Actress Hwang Jung-eum makes her comeback on the small screen less than three months after her previous drama Endless Love wrapped up. Her latest project Kill Me, Heal Me reunites her with her co-star in the drama, Secret but this time, no more angsty melodrama for their characters (so far). I am thankful that I can get on the healing rom-com bandwagon because I like her a lot! Hwang Jung-eum is featured in the February edition of Marie Claire Korea, trading the lovely look of Oh Ri-jin for an elegant actress Hwang Jung-eum while talking about her favourite personality of Ji Sung in the drama and also her personal life.

Kill Me, Heal Me can be regarded as a dark horse among the currently airing dramas, taking over the slot previously occupied by the Wed-Thu series Mr. Baek on MBC. One might have wondered what is exactly the drama’s genre: is it fantasy, comedy, or action? Or is it thriller? The drama was teased as a multiple personality drama with a multiple personality hero. However, the drama soon found a cult following right after the first episode aired, and the (cheesy) line uttered by Shin Se-gi to Oh Ri-jin became a famous quote overnight. “Remember, […] 10PM, the moment I fell for you.”

Aside from the main actor Ji Sung, the drama also star the rising star Park Seo-joon, Misaeng’s ‘Assistant Manager Kang’ Oh Min-suk, and also the leading lady Hwang Jung-eum. She is always seen running from one place to another and screaming intensely. Her character is a noisy but lovable chatterbox, and the actress manages to be cute and lovable despite sacrificing her image for the sake of her character. It seems that Oh Ri-jin won’t come alive if not for Hwang Jung-eum, but the actress is humble and full of praises for the director. She realizes that she gets over at times while portraying Ri-jin and it was actually the director’s request for her to pull off her acting just like what she did for the sitcom High Kick Through the Roof, but she comes to a realization that her growth throughout the years makes it impossible for her to be the same Hwang Jung-eum back then.

This is not the first time she works with Ji Sung as they were paired in the KBS melodrama Secret back in 2013. It is not dull at all to see them together on the screen again, as this drama turns Ji Sung into a chaebol with seven distinct personalities as an effect of the character’s Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). His usual character is the calm and exemplary Cha Do-hyun but beneath his normal self, there are the sexy bad guy Shin Se-gi, the entertaining dialect speaker Ferry Park, and the cartoon-like alters who continue to pop out here and there. Ji Sung expresses his fondness over Ferry Park but Hwang Jung-eum has her own verdict. She chooses the bad boy Shin Se-gi, because he’s full of charms, not to mention that he can fight. Hehehe!

She also talks about her bear-like boyfriend of 9 years, Kim Yong-joon (of the ballad group SG Wannabe). The actress jokes that he has become worse and more selfish throughout the years. They have loved, fought, and hated each other to death, but they always made up with big smiles afterwards. Hwang Jung-eum used to stay home a lot and spent her time waiting for him prior to High Kick Through the Roof, but the sitcom shot her to fame and made her even more determined to work hard as an actress. Describing their lives as a sitcom, she admitted that she is scary when she is angry and Kim Yong-joon even went back to his house out of fear.

The bickering couple has a good relationship in reality and Hwang Jung-eum even joked about breaking up with her boyfriend during Kill Me, Heal Me‘s press conference. The news reports following her statement made Kim Yong-joon scolded her and she jokes that this time, they might be able to get married…or not. She says while smiling that she’s not loyal and she can’t stand it when she hates something but without him, she admits to being uneasy, because he’s her best friend. Her frankness is her charm, and she states that she used to have enormous confidence back then and her friends think that she has become kinder after she becomes a celebrity. The actress jokes again, wondering if she was that bad back then. Being a celebrity requires a lot of kindness and ability to forgive others. Honing her acting crafts is her priority and she does not want to make herself tired by thinking about the insignificant things. Her mentality is what makes her a much sought actress and proves that she has it to become a rom-com queen.

Her definition of happiness can be described by going home to have a good rest after working on a difficult project. To put in simpler words, she aims to meet a good project and do her part well in order for her to become happy. She stated it earlier during the press conference of Kill Me, Heal Me that she actually planned to get a long rest but after looking at the scripts for the drama, she thought that she had to take the part. The actress’s way of determining her next work is easy: “This is the one and only project of this kind, so is it something that only me myself can do? If the character I can create through the project will be gone forever because of my rejection, then I will do it.”

Hwang Jung-eum ends her interview with a question that will make some actresses uneasy, but she answers it with excitement in her voice. When asked about an actress she wants to be, she wishes that she can become Jun Ji-hyun if she is to be born again, just like a cute fangirl. That’s the lovely charms of actress Hwang Jung-eum outside her dramas.

 Credit to: marie claire Korea