Heera Kim “I don’t want to smoke again”

"I thought acting with a snake would of course be done with CG, but they said the snake arrived on the day of filming. Since it was a trained snake, it acted as the trainer said, hugged me and showed cuteness. Instead, when I came face to face with the snake, it 'hissed'. “The sound of screaming came out naturally.”

On the afternoon of the 14th, actress Kim Heera, whom I met at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, told various stories related to the Netflix series 'The Glory'.

'The Glory' is a work that depicts the story of a woman whose soul was broken by violence in her childhood, who risks her entire life to carefully prepare for revenge, and of those who fall into the vortex. Following Part 1 on December 30 last year, Part 2 was released on March 10 and is receiving great attention from around the world.

In the play, Kim Heera played the role of Lee Sa-ra, a painter who lives a life addicted to alcohol and drugs. In Part 2, Isara, who was caught in a trap set by Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), caught people's attention by committing high-level acts while hallucinating and committing an attempted murder with her eyes turned back by her friend's betrayal.

As of the 13th, three days after its release, 'The Glory' ranked first globally in the Netflix TV show category. It achieved the feat of taking first place in 38 countries, including Korea, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Turkey, and Mexico, and also ranked third and second in the United States and Canada, respectively.

When asked if she realized her popularity, Kim Heera said, "There are a lot of pictures going around and I get a lot of calls from people around me. I thought a lot of people wouldn't recognize me because I had a short haircut, but they followed me just by looking at my back. I feel like I'm well known."

He added, "I knew from the time I saw the script that the work would do well, but I did not expect this level of reaction. I thought I could continue acting for a longer time, but thankfully, I feel like it has become hot."

Heera Kim said, "I don't think there is a justifiable reason for committing a crime," and about the character Lee Sa-ra, "I thought of the perpetrator as a child who had a sense of purpose and lived to live rather than live. She had no will to live and wanted someone to save her. "Because he is a friend with delusions, I felt like a perpetrator and a bystander. He is a person who lives dependent on drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, and no incident is a big issue for him," he explained.

Heera Kim was cast through an audition. At the time of the first audition, I received all the lines for several female characters and prepared them. Heera Kim said, "I thought it wouldn't be Sarah of course. I prepared for the character of Yeonjin Park, but they asked me to play Sarah. During the second audition, they sang me the character of Sarah."

Why did Isara think it was not the case? Kim Heera said, "The script I received at that time was a scene where I went to Son Myeong-oh's house and looked for medicine, and although I was embarrassed to talk, I looked quite cute. I thought it was because of my lovely image." She added, "I took on the role of Sarah and quickly received the script, and when I saw the script in its entirety, I saw it. “I think I and Isara get along well, and I think we can do well,” he said.

“I found him attractive because he was a bad kid, but he had his own wit. Even the things he drew were similar.”

When asked how she prepared to play a drug addict, Kim Heera said, "I didn't look at anyone as a role model, but I looked into a lot of documentaries."

Kim Heera, a non-smoker, had to act like a cigarette and smoker through this drama. He said, "My manager smokes, so I asked him to get me the weakest electronic cigarette. I usually don't smoke when I'm alone, but when I go filming, I smoke with my manager and practice. There were times when I smoked well, but it was unfortunate that it didn't show up well on screen. I smoked outside. “I came out with that feeling,” he said, laughing.

When asked if she would continue to smoke after filming, Kim Heera firmly answered no. He said, "There is a scene in the play where I smoke marijuana, and I made a leaf cigarette as a prop. I was told that it was strong, but I wanted to do well so I inhaled deeply and it was difficult. That scene was the last scene where I smoked, and after filming that, I never smoked again." “I wanted to smoke,” he said.

Kim Hee-ra's first filming was a fight scene with Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) at a church. He said, "I thought a lot about what to do because it was my first filming. Personally, I was nervous because I am a big fan of actor Song Hee-kyo. When I told him that I was a fan, he said he had heard a lot about me, and that he was really looking forward to today's performance, and that he was prepared not to be left out. “Thank you for telling me you did a lot,” he said, expressing his gratitude.

He continued, "Once filming started, our eyes met and she was so pretty. Without even realizing it, the words 'You're so pretty' came out," and "There was a scene where Moon Dong-eun grabbed Lee Sa-ra's hair and shook it, then blew the hair out of her hand, and at that time, actress Song Hye-kyo lifted her hand. I was shaking. Mun-dong was who he was. From then on, I became focused. Some people swear and hit him for nothing, but others use violence and shake their hands. That was so similar to Mun-dong that it made me Sarah." He added.

In Part 2 of 'The Glory', Isara was given the nickname 'Golden' for her irritable behavior in a scene where she asks her parents to send her to the Netherlands, where drugs are legal. In response, Kim Heera laughed and said, "I just did it with all my sincerity." She jokingly added, "In the script, it was written, 'He is making a fuss about going to his father. He looks like an exorcist.' I tried to look grotesque, but maybe it was just cuteness that couldn't be hidden." trembled.

Heera Kim said, “There wasn’t a single ad-lib from beginning to end.” He said, "In the text, I added actions and split the words, but I did everything that was in the script. Later, I wondered if writer Kim Eun-sook knew me and wrote it from the beginning," and said, 'As expected, writer Kim Eun-sook.'

When asked if she was satisfied with the ending, Kim Heera said, "I don't know if Sara will come to her senses in prison and stop taking the drugs, but unless she does, I don't think she will be able to endure it well. Even if Dong-eun didn't touch her directly, we destroyed each other." "I think that's good. Their corruption was rather realistic. I don't really feel that Sarah's ending was the weakest because I'm Sarah," he said.

Are there any expectations for the new season? Heera Kim laughed and said, “I wondered what it would be like to tell the story of Yeonjin and Sarah in prison, but I didn’t get an answer.”

Regarding being called the discovery of Kim Hee-ra through 'The Glory,' she said, "After 'The Glory,' I got to do a lot of fun work, including pictorials, and I'm happy that a lot of good works are being talked about. The scope for reviewing scripts is wide. “I lost. I’m grateful because I feel like I’m receiving compensation for delaying for a long time,” he said.

“I want to become an actor who I want to see again and who I want to see again. I want to go a long way rather than taking first place or receiving hot issues with each work. I think ‘The Glory’ is a work that gives me glory.”

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr