[Interview①] 'Naegajukdeonnal' Kim Hye-su "Mother's Debt, I Blamed Myself Thinking This Happened Because I'm a Celebrity"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] Actress Kim Hye-soo recalled the time when she considered retiring due to family-related issues.

On the afternoon of the 5th, Kim Hye-soo shared various stories about the film during an interview held at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, ahead of the release of the movie My Death Day (Director Park Ji-wan).

That day, Kim Hye-soo recalled, “After finishing filming Default (2018), I piled up scripts to read all at once, but when I saw the title My Death Day, I zoomed in immediately. It felt strange.” She added, “Although Hyun-soo’s situation is different from mine, I felt like it was my own story,” reflecting on the special meaning.

Kim Hye-soo said, “Recently, I have worked a lot with rookie directors. Working with rookies brings freshness and energy, but there are also difficulties due to their lack of experience. Each project has its pros and cons, and before reading the My Death Day script, I was thinking that I might not work with rookies anymore.”

She continued, “Usually, before working with rookie directors, I watch all their previous works, including short films and plays. This time, I skipped that step. I didn’t even think about looking for their past works,” and reflected, “It felt like I was drawn to something.”

Kim Hye-soo said, “I thought there should be at least one film like this. It wasn’t about ‘Let’s do well,’ but the only goal was ‘Let’s do it properly, no matter what.’ We worked together with vague and strong trust.”

Kim Hye-soo gave special meaning to My Death Day as a work that came to her during a difficult time. She said, “Actors don’t necessarily have to talk about their personal experiences, and they often unconsciously exclude their own image from the role. But this time, I was free from that. In the process of approaching the character, it didn’t make sense for us to hide the dark sides, wounds, or pain when starting to create together. We naturally and deeply shared those stories.”

Last year, it was revealed belatedly that Kim Hye-soo’s mother’s debt amounted to 1.35 billion won. The victims knew that Kim Hye-soo was her daughter and gave large sums of money, which led to Kim cutting ties with her mother.

Kim Hye-soo confessed, “I really found out about it during the promotion of The Thieves in 2012.” She continued, “I was so shocked that I couldn’t focus on work. It was the first time I experienced something like that. I wasn’t in a state to work, and emotionally, I didn’t want to work. I felt strongly that all these problems happened because I was working. I felt like I became a celebrity for no reason and my family fell apart.”

She added, “Like the conversation between Hyun-soo and Min-jung in the movie, I lived thinking my life was fine. My sister asked me, ‘Did you really not know?’ I got goosebumps on my face while filming that scene,” and said, “I think the lines ‘I did nothing wrong’ from the movie Han Gong-ju and ‘Not knowing is also a sin’ from Se-jin in My Death Day coexisted.”

Kim Hye-soo said, “Since I couldn’t work, I strongly thought I should sort things out. In 2017, I happened to watch the movie Miryang on TV. The actors looked great. I thought, ‘People like that should be acting.’ I wondered why I was lacking 20%, and my mind was simply settled.”

She continued, “I thought quietly refusing projects would mean retirement. After a few months, I received the script for Default, and my blood ran cold. I decided to do that too, and then I met My Death Day.”

My Death Day tells the story of a girl who disappeared off a cliff leaving only a suicide note, a detective tracking the case at the edge of life, and a silent witness who reached out to them, each making their own choices to survive. Kim Hye-soo plays Detective Hyun-soo, who investigates the case at the edge of life. The film opens on November 12.

Photo = Hodoo&U Entertainment, Photographer Kang Young-ho

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.