Any actor dreams of a character transformation. They want to fully immerse themselves in a piece of work and become one with the character. Sometimes, even if they are only called by their character‘s name in real life, that experience is special. Actress Lim Ji-yeon is no exception. Lim Ji-yeon, who played the villain Park Yeon-jin in the Netflix original ‘The Glory’ (written by Kim Eun-sook, directed by Ahn Gil-ho) and was called ‘Park Yeon-jin’ and ‘Yeon-jin-i’ for a while, is now called ‘Goo-deok-i’ and ‘Ok Tae-young’ through the JTBC Saturday-Sunday drama ‘Madam Ok’s Tale’ (written by Park Ji-sook, directed by Jin Hyeok and Choi Bo-yoon).

“Whenever they meet me, rather than being happy, everyone asks about the ending of ‘Madam Ok‘s Tale’. I’m happy about those reactions. For a while, I was only called ‘Yeonjin-i’, but these days, people call me ‘Gudeok-i’, ‘Taeyoung-i’. I‘ve rarely been called Im Ji-yeon. Some actors have lost their real names, but I think it’s happy for an actor to be called by their character‘s name. I didn’t know it before, but now I really like being called ‘Yeonjin-i’, ‘Gudeok-i’, ‘Taeyoung-i’. I hope you‘ll call me that for a long time. (Laughs)”


‘Madam Ok’s Story’ is a work that contains the fierce survival scam drama of Ok Tae-young (played by Im Ji-yeon), a foreigner whose name, identity, and husband were all fake, and Cheon Seung-hwi (played by Chu Young-woo), a detective who risked his life to protect her. The character played by Im Ji-yeon was not originally named Ok Tae-young. She‘s a slave named Gudeok. In the drama, Gu Deok-i is a runaway slave who was born to slave parents and ran away because he couldn’t stand the horrible abuse of his mean and vicious master. He not only saves the life of Ok Tae-young (played by Son Na-eun) whom he meets by chance, but also gains the status of Ok Tae-young thanks to the consideration of the Ok family and later becomes a local branch manager. For Lim Ji-yeon, who is challenging a historical drama for the first time in 10 years since the movie ‘The Treacherous’, this is a big challenge beyond just a transformation in acting.

“I think I did everything I could in a historical drama, so I‘m proud of myself. I had a lot of shortcomings in ‘The Treacherous’. It was a challenge as a new actor, and the set was difficult even though it was a historical drama. At the time, I thought, ‘I don’t think I‘m an actor who suits historical dramas’, ‘Hanbok doesn’t suit me’. So I think I stayed away from historical dramas for a while. But when I saw the script for ‘Madam Ok’, I was scared and didn‘t challenge myself, and I was embarrassed that I only did what I was good at. I thought, ’Oh no!‘ because I was scared without my own sense of entitlement and confidence. Every time I acted, I felt joy in doing something I wanted to do or learning a lot through challenges and accomplishing them, but now that I’m receiving love and people are looking for me as an actor, I felt embarrassed about choosing projects and characters. That‘s why I thought, ’Oh no!‘ The script was so good and appealing, so there was no reason not to do a historical drama. I wanted to go back to the beginning, and I think I overcame my historical drama trauma this time. If I get the chance, I want to try it again.”


I may have overcome the burden of historical dramas, but it’s not easy to lead a work alone as the title role. It must have been a difficult task for Lim Ji-yeon, who has a lot of experience in historical dramas.

”I felt a lot of pressure. As an actress who had no experience in a title role, and knowing that so much had been poured into this production, I wondered if I could live up to the expectations. I tried so that the words, “Our actor,” and “Our Tae-young madam,” would come out naturally. Even during the script reading, even though no one asked me to, I think I made a promise to myself, “I will definitely do it.” I learned a lot about the sense of responsibility, burden, and pressure as a lead actress this time. I think I took care of my physical and mental health a lot so as not to break down. I got good energy from many people on set, and thanks to that, I think I was able to overcome the sense of responsibility, burden, and pressure.”


If the actors on set cheered for Lim Ji-yeon so that she wouldn’t break down, her boyfriend and actor Lee Do-hyun cheered her on off set. “(Lee Do-hyun) says he’s been watching (‘The Tale of Lady Ok’) consistently. There’s no special or great feedback. He just cheers me on a lot. He knows how much I love this project, so he cheers me on a lot. We rely on each other a lot. I hope we’re always healthy. (Lee Do-hyun) Happy New Year. (Laughs)”

From ‘The Glory’, ‘The House with a Yard’, ‘National Death Penalty Referendum’, the movie ‘Revolver’, and ‘The Story of Madame Ok’, Lim Ji-yeon’s filmography is extraordinary. The characters in each of her projects reject mediocrity. They’re intense.

“Actually, I’ve been doing too many extreme acting roles. I want to try acting as monotonous or ordinary characters, but I didn’t choose characters that are forced into extreme situations on purpose. Now, as a leading actor, I want to play characters that the viewers can feel comfortable and sympathize with. It’s time to let go of my greed. I think I’ve missed a lot of things I should have been taking care of because I’ve been so focused on acting nonstop. So now I‘m going to take care of them. I’m going to spend time with my family and have some time for myself. For that reason, I‘m also doing a variety show (tvN’s new variety show ‘Sister‘s Farm Direct Delivery 2’). I also want to take it easy this year. I was a fan of Season 1, but I think there will be a new chemistry that is different from Season 1. Please look forward to it.”


Although Lim Ji-yeon has received attention for her diverse charms through various works, her appearance at the ‘45th Blue Dragon Film Awards’ last year became the cause of criticism online. Even though he had ample time to make a statement before the awards ceremony, Jung Woo-sung insisted on speaking for the first time as ‘the father of Moon Ga-bi’s illegitimate child’. And even Lim Ji-yeon, who cheered and applauded at his appearance, became the target of criticism.

“To be honest, I didn‘t expect the public’s reaction. It was just a moment, so it‘s hard to say whether that part was right or wrong. On the other hand, I was careful because ’The Tale of Lady Ok‘ was airing at the time.

Lim Ji-yeon, who gave a model answer she had prepared in advance to the expected question without fail, naturally turns the conversation to her next project. Lim Ji-yeon, who has been cast as a reporter in ’The Tale of Lady Ok‘ with Lee Jung-jae, is bombarded with questions about the job of a reporter. Even at the interview site for the finale of ’The Tale of Lady Ok‘, she is busy preparing for her next project, making her words that she will take a lot of time off this year seem meaningless. Lim Ji-yeon, who once acted coolly as a conglomerate’s wife and a weathercaster in the project, is drawing attention to what kind of reporter she will be in her next project.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com Reporter projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.