Son Ye-jin says Venice red carpet debut was ‘overwhelming and moving’
Actor Son Ye-jin arrives for the premiere of "No Other Choice" during the 82nd annual Venice International Film Festival, in Venice, Italy, Friday. EPA-Yonhap
VENICE, Italy — Actor Son Ye-jin said walking her first-ever red carpet at the Venice International Film Festival left her “nervous, thrilled and overwhelmed.”
After the official screening of Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” on Aug. 29, she said, “I even felt tears coming to my eyes.”
The following day, in an interview at a hotel on the Lido, she spoke with her signature half-moon smile. The project marks Son’s return to acting after a three-year break.
Since her marriage to actor Hyun Bin in 2022 and the birth of their first child, she had stepped away from the camera. “No Other Choice” is her first film in seven years, following “The Negotiation” in 2018.
In the film, Son plays Mi-ri, a housewife who struggles to hold her family together after her husband loses his job. It is her first collaboration with Park Chan-wook, a director she has long admired.
“As an actor, you always dream of being invited by director Park. I was the same,” she said. When the offer came, she was still debating when to resume work after childbirth.
“I worried whether I could continue to act in meaningful projects as a married actress and mother," she said. "That’s why I felt so grateful and lucky to join this film.”
Originally written as a minor character, Mi-ri’s role grew after Son asked Park to make her presence more meaningful.
“I told him, ‘Please don’t let me just appear and have people asking why I was there.’ He agreed and gradually expanded the part,” she said.
Son Ye-jin attends the red carpet premiere of the movie "No Other Choice" presented in competition at the 82nd International Venice Film Festival, at Venice Lido, Friday. AFP-Yonhap
Acting as a mother, after becoming one
For Son, the timing of the role was serendipitous. “Before marriage, I played mothers and divorced women, but now I actually know what it feels like to be a mom," she said. "That lived experience is something I can’t ignore. I can act those emotions more truthfully now.”
Despite her 24-year acting career, Venice was her first experience at a major international festival. The nine-minute standing ovation after the screening left her deeply moved.
“It’s a moment that won’t come again,” she said. “I might return someday, but coming here with director Park and these colleagues for this film will only happen once. That made my heart swell.”
She added, “It was my first time at an overseas festival, so I had only imagined walking the red carpet or receiving a standing ovation. To actually be there with a director and colleagues I love felt like a dream, and it was so moving.”
Actor Son Ye-jin / Courtesy of CJ ENM
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.