Interview
Hyejee Nicole Kim
Confessions of
Q: I see that you haven’t been featuring on any ‘major’ films or TV shows after
Actress Heekyung Jin
ago! What were you on since then?
A model, actress, and educator, HeeKyung Jin talks about her own
interpretations of ‘mistakes’
your role as ‘Ha Choon Hwa’ in the movie ‘Sunny’; that was two huge years
A: Well, my first priority was, and is on my family, especially after my marriage
(2008). I’ve firmly decided to avoid any large media attention on myself, and
acquainted many that I will not take huge character roles. But I did come out briefly
in the TV drama ‘Poseidon’—it didn’t gain a high viewing rate, but still!—because
of a request from one of my closest directors. I tried to avoid parts that were too
time/energy consuming.
Q: What are some memorable mistakes you have made as an actress that
come to your mind?
A: They are innumerable! Absolutely innumerable! Hundreds of people must
cooperate and come together at a correct time in a correct manner to make
fashion shows run smoothly or movies go fluently. So it’s very easy to make
mistakes or call a ‘NG’. Even if a guy helping out with the lighting takes a short
siesta and misses a call, or a sound crew hiccups into a sound recorder, you’d have
to film the whole scene again. It’s just so easy to make mistakes. If I have to pick
one, it would be the scene from the movie ‘Deep Scratch’ (손톱)’when I was filming
a scene in a room blazing with fire. We had to mend the set over and over again if
we couldn’t get the perfect scene. And it took more than half a day to completely
restore the set for another go (this was in 1994). There are also little mistakes like
breaking props that there aren’t enough of. For one example, in scenes where
actors/actresses break glasses, we use glasses made up of sugar so that no one
gets hurt, but it’s really difficult to get hold of these bottles in Korea. I also have
[In her typical tall, sanguine, and still charming mode,
she stepped into the room with her usual confidence and
dauntlessness and made the café seem like the runway of
the latest fashion show. Although it has been nearly 24 years
since her debut as a fashion model in 1989, she continues
to be young and spry, spreading vitality all around her.]
many of those ‘flaw in a jade’ (Korean idiom meaning very small mistakes in movies
or TV dramas) because my costume team didn’t match the right costume for the
scenes. It’s hard to notice on the actual filming grounds because we don’t always
shoot the scenes in order, but when the scenes are edited and broadcasted it’s so
noticeable when I’m suddenly carrying a different bag or wearing a different jacket
after a scene change. I have a lot of them if you look up on the Internet! (Laughs)