Kim Ji Won may be known for playing strong, self-assured characters, but the actress says she is much more timid in real life.
Appearing on tvN’s You Quiz on the Block on October 7th, Kim described herself as a “scaredy-cat” who is naturally cautious. That made playing the sharp-tongued Yoo Rachel in The Heirs especially challenging.
“It was hard. Rachel is always angry and says really mean things,” Kim said, explaining that she practiced the character’s way of speaking on her sister. “You shouldn’t go through life with a personality like hers. It would make things difficult.”
Kim then looked back on playing chaebol heiress Hong Hae In in Queen of Tears, joking that the role was physically comfortable.
“I got to ride in nice cars, film somewhere warm when it was cold and somewhere cool when it was hot,” she said. But the expensive wardrobe came with its own stress. “A lot of the clothes were very expensive, so even during breaks, I couldn’t completely relax. I worried I might snag something because we had to return everything afterward.”
She also opened up about the uncertainty she felt earlier in her career after The Heirs.
“I was always anxious, wondering, ‘Will there even be another project for me?'” she recalled. When writer Kim Eun Sook later called to offer her a role in Descendants of the Sun, Kim said she accepted immediately and then burst into tears.
Even after becoming one of television’s most recognizable actresses, that anxiety has not entirely disappeared. Kim admitted that if she goes more than six months without a project, she starts worrying that audiences might forget her.
“What if people forget me?” she said, adding that long breaks often make her feel pressure to show viewers a new side of herself as soon as possible.
>> Kim Ji Won Says Her ‘Doctor X’ Character Is Genius Surgeon Who Struggles With Social Skills
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