[Interview] What Does Kim Hye-yoon’s Genre Side Look Like? “Salmokji” Kim Hye-yoon ①

Should we believe it? Or should we not believe it until we’ve seen it for ourselves? The character Suin (Kim Hye-yoon) in 〈Salmokji〉 also hesitates at that same crossroads. After sensing a secret she didn’t believe in with her own body, she gradually gets swallowed by the fear inside.

In a horror film, the most important thing is probably convincing the audience. People walk into the theater with only half-belief—wondering whether it’s really as terrifying as the rumors say. Suin, played by Kim Hye-yoon in the film 〈Salmokji〉, which opens on April 8, represents that kind of viewer. Even though Suin also knows the terrifying rumors surrounding 〈Salmokji〉, she still holds onto reason. She steadies her gaze and her breathing, forcing herself not to collapse. As a PD leading the team, she shows leadership when she’s around other people. But as she moves from hearing the terrifying reality of the rumors to confirming it with her own two eyes, she sinks even deeper—and delivers a huge, devastating impact.

The film 〈Salmokji〉 boasts a fresh, distinctive lineup of actors. Kim Hye-yoon is truly an actor who represents the “MZ generation”—and as a horror film built around a fresh ensemble targeting the tastes of the Z generation and the Alpha generation, she anchored the center of attention. And as an actress who has loved genre content enough to direct a thriller for her graduation project, she brings a whole new kind of genre presence with 〈Salmokji〉. Tasked with convincing viewers who are skeptical about whether it’s really “as scary as the rumors say,” Kim Hye-yoon carried out her role flawlessly as Suin in 〈Salmokji〉. On the 2nd, before the release of 〈Salmokji〉, actress Kim Hye-yoon met Cineplay at a location in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and shared behind-the-scenes stories from 〈Salmokji〉 and her thoughts on preparing for her horror performance. Below is the full transcript of that conversation.

I tried my hand at my first horror film. If you could, tell us why you chose 〈Salmokji〉.

The script was so much fun, and the material about Suin was really fresh. And I’ve always loved horror films, too.

There are different subgenres even within horror. For example, there are films with lots of jump scares, like 〈Salmokji〉. And there are also gory slasher-type films. Out of all of that, what kind of horror movies do you especially like?

I’m afraid of horrors that feel like they could happen in everyday life. I think that kind scares me the most. Fear that could come to anyone—〈Salmokji〉 had that kind of fear, too.

So when you watch horror films, is there a horror actor you’ve found especially memorable in the past? If we’re talking about the so-called “horror queen” lineage.

It’s hard to pick just one person, but if I have to choose, I’d say senior Yeom Jeong-a. In works like 〈Janghwa, Hongryeon〉.

But loving horror films and playing characters in horror films are different things. Was there any acting that looked easy but was actually difficult, or any special acting “point” that horror actors have?

As someone who isn’t actually a ghost, I learned for the first time that timing matters a lot—figuring out when to reveal the ghost. I had to think about when and how to bring out that frightening presence so the audience would feel even more fear. And I also kept thinking that the ghost must be really tough. (Laughs)

It’s your first time appearing in a horror film. Were you surprised when you watched the movie with yourself in it?

It doesn’t show much on the outside, so I feel a little wronged, but I really get startled. When my heart goes “thump,” I don’t make noise—I just react silently, like this, startled. Like when I’m too startled for words and nothing comes out. On the outside I just end up going “Oh,” so I feel kind of wronged. But the scene where Suin skips stones across the water in 〈Salmokji〉 was genuinely terrifying.

So even though you knew that scene would appear after reading the script, you still got startled?

Yes. On the page, the images don’t come across clearly, but when I actually watched it, the sounds kept coming from far away—then when the stone-skipping moment suddenly returned, the fear conveyed through the sound was huge. Even though it was in the script, I still got really startled.

During the press and distribution preview, other actors were yelling out while watching the film. Seeing other actors get scared next to you probably made you even more startled.

At the beginning, I was startled too—watching other actors get scared. But honestly, it wasn’t just once or twice. (Laughs) They kept yelling, and the sight of it was funny, so I started laughing too. Including the preview, we all watched the movie several times together. But because they kept getting startled at the exact same kinds of moments, as if nothing else was happening, at a certain point I just went along with it. They really kept getting startled at the same points, again and again.

Who got startled the most?

People in the cast were making noise nonstop, but next to me, (Yoon) Jae-chan and senior (Kim) Young-sung were sitting. Since they were right beside me, their sounds felt so loud. (Laughs)

Then, let’s go back to why you chose 〈Salmokji〉 again. What about the unique kind of fear in 〈Salmokji〉 felt especially appealing to you—especially.

It was like that even when I was reading the script, and I felt it again after watching the whole movie. It gives you the sense that something “keeps going until it’s over.” And maybe not everything you believe is reality—and then you get pulled back to that same moment of fear again and again. That sense of fear was what I found attractive.

The character Suin is a PD, and despite knowing the strange rumors about 〈Salmokji〉, she still leads her team toward 〈Salmokji〉. I’m curious—how did you first approach Suin?

I wanted her to feel worn out and weighed down by life, so I set that direction. And because of guilt toward senior Gyok-sik, it seemed like she was the type who was set up to be “worn down.” So even from her first scene, she has no energy in her, and everything feels hard.

As you’ve shown in so many dramas, actress Kim Hye-yoon is strong at conveying emotions through dialogue and actions. But this time, as Suin, you showed acting that’s completely different from what you’ve done before.

That’s right. I felt like I was doing something new. Since I had to express tension, shock, and urgency using only eye contact and breathing, it was acting I hadn’t done before. And I thought Suin’s personality is such that she has to keep her composure even in urgent or shocking situations. So I focused on restraint. The difficult part was that in real situations, everything is urgent—and this friend felt that it was urgent too—but verbally, Suin had to calm everyone down. She tells her team members, “Calm down,” but Suin herself isn’t calm. She wants to do acting where she says things like, “Let’s escape from here quickly,” while inside she’s confused, thinking, “What should I do in this situation?” So on the outside she looks steady, but I think I tried to make it so her eyes and breathing still don’t quite settle.

On the surface, Suin is a character who clings tightly to the thread of reason. When do you think you first truly felt the fear of 〈Salmokji〉?

Actually, Suin has a fear of water from the start. The director told us that Suin’s backstory includes a trauma related to water. In some of the dialogue from senior Gyok-sik (Kim Jun-han), you can even see that hinted at slightly. So from the moment Suin arrives at 〈Salmokji〉 for the first time, there’s a scene where she sees water and feels fear.

Based on what you’re saying, it sounds like the director gave very detailed direction. Among that, was there any moment where your opinion as Hye-yoon changed the direction of the acting?

In the director’s mind, Suin’s character and the space of 〈Salmokji〉 were clearly established, but even within that, we had a lot of time to share our opinions freely and talk together. The part where I shared my opinion the most was in the latter half. As we got further into the story, urgent and stressful situations increased, so I kept getting more and more excited. But when I looked at the monitor, I thought that if Suin got too excited, she might lose her center as a PD—so I talked a lot with the director.

▶ The next part of the interview with actress Kim Hye-yoon in 〈Salmokji〉 continues in Part 2.