Jung Ho-yeon on ‘Hope’: ‘I’m trying to overcome the fear of a major project with a rookie’s drive’

Few actors have had a debut as striking as Jung Ho-yeon’s. Jung moved from top-tier modeling into acting and made a notable acting debut with 〈Squid Game〉. Now she is about to make her film debut in 〈Hope〉. Directed by Na Hong-jin, the filmmaker behind hits such as 〈The Chaser〉, 〈The Yellow Sea〉, and 〈The Wailing〉, 〈Hope〉 features an impressive cast including Hwang Jung-min, Jo In-sung, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. In 〈Hope〉, Jung Ho-yeon again delivers a strong presence on screen.

Jung Ho-yeon, already a global star and a rising one, plays Seong-ae, a police officer from Hopo Port, in 〈Hope〉. From her first appearance she radiates an unusual charisma, and when she talks with neighborhood elders her eyes light up like a child’s—she fits naturally into the film. I met Jung Ho-yeon on July 8 at a location in Seoul. She said she wants to be seen as someone who works diligently and thoroughly. She answered many questions candidly and, as always, brought energy to the conversation with her characteristic positivity. Excerpts from my interview with Jung follow.

You reached the Cannes Film Festival with 〈Hope〉 and have once again taken the global spotlight.

Is that so? (laughs) More than that, I think simply getting to participate in a film like 〈Hope〉 is a glorious moment for an actor’s career. I feel excited and grateful.

This is your screen debut — how does that feel?

Seeing my performance on such a large screen felt very unfamiliar. I was nervous and a little afraid, but the dominant emotion was excitement. It was a happy feeling. I felt a strong sense of pride at becoming an actor who appears on the screen.

The director said he felt you were similar to Seong-ae from your first meeting. What was that first meeting like?

When the director first asked to meet, it felt more like a casual request to “meet once” than a meeting about the project. Of course I was a huge fan of his, so I was extremely nervous and went in with an audition mindset. In person his gaze was intense—I felt like he barely blinked. I thought there was no point putting on an act, so I showed him who I really am. The director insisted that when you join Chungmuro you must eat jjajangmyeon and bought me a bowl. (laughs) Toward the end of the meeting he told the producer to send me the script—I'll never forget that moment. I don't know how I came across then, but later the director said he saw a lot of the core goodness of the character Seong-ae in me.

How did you feel when he said you resembled the character in that noble way?

When I first heard that, my immediate reaction was, "Really?" What I thought we shared was an unflagging persistence. I focused on that commonality while studying the character.

I heard you also earned a Class 1 driver’s license and received firearms training. What was the training process like?

It was a six-month process. For weight training, the firearm used in the film weighs about 5 kilograms, and knowing the director is meticulous about takes, I felt weight training was essential. I gained about 4 kilograms of muscle and kept up aerobic workouts for baseline fitness. I passed the Class 1 license on my first try. (laughs) With a truck. You’re out after three mistakes, so when the engine stalled on an uphill I was relieved it restarted and I passed. After getting the license I took drift training with a racing specialist and also underwent firearms training.

At Cannes you probably couldn’t take the film in fully. How did it feel to watch it again at the domestic screening?

At Cannes we had a full morning schedule, so it was hard to concentrate in the theater. At the domestic screening I watched it with Hwang Jung-min; at the moment the unidentified life form first appears, we grabbed each other's hands and stared at each other. My mouth fell open. It’s a very thrilling, heart-poundingly intense film.

The film raises so many questions. When you read the script, which scenes did you most wonder how they would turn out?

I thought a lot about how to approach the encounters with the unidentified life forms. I laughed a lot when I read the script and even asked the director whether feeling amused in those moments was right. He told me to simply follow what I felt. I remember enjoying the read very much. Im Hyun-sik’s scene was especially funny. Lee Sang-hee’s character Nak-yeon, conversing back and forth with Beom-seok, was also hilarious. On set we mostly followed the script, though the director added some bits, and we filmed those with laughter, too.

How was it working with Hwang Jung-min and Jo In-sung?

My chemistry with Hwang Jung-min was very good. Our back-and-forth had great rhythm—though I felt he adjusted to me more than I adjusted to him. There are many moments where we move or react together, and those rhythms really clicked. One thing I learned was that he always arrives twenty minutes early and never relaxes his focus. On set it's easy to loosen up once you settle in, but he maintains his concentration. Especially on an action film, safety is critical, and I learned a lot from his professional approach. Jo In-sung brought a light touch, supporting the set in a low-key, humorous way that kept the atmosphere relaxed. I learned not only about acting from both seniors, but also about the right attitude for an actor.

Your acting debut was 〈Squid Game〉 and your film debut is 〈Hope〉. Your resume is already striking.

Given how much I still have to learn, encountering such major projects naturally brings moments of fear. I tried to prepare to overcome that fear. Like the line “The real thing is momentum” (laughs), I tried to keep good momentum. Even if my experience, know-how and depth are lacking, I thought having a strong rookie energy among great veterans could be a newcomer’s appeal, so I tried to bring that. I focus more on gratitude than on anxiety or fear. I mostly think about practical tasks: how can I make the most of this opportunity to build a stronger career?

What kind of person did you think Seong-ae was in reality?

At a reading the director gave a hint: “Isn’t Seong-ae the kind of person who knows how many spoons are in the village?” Because the village has a majority elderly population, we talked about Seong-ae spending a long time interacting with the elders as part of her daily life.

The film doesn’t present a character backstory at all. Did the director prepare those details, or leave them to the actors?

I asked the director many questions, and he said the reason he doesn't reveal that backstory in the film is that he wanted to capture only the film's immediacy—the “Just.” Hearing that made me realize why his films always feel cool. I did write a personal backstory for Seong-ae in my notes, but on a film level I focused on training and refining the moments the audience truly needs to feel.

Seong-ae keeps up a high level of tension from her first appearance to the end. That must have been difficult.

The director asked me to raise my usual tone by about one notch. We used that tone at the readings, so at the start of filming my voice did get a bit hoarse. But vocal cords are muscles, and as I used them they became accustomed, and after a while my voice stopped getting hoarse. Another strange experience: even though I couldn't keep up the same exercise routine I did in pre-production, my stamina and concentration improved once we started filming.

You had to act opposite something that doesn't actually exist. How did you handle that on set?

During breaks before takes, crew members used laser pointers to help fix our eyelines, and some actors wearing models of the extraterrestrial life forms helped out. They explained the expected motions and how the creatures would move, which helped me prepare and decide how to deliver raw, authentic reactions.

Was what appeared in the film different from what you imagined beforehand?

It exceeded my imagination. At the first appearance of the alien I felt my heart pound—an explosion of adrenaline—and Hwang Jung-min and I looked at each other and said, “Wow~~~.” (laughs) This might be a spoiler, but because I knew the story, I felt a little sad. It’s a tragedy between alien and human, but it also felt like a tragedy that can happen in our lives. My feelings were very complex. Their eyes are so beautiful, and maybe because I’m an F, I tended to over-identify with those creatures. (laughs)

※ 〈Hope〉 actor Jung Ho-yeon’s interview continues in Part 2.