Actress Kim Ye-rim, a former member of Red Velvet, shared her thoughts on starting anew after ending her exclusive contract with SM Entertainment.
On the 8th, a video titled "There was an incident at SM... I was the leader..." was released on the YouTube channel 'Hyeri'.
Kim Ye-rim, meeting Hyeri for the first time through 'Hyel's Club', expressed her curiosity, saying, "I've heard a lot about Hyeri from acquaintances." In response, Hyeri sent her a suspicious glance and said, "When I asked Key about a close younger sister, he pointed out me and Ye-rim." Kim Ye-rim remarked, "After about 11 years in the entertainment industry, I'm confused about the standards of closeness. I felt close, but the other person might not feel the same. I wonder if not meeting outside means we are not close, but Key really likes me."
Now in her 11th year since debut, Kim Ye-rim stated, "I'm no longer young wherever I go. I'm the eldest daughter with three younger sisters, with age gaps of 1 year, 10 years, and 13 years. I adore my younger siblings with a significant age difference, so my younger sister, who is just 1 year younger, feels a bit sad, but as we grow older together, I'm providing her with financial treatment," which elicited laughter.
Kim Ye-rim recently left SM Entertainment and switched to Blitzway Entertainment. She explained, "I thought, 'It won't be a big deal, and I'll be fine,' but the period I was filming a drama coincided with the end of my contract, and it ended while I was filming. After finishing the drama, I hurried to find a new agency, but when it came with stress, I cried while drinking makgeolli. I have to make a choice and a decision, so I cried at the thought, 'Me, the positive and optimistic one, feeling stress?'"
Kim Ye-rim, in an effort to revive her YouTube channel after changing agencies, mentioned, "My channel has failed," but added, "I opened it without much thought. I created it without a specific plan, and now my fans are a bit sad. I'm deliberating over whether to revive it. After switching agencies, I thought I could handle editing, but it didn't work out. It's not just about editing; there's a lot to consider. I was short-sighted."
Kim Ye-rim is set to release the film 'Gangryeong: Ghost Play'. As a horror film, she remarked, "I normally watch horror movies well, so I hope our movie is scary, but to a degree that everyone can watch it. Since the difficulty isn't high, I hope many will watch it." She added, "While the filming atmosphere was pleasant, it was humid and hot in the underground reservoir set, with no windows, which naturally made people nervous and sensitive. There were even stories about seeing ghosts. One of the staff members claimed to have seen a ghost and told us after the filming was done."
Having also met viewers through 'Cheongdam International High School 2', Kim Ye-rim said, "A sense of mission emerges. Knowing that those who loved Season 1 will watch again, I felt a lot of pressure. I was stressed, fearing that someone would say, 'She doesn't act well, why is her character the same yet her acting is bad?" Regarding her character Baek Je-na from 'Cheongdam International High School' and the character Yoo Je-i from 'Friendly Rivalry', she felt a peculiar sense of kinship. When asked what would happen if Baek Je-na and Yoo Je-i attended the same school, Kim Ye-rim replied, "Yoo Je-i is scary. I think Baek Je-na would lose. I wonder if I have more money." Kim Ye-rim, an only daughter of a large company, and Hyeri, the daughter of a hospital director, performed a situational drama to elicit laughter.
In particular, Kim Ye-rim commented on her determination to remain loyal when joining Red Velvet, saying, "I got a lot of criticism for saying that. They'd ask, 'Who do you think you are to say such things?' It made me wonder what kind of nerve I had to say that. After dropping out of middle school, I took the GED, enrolled in a high school for the arts, and debuted. My trainee friends felt like school friends, and I'm still very close with them. We often talk about past stories like we're in the military. When the seniors would leave behind snacks, we would sneakily eat them."
Kim Ye-rim continued, "Back then, honey bread was all the rage, and I would go to find a cafe that opened before my 10 a.m. start time just to eat it. There was a family restaurant in front of the agency, and I would rally my trainee friends to take them there every morning before work. My friends followed me well, but they sent me to places like the spine hospital to get taller, and we would order pizza there. I often got in trouble for always eating."
Kim Ye-rim mentioned, "I weigh myself every day, but maybe because I was young, it came off quickly. I thought it was an easy game. I don't do that anymore." Hyeri responded, "Since they wouldn't let us eat, Yura unnie would pretend to look in the mirror while sneaking snacks, and Minji would eat secretly while driving, forming a shared understanding as idols."
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