Star actresses top cast credits in upcoming films
By Kwon Ji-youn
The film industry, which is more accustomed to banking on the success of leading men in productions, may see more women at the top of hit films’ cast credits this year as seasoned actresses, including Kim Hye-soo and Cannes Award winner Jeon Do-yeon, are set to make big-screen comebacks.
Though the numbers show that eight in nine films that primarily showcase actresses do not make big money, a number of films this year will attempt to turn the tide.
These actresses are not simply appearing as the sweethearts of male heroes. Last year, actress Son Ye-jin took on a challenge in the action flick “The Pirates” in which she appeared as the captain. Actress Shin Eun-kyung put on a one-woman show in “Miss Granny,” and veteran actress Kim Soo-mi at one point hit No.2 at the box office with “Granny’s Got Talent.”
Kim Hye-soo in a scene from “Chinatown” / Courtesy of CGV Arthouse
More such films are coming down the road.
Kim Hye-soo will take on the role of “mother” in the film “Chinatown,” set for an April 29 release. “Mother” is the leader or boss of Chinatown, where only those deemed useful survive. The film tells the story of “mother” and a young girl by the name of Il-young (actress Kim Go-eun), who has become of value to her.
“Mother” rules out sentiment when it comes to money or survival. She’s dispassionate, calculating and acts without hesitation _ she has held her throne by keeping by her side only those of use to her.
To portray a convincing and charismatic “mother,” Kim, who played up her sex appeal in “Tazza: The High Rollers” and “Thieves,” lined her hair with grey strands, drew freckles on her face and added flab to her stomach with prosthetic makeup.
Jeon Do-yeon, left, and Kim Nam-gil in a scene from “The Shameless” / Courtesy of Management Soop Corp.
“Mother needed to be someone who didn’t need lines to overpower an audience,” director Han Jun-hee said at a press event. “Kim was our first and only choice.”
Kim said, “The character has put femininity aside. I felt like I was destroying myself while shooting.”
Jeon’s last cinematic appearance was in 2013 with “Way Back Home.” In “The Shameless,” she will act the part of a murderer’s girlfriend who meets a mysterious man as she gives police the slip. Jeon’s character, Hye-kyung, is decadent but simultaneously determined and well-meaning. She falls in love with the strange man who is after her murderer lover.
The small screen will also feature women in the lead role. Lee Young-ae will return as Saimdang (1504-1551), the noted artist, poet and mother of Confucian scholar Yulgok, in the 2015 MBC drama “Saimdang, the Herstory.”
Lee will take on the role of both Shin Saimdang and a modern day college lecturer. The plot will shift back and forth between the 16th century and modern day Korea to uncover the mysteries surrounding Shin Saimdang’s diary and the painting “Portrait of a Beauty” by Shin Yun-bok (1758-?).
This will mark her first dramatic appearance in 11 years. Her last was in 2004 with MBC’s “Daejanggeum,” while her last acting gig was with the 2005 film “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.”