"I couldn’t even eat dinner properly"— Actor Kim Jae-young gets candid about his kissing scene with Park Shin-hye in The Judge from Hell

On November 5, 2024, actor Kim Jae-young shared glimpses of his kiss scene with Park Shin-hye from their latest drama, The Judge from Hell, in an interview with Star News. The scene occurs in the final segment of the 14-episode-long show, which aired on November 2 and has been stirring waves online ever since.

According to News1's November 5 coverage of the interview, the 36-year-old actor mentioned that having already worked with an industry senior like Go Hyun-jung, he did not have any preconceptions about his co-star’s personal life affecting their work. Instead, he wondered how Park Shin-hye felt about the rom-com aspect of their roles.

He expressed concern about filming the romantic scene, noting that the latter has a family and was worried about how her husband, actor Choi Tae-joon, might react. He said:

"I worried a bit, thinking that Choi Tae Joon, her husband, might not be too fond of the romantic scenes. But then I thought, since he’s an actor as well, he’d likely understand."

While discussing the finale's kissing scene in The Judge from Hell, the actor revealed that he felt jittery during the shoot. He recalled stumbling over his dialogues while his 34-year-old co-actor asked him why he seemed so shaky. Kim Jae-young mentioned:

"Shin-hye also asked me, 'Why are you so nervous?'"

He continued:

"It felt like it had been a long time. I forgot how to do a kissing scene. If you watch dramas, they don't film it all at once, but several times. I think I couldn't even eat dinner properly that evening."

In his interview, Kim Jae-young also voiced how the Doctor Slump actor, being good at rom-coms, taught him a lot during the filming of The Judge from Hell. While she gave him verbal directions on how to approach certain scenes, he believed Park Shin-hye's vivid expressions proved her prowess as a romantic comedy actor.

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Kim Jae-young's interview with Star News: Snippets of his discussion on The Judge from Hell

Continuing the trope of SBS' light-hearted dramas, The Judge from Hell delves into the life of a beautiful and elite judge, Kang Bit-na (Park Shin-hye), who is also a demon. She is bent on killing evil people who fatally hurt other people but does not feel remorse upon doing so. Her mission is to send such individuals to Hell afterward.

On the other hand, Han Da-on (Kim Jae-young) is a friendly and humane detective in the Violent Crimes Unit 2 of the Nobong Police Station. At work, he has a keen mind and impeccable observational skills, while in his personal life, he bears a burden nobody knows about. When the two cross paths, their lives are changed forever.

Speaking at length about his role as the male lead, Han Da-on in The Judge from Hell, Kim Jae-young praised his co-star Park Shin-hye for her support during filming. He praised her stamina and mental strength, which kept her from having ups and downs. He recalled trying hard to match her pace on set while she managed to do her job unwaveringly.

Kim Jae-young also shared how Park Shin-hye wanted to execute action scenes and did them well and spontaneously. Although it took a while to shoot Kang Bit-na's action sequences, she seemed to be having a good time. Quoted by N Entertainments on November 5, he mentioned that Park Shin-hye was thrilled to wear a different face on-screen for Bit-na's character. He said:

"I think she's mostly played kind characters, but she was excited to play a wicked and mischievous character this time. I felt that she was doing what she wanted to do."

While the Love in Contract fame reflected on having played some dark characters in the past, he further expressed relief about the positive feedback on his new role. When asked about what charms of Han Da-on made him pick the part, he credited the character's wide emotional range. He said:

"Isn’t Han Da-on’s emotional range really wide? Also, I wanted to try playing a character with a lot of bright sides that I haven’t been able to do before. In a drama with demons, Han Da-on is a human, so I tried to act as a mediator between the drama and reality." (via StarToday)

Further speaking about playing a role that packs in a lot of emotions, he said:

"Didn't I go crazy during the funeral scene? I got so caught up in the emotions while filming that I ended up getting hoarse later. I guess the drama had to film from different angles multiple times, so that part was difficult." (via StarToday)

Additionally, he expressed gratitude for the high viewership ratings The Judge from Hell received. He credited its success to its unique theme of trials that do not happen in real life and its portrayal of a plethora of emotions that captivated audiences.

The Judge from Hell reached its highest nationwide viewership rating of 13.6% (Nielsen Korea) with episode 8, concluding its run with 11.9% for the final, 14th episode. While the TV show aired on SBS, viewers can catch all episodes of The Judge from Hell on Disney+.