Kim Hye-soo ‘steals’ her scenes
‘The Thieves’ actress talks about her new movie, her love for people
Among the many living actresses in Korea, Kim Hye-soo
is an icon.
She is the type of actress who is remembered for her image first, film roles
second. Many are well aware of and charmed by her risqué
and daring fashion choices on red carpets, her gift of gab on TV talk shows,
and her dominating, charismatic presence off screen. She is one of the very
few, or perhaps the only actress, who is regarded as both sensual and
intelligent.
Upon arriving for the interview at a hotel in central Seoul, the 41-year-old
actress looks surprisingly laid back in her simple, black garment.
“I bet I’m not someone so impressive to
my brothers,” Kim says. “I’m genuinely being myself on TV shows
and red carpets and so on. But there is a part of me that only my close ones
get to see. And it’s nice to be ‘just a sister’ to your siblings than
someone special.”
Kim is returning to the silver screen
this month as one of the thieves in director Choi
Dong-hun’s star-studded blockbuster “The
Thieves.” This is Kim’s second movie with Choi, after their
highly successful 2006 gambling drama “Tazza: The High Rollers.” In the 2006 film, Kim played a seductive villain character Madam Jeong, who is obsessed with money and power.
In the upcoming film, however, Kim is given a role that is nothing like Madam
Jung. She plays a safecracker named Pepsi, who, along with nine other
professional thieves, gets involved in a project to steal a diamond worth $20
million in Macau. Her co-stars include Lee Jung-jae,
Jun Ji-hyun (Gianna Jun),
Kim Yoon-seok, Kim Soo-hyun,
and Hong Kong-based actor Simon Yam.
“I’d never seen any
character like Pepsi in Choi’s previous works,” says Kim.
“The character is complex
and has much substance. Most of the thieves in the film get into the diamond
project for shallow, materialistic reasons. But what Pepsi wants out of this
project is very different from others. Her desire is, I think, rather
universal. Everyone has that desire, but often gives it up for wealth and
fortune. But Pepsi does not. That really intrigued me.”
Even before the movie’s premiere, there had been
a lot of buzz about the two heavyweight actresses -- Kim and “My Sassy Girl” star Gianna Jun -- co-starring in the same piece. While Kim’s character mostly pivots around her difficult relationship with her
fellow thief, Jun plays a clever, self-oriented cat burglar -- showcasing
incredible stunts and wire action throughout the film.
During a press conference on the film this month, Kim was asked what it was
like to “compete”
in a movie with an actress widely recognized for her beauty. Kim gave a humble
answer, openly praising Jun’s looks and charms. “Jun’s so pretty that we are not even
comparable,” she told the reporter.
“I think I lack the competitive gene by nature,” she tells The Korea Herald.
“I honestly don’t really know what it
feels like to be jealous or competitive. I’ve always been this way since I was a
child. And many would say the greatest competitor in your life is yourself.
Well, I don’t want to do that either. I’m not really interested in winning against anyone, including myself.
I’m more interested in how I’d handle things when I run into unexpected, rough situations in
life.”
Kim says she was genuinely in awe of Jun’s charms
throughout the production period in Hong Kong, and everyone else in the crew.
She in fact took thousands of pictures of her fellow actors, actresses and even
crew members, whenever she was off-shoot in Hong Kong -- and gave the
photographs as gifts after the production period.
“I just adore people and find so much beauty in
them,” she says. “And
it was hard not to take pictures of these people. It was beautiful to see our
young crew-member looking into the view finder as if there’s nothing else in the world but camera. My fellow actress, Kim Hae-sook, has been acting for more than 30 years. But she
still gets so nervous and happy like a little girl before each and every shoot.
I found such passion touching and beautiful, too.”
The actress made her TV debut in 1986 at the age of 16. Having missed out on “ordinary teenage years,” she says she
keeps her close friends by her side for a long time. One of her best friends is
from her elementary school days. She’s been
working with same make-up artist for more than 10 years. If she were to given
the option to go back to the age of 16, she says, she’d choose to live as a housewife -- a “good” housewife who really does her job well.
“I spend most of my leisure time with my nieces
and nephews,” she says. “When they tell me ‘Please don’t go, aunt Hye-soo,’ I just stay home with them like a recluse unless something really
urgent happens.”
Asked if there is anything she wants so bad that she’d consider stealing it, Kim said “all
sorts of talent.”
“I always felt a part of me is incomplete because
of what I did not experience as a teenager,” she
says.
“And I tried to fill in the holes with something
else, including my career, throughout the years. And where I am is a result of
that. I guess people end up admiring the qualities that they don’t have. I admire those who always strive for the better, those who
have pretty voices, those who have a great sense of humor.”
The Source: The Korea Herald