(Following interview ③) Actress Song Ji-hyo spoke about her busy recent life, including the film "The Savior" and her activities as the CEO of an underwear brand.
Song Ji-hyo conducted an interview on the morning of Oct. 23 at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. At the event, she talked about the upcoming release of the film "The Savior" (director Shin Jun) and her recent activities.
"The Savior" is a mystery occult film in which miraculous events happen to Yeong-beom and Seon-hee after they move to the blessed land Obok-ri, and they come to realize that all of it is the price someone paid for misfortune. Actor Kim Byung-chul, who received praise for the drama Doctor Cha and Mr. Sunshine, plays Yeong-beom, and actress Song Ji-hyo, who continues to be loved through the variety show Running Man, plays his wife Seon-hee. In addition, Kim Hee-ra plays Chun-seo, who lived in Obok-ri, intensifying the mystery.
In particular, in addition to "The Savior," Song Ji-hyo is active as the CEO of an underwear brand, as well as appearing in the recently released film "House of Meeting" and the variety show Running Man. About her busy schedule, she said with a laugh, "After this interview I have to go to the office for the first time in a while. I usually go often. I thought about going yesterday too, but if I go the company teams will be finishing up, and if I go I would have to hold them up, so I couldn't go."
Unlike many celebrities who, when venturing into business, appoint a separate CEO to handle actual operations for their main career, Song Ji-hyo is directly involved, approving decisions herself. She said, "When a product comes out I participate 100 percent, and even now I participate about 80 percent. By nature I need to participate directly to make things, catch the details in the process to feel satisfied, and this business is actually different in character from my main work, so I concentrate more and pay more attention to it."
She continued, "There is a different kind of fatigue than the fatigue from my main work, but the sense of accomplishment from creating things one by one is so great that I don't feel tired. The satisfaction is big. I make things one by one, the system is different. If I don't approve something, the next project won't be made. When I go and they bring me 10 items to approve at once, there is a pride in looking at the items and deciding why they should be approved. It's fun," she said with a laugh.
She even revealed, "During the promotional period before the preview I couldn't go to the company. They invited me to the preview and said they would come, and my team came bringing things to approve. In the waiting room I did a full setup and made approvals, showing myself as CEO, and these days I've been that busy," which drew surprise.
Meanwhile, news about weak sales in the early days of Song Ji-hyo's business had elicited sympathy. Song Ji-hyo said, "I didn't expect an explosive reaction. I wanted to know the current situation without any promotion, so I didn't do viral marketing and I didn't tell people. I wanted to accept the reality of how it would be when I actually ran the business." She added, "After that I figured out how to promote it. I can't talk in numbers right now, but it's gotten better. It's selling a lot. It's much better than the early days of the business, so the burden has eased a lot," she said, her eyes lighting up.
She went on, "Being able to take on challenges is the greatest happiness. Being able to break away from the same patterns every day feels like healing to me," and added, "As a CEO there are some regrets. A friend of mine said something: after having a baby, diaper and formula costs aren't really that much, but that month goes by so fast she didn't understand why. I also find that the approvals and maintenance costs I have to pay come around quickly. I feel like I have to work hard. At the same time, I don't want to lower product quality, so I feel that to properly release good products I have to work even harder," she said with a laugh.
Besides being CEO, Song Ji-hyo is preparing busy activities as an actress. She said, "There are scripts I'm looking at even now. It would have been nice if the already released "House of Meeting" and the soon-to-be-released "The Savior" had opened with some time between them, but timing didn't allow it. Still, both are my children. After the promotion period ends, besides my main work I will work hard on business and variety shows and try to find what else I can do," she added.
The Savior, in which Song Ji-hyo stars, opens on Nov. 5.
[Photo] Provided by Mindmark.
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