[Interview] Kim Go-eun, "Love in the Big City"

"I'm deeply moved because people around me said many good things (laughs)".

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Actress Kim Go-eun, who shook the theater district earlier this year with her MZ shaman act in "Exhuma", has returned with her new work "Love in the Big City". "I was happy just with the release but I'm happy because the evaluation is good", she said in an interview with Daily Sports before the movie's release.

Released on the 1st, "Love in the Big City" tells the story of Jae-hee (Kim Go-eun), a free soul, and Heung-soo (Steve Sanghyun Noh), who is familiar with distancing himself from the world. It is a queer product based on Park Sang-young's bestseller of the same name, and it took years from production to release. Kim Go-eun also decided to appear early and spent more than a year waiting.

"First of all, the script was read in such a fun way. I did it because I felt so sorry if it couldn't be produced. I didn't feel pressured to wait for the production. During that time, I also did dramas like "Yumi's Cells", "Little Women", and movies like "Exhuma". All I did was wait calmly while supporting the struggles of the director and the production company".

Jae-hee, played by Kim Go-eun in the drama, is a straightforward character who does not hesitate to live and love her life. Without paying attention to others or the world, she enjoys books and alcohol all she likes, and lives her life to the fullest. When asked about Jae-hee's charm, Kim Go-eun said, "She is not conscious of other people. She has beliefs and behaviors that are not like someone in her 20s but she keeps growing through them. Above all, she tries to express what she likes and wants correctly".

Kim Go-eun also paid attention to styling to fully express Jae-hee's charm. In particular, she avoided simplifying the keyword 'freewheeling' to 'exposure' when drawing her character externally.

"I wanted to avoid exposure. Instead of exposure, I focused on attitude. For example, the attitude of wearing a shirt unbuttoned. I also tried not to dress well. I emphasized wearing something that didn't match top and bottom".

Kim Go-eun said she remembered her 20s a lot when she played Jae-hee. Her 20s were already told by Ahn Eun-jin and Lee Sang-yi who are her friends from the same university. When mentioned that she was the goddess of the Korean University of Arts, she said, "What are you talking about? That never existed back then".

"Still, I was more exemplary than Jae-hee. I lived hard and couldn't play as much as Jae-hee. I lived with my grandmother and was very scared, so I didn't go to clubs. Of course, I went through difficult times with my thoughts and beliefs like Jae-hee. It was a time when I struggled as the most imperfect and insecure adult. However, through the process, I gained flexibility. I went head on into myself internally and externally and found a direction".

As she recalled the shooting, she kept smiling. "This movie was shot in a short period of two and a half months and it didn't have much budget. I also thought about shooting an independent movie when I was a student. This movie is like a youth movie that struggled on the streets of Itaewon", she said.

She gave a half-positive answer to the additional question of whether the box office burden is bigger because it was right after she became a 10 million actor with her previous work "Exhuma". "I think there is always a burden on the box office itself, rather than because of "Exhuma". I just hope it stays in theaters long enough".

The next film is "The Price of Confession", a Netflix series. Her short hairstyle that has drawn attention recently is also due to the next film. "I didn't know how people would react. I didn't mean to cut my hair just to look pretty', but I was so glad that the reaction was good", Kim Go-eun said with a smile.