[Kim Ji-yeon's Jewelry Box] You Already Knew Lee Hyo-je! 'If Wishes Could Kill' Lee Hyo-je

The first time I saw Lee Hyo-je, or rather the first time I 'mistook' that I had seen him, was at a small theater. Earlier this year, Lee Hyo-je took the stage as the character Gi Ho-tae in the youth troupe Bu-eong Waltz's play 〈Escape from Reality〉. As his character name Gi Ho-tae suggests, the play reinterprets Cervantes' 「Don Quixote」 in a modern key, and Lee Hyo-je moved between ridiculous madness and heartbreakingly heavy sincerity, bringing the play's central questions into sharp focus. On a stage where the line between reality and fantasy collapses, he would be shedding tears one moment and delivering a cheerful joke the next; seeming recklessly childlike at times, then comforting the audience with a candid monologue. He filled the theater with taut tension and humor. I admired his reckless yet noble energy against vast absurdity and his performance that swung between comedy and tragedy. I flipped through the poster to remember his name: who was that actor?

So when Lee Hyo-je appeared as Hyung-uk in 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉, I couldn't help but feel a private delight. The actor I had seen delivering such fine work onstage was now making an impression on viewers around the world! Yet the thought that he was an actor only I knew felt embarrassingly naïve: in truth, Lee Hyo-je was already a familiar face. A 12-year acting veteran, he had appeared in many recognizable productions that most people have likely seen at least once.

I can guarantee this: you absolutely saw Lee Hyo-je before 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉. You just didn't register his name. From early child roles such as the young version of So Ji-sub in 〈The Throne〉 to more recent parts like the son of Kim Sun-young's women's association leader character in 〈Concrete Utopia〉, Lee Hyo-je started acting around 2014 at about ten years old and has now become an actor with 12 years of experience.

Having played younger versions of characters in productions like 〈The Priests〉, 〈Vanishing Time〉, 〈The Throne〉, 〈Suriname〉, and 〈No Longer Human〉, and showing distinctive energy in indie films such as 〈Loop〉 and 〈Good Person〉, Lee Hyo-je seems to have truly stepped into the spotlight with 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉. In the young-adult horror series 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉, whose cast—including Jeon So-young, Kang Mina, Baek Sun-ho, and Hyun Woo-seok—is mostly newcomers radiating fresh energy, he appears as Hyung-uk, the character who signals the beginning of the curse and helps drive the birth of this audacious series.

Lee Hyo-je pulled off a weighty mission: he had to convey the tone of 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉 in just a single episode. As the figure who heralds the curse, he needed to convince viewers quickly and powerfully that this playful student could go from joking around with friends to making a wish and being drawn into a curse. Hyung-uk seemed like an ordinary student who enjoyed hanging out with his friends. He accidentally discovers the 'Girigo' app and wishes for a perfect score in math. The wish miraculously comes true, but 24 hours later Hyung-uk becomes possessed by something unknown and slashes his own throat with a box cutter.

To capture Hyung-uk's essence, Lee Hyo-je prepared by gaining about 20 kg (around 44 pounds), and he portrayed Hyung-uk's gradual descent into terror in a disturbingly precise way. From facial expressions to the subtle tremors in his facial muscles, his portrayal made viewers quickly sink into the eerie universe of 〈If Wishes Could Kill〉.

Director Park Yoon-seok has said he cast Lee Hyo-je as Hyung-uk after seeing his gaze in 〈Concrete Utopia〉. It's easy to see why: in 〈Concrete Utopia〉, Lee Hyo-je convincingly expressed raw emotions suited to genre cinema—from a naive high schooler who, shaken in a post-disaster world, awkwardly joins a security patrol, to a face frozen with terror after being attacked while searching the surroundings.

I thought I'd discovered him at the bottom, but Lee Hyo-je was already a blue-chip stock. Twelve years of experience, solid intrinsic value, and a track record proven multiple times—it was only my late recognition. His upward trajectory has already begun, so stake your claim on this blue-chip before it's too late.