Actor Han So-hee revealed behind-the-scenes of the movie "The Intern."
Han So-hee conducted an interview for the movie 'The Intern' (director Kim Do-young) on the 8th at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
"The Intern," which opens on the 16th, is a film that tells the story of what happens when Ki-ho (Choi Min-sik), a 37-year veteran silver intern, joins the company of CEO Sun-woo (Han So-hee), who founded the fashion Start - Up "Wututu" and turned it into an industry dark horse in three years. The film is directed by Kim Do-young, who presented "82-year-old Kim Ji-young" and "Once We Were Us."
"The Intern," which drew attention for being a work that reinterprets the Hollywood film of the same name released in 2015 for a Korean context after achieving worldwide success. The original, starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, depicted the process in which an experienced 70-year-old intern and a young CEO meet and build a cross-generational friendship, and was loved for a long time in Korea. The Korean version continues the original's setting and message while differentiating itself by blending Korea's workplace culture and intergenerational relationships.
Han So-hee plays Sun-woo, a workaholic CEO who founded the fashion Start - Up "Wututu" and turned it into an industry dark horse in three years. She has exceptional sense and drive at work, but as the burden of success grows, she is a character who carries worries in both work and life. In a company where incidents and accidents occur daily, she tries to solve all problems on her own, but meeting Ki-ho, who enters as her intern, gradually changes her.
Han So-hee was instinctively drawn to "The Intern." She said, "Separating from the original, even if I had read the script without knowing the original 'The Intern,' the character Sun-woo was attractive. I thought a lot that the Sun-woo I portray could be different. And it's about company life, and that aspect appealed to me. She's a grounded character. I felt there could be a character named Sun-woo anywhere, so I was more drawn to it."
However, "The Intern" was a challenge for Han So-hee, who had mainly taken on works with a strong girl-crush image. Han So-hee said, "This kind of acting was more difficult. In previous works I acted proactively, creating or getting involved in incidents, but this time Kim Ki-ho enters my life and seems to resolve conflicts I had. Because of that, I think it was more reaction-driven acting, and with no single correct answer it felt harder. Acting out believable stories made me wonder whether I had done my best or overdid it at times. I thought a lot about how naturalistic acting belongs to a very difficult level of performance."
What helped her find answers amid difficulties was advice from those around her. Han So-hee said, "Most of my friends are office workers. I asked a friend who is at the Start - Up stage what is the hardest thing. Interestingly, everyone answered differently. They said employee relationships, an uncertain future, and so on, and I thought you cannot explain being a worker with a single problem. Then the CEO carries all these worries, and I felt it couldn't be defined in one word, so I thought being imperfect was actually correct."
Although her body may have felt light because it was not action or noir, her head and heart were complicated because it was not the kind of acting she had often shown. Han So-hee said, "The set is always uncomfortable. It feels like a judgment stand. Fortunately there were many actors so there were times we could film more boisterously. When we shot on set we stayed overnight in Jeonju, and meeting and chatting at the lodging accumulated time that helped during filming."
Within that rhythm, memorable scenes of "The Intern" were born. About the bar scene with Choi Min-sik, she said, "Originally the line was, 'If it were my daughter I would have said this. Pull yourself together,' but he switched the order. Since we are people who look at the script and approach filming, we can't omit lines completely and act, so I thought, 'If I say this, the senior will do that,' but suddenly hearing 'pull yourself together' surprised me. As Han So-hee rather than Sun-woo that line sounded, so I was embarrassed, but I let myself be affected and listened to the senior's lines. I listened a lot to what the senior said and it felt like something burst from my heart."
Regarding the scene where she speaks to employees as CEO, she said, "When we filmed the scene toward the end where I speak in front of the staff, I went up to deliver my lines and Park Ye-ni was looking at me crying. As moments we shared passed through my mind, I felt grateful for those who acted with me as Sun-woo as CEO, and I thought as an actor I had many shortcomings but they acted with me, so I felt thankful. My tears burst and I couldn't deliver my lines, and when I tried to catch my breath to speak, Ryu Hyeyoung was also crying, so many emotions surfaced."
Especially about the flagship store behind-the-scenes, she said, "At the time the only thing I could appear in was 'Weplash.' I saw the completed film for the first time and the song 'Weplash' was included. I felt relieved. I was worried it might look ridiculous to dance, but when the song came on I was glad. If it were an easy song I could have added acting, but I sang without accompaniment. It drove me crazy. I sang hard; it wasn't that I purposely couldn't sing. I did my best, and that was the result," she laughed.
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