Park Ji-hyun reveals she fasted for 3 weeks while filming ‘You and Everything Else’
Park Ji-hyun / Courtesy of Netflix
Actor Park Ji-hyun shared the extraordinary lengths she went to in order to portray a character across three decades of life in the Netflix drama “You and Everything Else.”
In an interview Thursday in Seoul, Park opened up about her experience playing Cheon Sang-yeon, a complex character she portrays in her 20s, 30s and 40s in the series, which premiered Sept. 12. The show follows the deeply intertwined lives of two lifelong friends — Eun-jung (Kim Go-eun) and Sang-yeon — whose relationship is marked by admiration, envy, resentment and love across the decades.
Losing weight to portray struggle
Sang-yeon, the character Park plays, grows up wealthy but faces financial hardship in her 20s after her family loses its fortune. To reflect this chapter of her life, Park decided to slim down significantly.
Park Ji-hyun / Courtesy of Netflix
“I didn’t measure my weight precisely, but I thought Sang-yeon should look thinner in her 20s,” she explained. “At that point, her family is struggling financially, and the refrigerator is practically empty.”
However, her hard work didn’t fully show on camera due to the freezing filming conditions. “I wore several layers of thermal underwear and even made a kind of ‘Iron Man suit’ with thin electric heating pads powered by six batteries,” she said. “Because of that, the weight loss wasn’t very noticeable.”
Gaining weight to express maturity
Park then made the opposite transformation for Sang-yeon’s 30s, when the character becomes a successful film director. “I felt Sang-yeon should look more settled and mature, so I deliberately gained some weight — not by tracking numbers, but just enough for my face to look fuller,” she said.
Fasting and tears to embody mortality
Sang-yeon’s final chapter — facing death in her 40s — required yet another physical shift. Park revealed that she tried fasting for two to three weeks, consuming only water and Americanos to achieve a more fragile appearance.
“It made my body thinner, but my face became swollen — and I thought, ‘This is it,’” she said. “Right before shooting, I cried a lot on purpose to enhance that effect.”
She also said that the emotional intensity of the role sometimes made it difficult to stay composed. “Sang-yeon is supposed to be calm and detached in her 40s, but every time I made eye contact with Kim Go-eun, I couldn’t stop crying,” she confessed. “I usually don’t swell up easily — which can be a strength — but to achieve that look, I cried a lot.”
Park’s dedication to the physical and emotional transformation of Sang-yeon has drawn praise from fans and critics alike, highlighting the commitment behind her nuanced performance in “You and Everything Else.”
This article from Xportsnews is adapted by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.