On May 7, Shin Hye Sun gave an interview to local journalists at a café in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to talk about her acting experience in Following.
Following tells the story of a real estate broker named Go Jung Tae (Byun Yoo Han), who has a strange hobby of sneaking into strangers' homes and prying into their lives. When he starts doing the same thing to Instagram star Han So Ra (Shin Hye Sun), one unfortunate day, he finds her dead in her house. Evidence points to him being the killer. Now he has to find the real killer and clear his name.
Having previously portrayed cute and pretty characters, Shin Hye Sun found it very difficult to play Han So Ra, an Instagram star who fakes her life on social media for attention and admiration.
Shin Hye Sun said that Han So Ra is a "hateful person, you don't want to sympathize with her."
When asked about her impressions after watching the movie, Shin Hye Sun said, "I enjoyed it. I was worried about how it would turn out, but I enjoyed the movie itself." She also admitted, "Maybe because I played that role, I was so disgusted with myself that I cringed a little while watching it."
She revealed the reason for her choice to play such a character, saying: “It is a character that I have never played before,” adding: “I will not say that she is evil, but she is a bad woman, and I wanted to play such a character.”
However, even for Han So Ra authentically, Shin admitted that she did not understand every aspect of the character. She said: "Looking at the character alone, I didn't understand everything from beginning to end. [The reason] I thought about [the character] a lot and sympathized with [her] a little bit is because [I know] that people want to be admired and admired by others, just like the people they love." “It's a natural desire. She [Han So Ra] is a very extreme person in such aspects.”
When asked if she feels pressured about receiving attention like her character Han So Ra, Shin Hye Sun replied, "Attracting attention is exhausting, but I also feel annoyed when I don't get it. Of course, it's good to get a lot of attention considering my career, but in other aspects, it's a bit stressful." Despite this, the actress said she feels it blends well. “In the beginning, showing myself [to people] was the hardest thing.” She continued, "While I appeared on various programs for promotional purposes, I was definitely more accustomed to it than before, and I was no longer as nervous as I was before."
Regarding whether she actively participates on social media to gain good attention as an actress, she said, "I try hard, but I don't enjoy it. I don't see it as my duty to show [people] this [or] it." "But I post with gratitude because there are fans who love it when I do."
Shin Hye Sun, who is known for her love of home, commented on this side of her personality: "Sometimes I feel embarrassed by this side of myself. I'm not young anymore, but I still feel like I'm living a life without much. It's like I'm living a simple life without doing much, so these days I'm trying to live more actively by exercising more."
will be displayedFollowingSometime on May 15th.
