Actor Kim Goeun reflected on past breakups through You and Everything Else.
On the morning of the 22nd at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, an interview was held with Kim Goeun, the lead actress of the Netflix original drama You and Everything Else.
You and Everything Else is a story that faces all the times of two friends, Eun-jung (played by Kim Goeun) and Sang-yeon (played by Park Ji-hyun), who at every moment like and admire each other the most, and also grow distant through jealousy and hatred, entangled over a lifetime. The relationship that began when Sang-yeon transferred to Eun-jung's school in their teens continues with their reunion in a college club in their 20s, an uncomfortable meeting in their 30s, and in their 40s leads to a journey to Switzerland to assist Sang-yeon's assisted death.
With all episodes released on Netflix on the 12th, when asked how she felt after seeing the final cut, Kim Goeun said, "Personally, I felt relieved because it seemed to come out as a very good work. When a work comes out, acquaintances around me usually contact me, but this time senior actors contacted me a lot and people in the industry seemed to reach out especially often, so I thought, 'They're watching it well.'"
Earlier, she had said she hoped people would feel like it was "like a novel," and she added, "I thought our story was, in fact, a story heading toward the end. What I wanted to liken it to a book is that a book feels complete only after you read to the last page. I felt this work is cautious, moving forward step by step. I thought it might feel like reading letter by letter."
In the story, Eun-jung and Sang-yeon were friends but grew apart while shifting between feelings of jealousy and admiration. In particular, Sang-yeon once stole Eun-jung's project out of a sense of entitlement and victimhood and succeeded. When asked if she, as an actress, could understand Sang-yeon, Kim Goeun answered simply, "Yes." She said, "I can't say it applies to all of us, but there were times I was Eun-jung and times I was Sang-yeon. Of course, I can't say I understand all the things someone would do to a friend, but I do understand the mindset that makes them do it. When someone develops that mindset, they can become abrasive and their thinking or perspective narrows. I thought a lot about how those parts could very much happen."
She said, "The line in this work that hurt me the most was, 'If a child thinks that way, the world becomes that way.' I'm not a child, of course, but once a thought brushes past you and takes root, a world is created. Entering that world is instantaneous and easy, but getting out of it is very difficult. I remembered the times I struggled to get out, and thought Sang-yeon really managed to come out belatedly. Although it was in the face of death, I felt relieved that she managed to come out. When I heard that line, I felt unbearably sad. I wondered if Sang-yeon's life would have been different if she had come out earlier."
Kim Goeun admitted, "I want to be like Eun-jung and try to live like her, but sometimes Sang-yeon-like sides come out." She added, "When you work emotionally, it can cause mental illness. That's when you have to be most cautious. 'Absolutely not,' 'I won't enter that world.' I once entered it, and it was terrifying. I remember clawing my way out. At that time my self-esteem was so low that I experienced my thought circuits becoming really abrasive."
She continued, "When I met someone with entitlement, when I was younger I'd think, 'That person is terrible,' and judge them, feeling I didn't want to talk with them. But after experiencing becoming someone with extreme entitlement, I saw that side of myself. When I became the type of person I hated and struggled a lot to get out and rebuild my self-esteem, those years were hard. But after that experience I developed a lot of altruism. Since then, when I feel something might hurt, I often look into myself to avoid going that way and try to cope. Wouldn't that have made me like Sang-yeon back then?" she said with a laugh.
Regarding the assessment that Sang-yeon was "like a natural disaster" in Eun-jung's life, Kim Goeun said, "I actually think Sang-yeon influenced Eun-jung a lot, whether for better or worse. In the final conversation on the bed, I think Eun-jung might have reflected from start to finish on the life she had with Sang-yeon before following her to Switzerland. I felt Eun-jung was telling Sang-yeon the conclusion she reached. It wasn't that you ruined me, but rather that I owe much to you; because of you I exist now. If we had used the right emotions, we could have maintained a better relationship, but clumsiness made many things in relationships and work not go as one hoped. I think the bed conversation and what Eun-jung said to Sang-yeon were Eun-jung's true feelings."
Asked why Eun-jung didn't reject Sang-yeon and continued their tenacious bond, Kim Goeun said, "Although they reconnect repeatedly, there were fairly long intervals in between. In their 30s it was really work that tied them, and in their 40s Sang-yeon returned after 10 years. I don't think Eun-jung clung to Sang-yeon that much. In the 30s she had the resolve to quit and stop working. I also thought Eun-jung felt much more admiration than jealousy toward Sang-yeon."
She said, "You know those friends from childhood who seem so cool and everything they do looks great. Sang-yeon was that kind of friend to Eun-jung but much more. In their 30s, 'If you knew how radiant you were, you wouldn't destroy yourself when your mind is broken'—that's something said. That was truly a sad and sincere sentiment toward Eun-jung. How often in one's life do you feel someone is an illuminating person or a brilliant child like that?"
When asked what Sang-yeon meant to Eun-jung, she replied, "In her 20s Eun-jung says something like, 'I cannot discuss my life without mentioning Cheon Sang-yeon.' Isn't that it? In fact, when Sang-yeon faced death and looked back on life overall, only three things remained. Among them was Ryu Eun-jung. I think relationships must be mutual. If Ryu Eun-jung remained in Cheon Sang-yeon's life, then Cheon Sang-yeon would remain in Ryu Eun-jung's life. I thought Eun-jung must have reflected on life like Sang-yeon did before accompanying her to Switzerland. I imagined that when she looked back objectively, excluding emotions, she might have thought, 'What remains in my life is Cheon Sang-yeon.'"
At a previous press conference, Kim Goeun once cried while saying she wanted to "send her off well" when explaining Sang-yeon asking Eun-jung to accompany her for assisted death. Asked why, Kim Goeun said, "In 2023 I lost some of my closest friends in a short period. Strangely, in 2023 the works I filmed were The Laws of Love in a Big City and You and Everything Else. It wasn't intentional; it was already set up that way," she said cautiously.
She said, "I think You and Everything Else is a work in which the remaining Eun-jung tells Sang-yeon's story. You see Sang-yeon's diary and from that child's perspective the story conveys this life and my life well. Thinking about Eun-jung's feelings when she followed to Switzerland in the final scene, it was 'I want to send you off well,' and I thought it was also an opportunity for Eun-jung. We rarely get the chance to send off someone we truly love. It's often difficult even to be at someone's deathbed. But at the last moment you can still say what you wanted to say on the bed and add, 'You did well,' 'You endured well.' That must have been a good opportunity for Eun-jung. Although the remaining Eun-jung would be in pain, I think her emotional burden might have been lighter. Those feelings arise whenever I recall that scene."
Kim Goeun said she would likely accompany someone in Eun-jung's situation to Switzerland. She said, "I lived alone with my grandmother for six years in my 20s. From my freshman year until finishing the work Cheese in the Trap, we lived just the two of us, and we had a lot of connection. She was like a real friend. When she passed, I think I slept at the hospital day and night for three days to be there at the deathbed. She was asleep at the end, so I couldn't see her pass. My father woke me and said, 'Grandmother is gone.' A few days before, my grandmother seemed to give me her last words in my ear. She told me, 'Goeun, live by giving to others. Help a lot and give a lot, understand?' I also spoke into my grandmother's ear. Although I couldn't be there at the exact moment, being by her side for three days and nights is something I feel grateful for in life."
She added, "Of course it's sad to recall, but many good memories come to mind and I'm glad I accompanied her to the end. At the time it was very hard and the solo flight home would have been emotionally difficult. But when time passes, I think you'll feel you made the right choice."
Kim Goeun played Eun-jung from her 20s to her 40s, except for the teenage years. Asked what she focused on for each age, she said, "In the early 20s there is still a lot of teen energy, so I wanted a bit of plumpness in the face and gained weight for that. I aimed for a freshman feel; she's awkward at handling emotions. For the 30s, since I was in my 30s myself, I reflected on what changed between the 20s and 30s. It's the most active period for work, so I thought there would be effects from work. Depending on the profession, atmosphere and energy differ greatly; since she was in a high-energy profession, I tried to reflect that in her walk, greetings, gestures and attitude."
She added, "Because I haven't experienced my 40s, I watched those around me a lot. I think the mood changes more toward the mid-to-late 40s, but between the mid-30s and early 40s it didn't change much. Rather than forcing a change, I thought about the calmness and atmosphere from a decade spent mainly writing alone after leaving her previous profession. There's about a 6 kg difference between the 20s and the 40s. I lost about 3 kg for each. Filming proceeded in sequence. It had to be that way because as surroundings and supporting characters change, it would have been impossible to film by going back and forth."
Despite these efforts and praise, You and Everything Else has not yet shown standout results. When asked about this disappointment, Kim Goeun said, "It's my first Netflix original, so I don't know how it works. But I heard that they count it as performance only if viewers watch from part 1 to the end. It doesn't feel like episode-by-episode ratings. It seems they consider the completion from episode 1 to 15 as one. If that's the case, since it's a good work, even if it's slow, I think it will gradually rise. I hope so."
When asked which scene left the deepest impression, Kim Goeun chose "the scene where Eun-jung reads Sang-yeon's letter." She said the 40s left the strongest impression, and added, "Of course, viewers have to endure some parts. I hoped they would endure it with us. When reading Sang-yeon's story for the first time in the 40s, it was very hard even on set. I think about the Switzerland scenes a lot. Ji-hyun is extremely emotional; she cries as soon as she makes eye contact. There were many moments when I felt I would burst into tears, but because she was crying in front of me my tears would pull back. It must have been very hard. Sang-yeon is not a role who cries often, nor is Eun-jung a role who cries; they endured the urge to cry while filming, so Ji-hyun must have had a hard time, and so did I."
She continued, "One memorable scene is when Eun-jung says, 'You wish I had gone with you? Don't say it the other way around.' Originally that scene had more lines and was more emotional. When the director and Ji-hyun were beside me, I said, 'We have built the backstory so that many words aren't needed. Eun-jung would not act emotionally. Once there's a pose formed with a glance or a breath, won't their 30 years be felt?' So we erased all the lines except that one, and Sang-yeon only said 'Yes.' Watching that, I felt very relieved."
Finally, when asked what she would like to say to Eun-jung, who is left alone after sending Sang-yeon off, she said, "You did well." Kim Goeun added, "Eun-jung is someone who protects herself well, so I don't think this will have a lasting bad or hurtful effect on her life. I hope she lives well."
[Photo] Netflix
[OSEN]