although Kim Hye-yoon says the set was scary, she did not seem particularly frightened by the ghosts swarming through various bonus contents and even the real interview venue. Rather, she found the meticulous setups of horror and the on-site methods, as well as the ghosts and their makeup, simply fascinating. She felt more of a chill from the overall atmosphere on set, and the scene of riding a boat on the reservoir was very frightening.
A scene featuring actor Kim Hye-yoon as Su-in in the film ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min. Photo ㈜Showbox
“There were even rumors like ‘someone followed us back’. I was worried too, but at home I did not actually feel anything like that. (Laughs) I wanted to have a scary experience, so while filming at the reservoir I kept staring into the mountain and so on, looking around for something frightening.”
Everyone knows the ‘rom-com queen (romantic comedy queen)’, and the process of becoming a ‘horror queen (horror film queen)’ was of course not easy. Rather than immersing herself solely in mechanical emotions of the role, Kim Hye-yoon focused on uplifting the mood on set. Many actors actually said she was ‘like a puppy’, and thanks to that, the atmosphere on a set filled with many peers her age became even better.
“Jong-won (Lee) made things very comfortable for me. I especially relied on him when riding the boat on the reservoir. In truth there were many scary scenes, but I think there was also a lot of laughter on set. Holding back laughter was the hardest part.”
A scene featuring actor Kim Hye-yoon as Su-in in the film ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min. Photo ㈜Showbox
Many of the works mentioned earlier Eun Dan-oh, who lives in a world like that of a pure-romance comic, Im Sol of ‘Seonjae Eopgo Twieo’ who time-travels, and ‘Oneulbuteo Inganimnida’, in which she plays a gumiho contain stories that might not exist in real life. She is also known for making her male co-stars shine: Rowoon, Ok Taek-yeon, and more recently Byun Woo-seok and Lomon have benefited from working with her. Even stories that seem impossible start to feel plausible when Kim Hye-yoon is in them.
“I did not think I had to choose only the fantasy genre, but with ‘Salmokji’ as well, I seem to enjoy imagining ‘what would I have done in real life’ while acting. As I keep approaching acting with that mindset… if you say it looks real, I am truly grateful.”
The release date of ‘Salmokji’ is April 8; exactly two years earlier, on April 8, 2024, her breakout ‘Seonjae Eopgo Twieo’ began airing. The drama ‘21segi Daegun Buin’ on MBC, starring Byun Woo-seok who worked with her, also begins on the 10th. Two years have passed, but many still remember the ‘Sol-Seon (Sol and Seonjae) couple’. Kim Hye-yoon intends to step forward with the good energy that comes to mind when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
Actor Kim Hye-yoon, who plays Su-in in the film ‘Salmokji’ by Director Lee Sang-min. Photo ㈜Showbox
“I think it would be great to bring in that good energy. I would love it if you think of me when you see cherry blossoms. For me, cherry blossoms bring to mind midterms, and I hope many people take their exams and then go watch our film with their friends. I also appear in ‘Good Partner 2’ and on the variety show ‘Eonnine Sanjijiksong’, and I always want to greet my fans, who are my driving force, with a new side of myself.”
