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The Glory’s lead star Song Hye-kyo recently dished about the revenge-thriller series. She shed light on how she prepared for her role and upped the intensity of her character Moon Dong-eun.
The dark thriller revolves around a young girl, Moon Dong-eun (younger: Jung Ji-so, older: Song Hye-kyo), who faced brutal violence and assault at the hands of a notorious school bully gang, headed by Park Yeon-jin (younger: Shin Ye-eun, older: Lim Ji-yeon).
She withdrew from school and spent the next 18 years plotting the perfect revenge plan to avenge her bullies. Moon Dong-eun decided to become an elementary homeroom teacher to Park Yeon-jin’s daughter and even got close to her husband to completely destroy her.
In a recent interview with Netflix Korea, during a reaction and commentary session, lead actress Song Hye-kyo dished that PD Ahn Gil-ho asked her to “act crazier” to up the intensity of her character in The Glory.
She said:
“When we were filming that, I wasn’t sure how much she was expecting. I wasn’t sure how far I should go, but the script said… I’m not sure if I can say this, but it said I should act like a crazy b****. I had in my mind how crazy I should be, so we did one take of it, but then, Director An came and said, 'Act even crazier.' So I think the intensity kept going up.”
Song Hye-kyo humbly accepts praise for her “new acting style”
The actress spoke at length about her character, Moon Dong-eun, and how she prepped for her performance. She confessed that she didn’t monitor her scenes frequently and let her instincts take over as an actor.
For the unversed, monitoring is when an actor performs a scene and checks their shot on the monitor to see if they have delivered as per the requirement or not. Song Hye-kyo dished that for a crucial scene between Moon Dong-eun and Park Yeon-jin, the actress refused to check the monitor and trusted that the moment would be seen by the audience.
She also revealed that the director urged her to “act crazier” and take the intensity of the scene a notch higher, especially in sequences where Moon Dong-eun encounters Park Yeon-jin as an adult and claps ferociously for her when the latter is winning an alumni award.
Song Hye-kyo marked her second collaboration with screenwriter Kim Eun-sook after the commercially successful Descendants of the Sun, which also starred Song Joong-ki in the lead role.
The actress has earned rave reviews for her incredible performance as Moon Dong-eun in The Glory. Hye-kyo spoke about how K-drama fans were praising her for her “new acting style.”
The actress revealed that while she was happy about the praise she was receiving, she was also sad that she never realized until now that viewers craved to see this side of her. She mentioned that from now on, she will work harder and choose projects that showcase her wide range as an actor.
Screenwriter and long-time friend Kim Eun-sook added that the actress started prepping for the character as soon as she heard about The Glory. Kim Eun-sook revealed she warned Song Hye-kyo that she would be required to strip to show her scars and burn marks to Lee Do-hyun’s character, which was essential to The Glory.
Song Hye-kyo went on a strict diet to achieve a leaner frame to showcase Moon Dong-eun’s struggles, showing her dedication as an actor.
The actress added that she wanted to look as regular as possible because Moon Dong-eun was not the kind of person to take care of her appearance or body and wanted viewers to empathize with her and the trauma she had been through.
The Glory receives 19+ certification
The Glory received a 19+ television rating and “TV-MA” tag, which means it can only be watched by young adults aged 19 and above.
The critically acclaimed K-drama has shown brutal depictions of school violence, bullying, harassment, attempted suicide, domestic abuse, and s*x, which are not suitable for impressionable minds.
Writer Kim Eun-sook backed Netflix’s decision to give the show a 19+ rating as The Glory followed Moon Dong-eun’s journey of revenge and redemption via her own personal methods and not through the judicial system.
Kim Eun-sook advised parents to watch the series and educate their children about school violence and its repercussions or watch it with their children under strict adult supervision.
The second part of the Song Hye-kyo-starrer will air sometime in March 2023.
