[HanCinema's News] Kim Hyun-joo Talks About "Jung E"

On January 25th actress Kim Hyun-joo held an interview where she talked about her latest film, "Jung E" which was released worldwide via Netflix this past January 20th. There she plays a legendary mercenary as well as her own AI clone. "Jung E" has gained some attention for being the last work from actress Kang Soo-yeon who plays her daughter, her researcher. Kang Soo-yeon died last May after filming was completed, with "Jung E" being her first screen acting project in ten years.

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From January 20th to January 22nd, "Jung E" has accumulated 19.3 million hours viewed worldwide via Netflix, the most for any non-English film and the second most if English films are included. FlixPatrol currently has "Jung E" as the second most popular Netflix movie in the world, and the most popular in Egypt, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Kim Hyun-joo described her interest in the project as stemming from the desire to try something new.

Kim Hyun-joo claimed that writer/director Yeon Sang-ho awakened that desire. She was curious how the tituler role of "Jung E" could be properly expressed. Kim Hyun-joo said she was not grabbed by the script, but was interested by the idea of doing South Korean science fiction and believed Yeon Sang-ho was up to the task. She knew that he had done similar projects in the past, and had the right crew to work with in order to pull it off.

Kim Hyun-joo claimed that "Jung E" had very unusual action but noted that her work on "Hellbound" which was also led by Yeon Sang-ho helped prepare her for the adjustment. Kim Hyun-joo said she was more used to acting with her emotions than her body, and that she had a lot of fun sweating at the Action School while trying to learn how to do both at once. Kim Hyun-joo expressed the wish to have done more action while she was younger, but was unsure if her stamina was as strong then.

Kim Hyun-joo said that she was happy when her work comes out well. Kim Hyun-joo was unsure how well the Korean sensibility of "Jung E" was appreciated overseas, but she felt that sensibility was very fresh and special. Kim Hyun-joo believes that "Jung E" came out the way that Yeon Sang-ho intended it to come out, as "Jung E" is a robot that looks like a human. Kim Hyun-joo's next project will be the zombie drama "The Bequeathed" also from Netflix later this year.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Jung E" is directed by Yeon Sang-ho, and features Kang Soo-yeon, Kim Hyun-joo, Ryu Kyung-soo, Lee Dong-hee-II, Han Woo-yeol, Yun Ki-chang. Release date in Korea: 2023/01/20.