Actor Kim Shin-rock is showcasing an irreplaceable power as she simultaneously dominates the screen and the stage.
From the chilling screen command she displays in the film "Project Y" (director Lee Hwan) to the one-woman play "Repairing the Living," which has been sold out day after day, the cheat-code-level impact carried by the three syllables Kim Shin-rock is shaking the entire cultural world.
In the crime-entertaining movie "Project Y," now in wide release, Kim Shin-rock plays Ga-young, the mother of Mi-seon (Han So-hee) and Do-gyeong (Jeon Jong-seo), and is playing a pivotal role that upends the film's balance. She engages in tense power struggles that do not yield even before the unrestrained charisma of Hwang-soo (Jung Young-joo), and overwhelms the screen with the slightest look. In particular, Ga-young's three-dimensional narrative and unpredictable choices, which shine increasingly toward the film's latter half, act as the key to the film's strongest twist and leave audiences holding their breath.
Among actual audiences, praise such as "Kim Shin-rock's appearance is the film's plausibility" is pouring in. Even amid the intense pairing of Han So-hee and Jeon Jong-seo, she emits her own singular aura and has once again proven her value as an actor audiences can trust.
The heat from the screen carries over intact to the stage. The play "Repairing the Living," which opened on the 13th, is a stage to confirm Kim Shin-rock's astonishing acting range. In the piece, adapted into a one-woman play that records the 24 hours until the organs of a young man declared brain-dead after an unexpected traffic accident are donated, Kim Shin-rock perfectly inhabits a variety of characters—from the narrator to 19-year-old Simon and 51-year-old woman Claire—as if she had changed faces. Having successfully led the 2022 and 2024 seasons, she captivates audiences this season with even more nuanced tempo control and explosive energy.
From the organ donation coordinator's rational torment to the beneficiary's overwhelming emotions, his detailed and shifting intense performance reportedly fills the theater with a heavy thrill at every show. Fueled by this firepower, the play has been selling out daily, and the recently held third ticket opening also showed overwhelming strength, proving Kim Shin-rock's ticket power.
From a chilly villain on screen to a face that conveys the sacred value of life on stage, Kim Shin-rock freely presents variations of extreme characters and continues an unprecedented course. Her ability to present a new face that breaks conventions in each work leads to elevating the overall quality of the projects beyond mere acting skill. Critics' high praise calling her "an actor with the power to give a character her own narrative and convince audiences" explains why she is the hottest actor of this era.
Proving overwhelming trust with just her name, Kim Shin-rock has simultaneously conquered the screen and the stage. The industry and the public are focused on the next steps she will write as she continues to demonstrate a limitless spectrum.
Meanwhile, the film "Project Y," which captures Kim Shin-rock's drastic transformation, is showing nationwide, and the play "Repairing the Living," which has been creating a sellout legend, runs at the National Jeongdong Theater through Mar. 8.
[Photos] Plus M Entertainment, Project Group Ilda
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