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| Actress Lim Ji-yeon plays the role of an antagonist, Park Yeon-jin, in Netflix's hit series "The Glory." Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Despite taking on a first antagonistic role, actress Lim Ji-yeon has made a strong impression with her latest performance as vicious queen bee Park Yeon-jin in Netflix's hit series "The Glory," proving herself a versatile actor.
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| Actress Lim Ji-yeon / Courtesy of Netflix |
The streaming platform's Korean original series, part 2 of which was released last Friday, revolves around Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) taking revenge on her tormentors who physically and psychologically abused her in high school.
About 20 years later, Moon begins to exact her carefully planned revenge against the perpetrators, including self-entitled weathercaster Park who was her most vicious abuser among the group.
Lim shared she wanted to take part in the series badly and went to great lengths to convince the director and writer that she could play the character.
"I've always wanted to play an antagonist. But I just vaguely thought that maybe when I have more experience, like in my 40s, I would be offered such a role … but then Yeon-jin came and it was such a good opportunity," she said. "I was actually nervous although, of course, I told the director and the writer that I'd do my best and that I could do it."
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| A photo captured on set while shooting a scene from the series "The Glory"/ Courtesy of Netflix |
To convey the importance of her character in the story, she went through an agonizing, hefty process to create her character after landing the role.
"I tried to come up with as many approaches as possible, like 'would talking in a monotone convey a stronger character?' or 'maybe I should make it totally emotional, or act mentally ill?' But in the end, the most unique approach, that no one else has done yet, was just being myself," she said. "I decided that I should make use of my own personal gestures, tone and style, like what fits me best."
She added she also asked those around her for advice on the character. "Preparing the character was much more hectic and difficult than shooting the scenes. That's how much I needed to prepare and with that long process of creating the character, I set off into my first scene with confidence," she said.
"This role is very important because the more people hate my character, the more convincing Dong-eun's revenge would feel to them."
The series has been enjoying global popularity, topping Netflix's official weekly streaming chart for non-English series last week. It also has been creating a buzz online with people making memes of its lines, like "Bravo, Yeon-jin."
Lim expressed she is enjoying every part of the series' success, saying it feels rewarding.
"To be honest, I've always been desperate and always worked hard. I've always prepared for my roles as I did for Yeon-jin … After my families and friends watched 'The Glory,' they cried because they know how much I've worked for it," she said, getting emotional and tearing up. "I always felt I should go the extra mile because I wasn't born with the talent like other actors around me. But I was thankful that my family understood me and viewers praised my work."
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