Actress Ye Ji-won Recounts Difficulties During Filming of 'Florence,' Including Learning 'Salpuri' Dance

Actress Ye Ji-won has shared her challenging experiences while filming the movie 'Florence.'

On the KBS1 program 'Achim Madang,' which aired on the 18th, guest stars Kim Min-jong and Ye Ji-won, lead actors of the film 'Florence' that won three awards at a Hollywood film festival, appeared.

When asked about a particularly tough scene, Ye Ji-won revealed that the director assigned her two difficult tasks: learning Italian and performing 'Salpuri,' a traditional Korean shamanic ritual dance.

'I had never studied Italian before, and I was given dialogue from a poem by Lorenzo de' Medici to memorize a month and a half before filming,' she explained. 'Although I majored in Korean traditional dance in the past, I was suddenly told to perform the most difficult Salpuri in just a month and a half.'

Kim Min-jong corroborated her statement, nodding and saying, 'It was indeed severe.' Ye Ji-won elaborated, 'They asked me to do a 20-second performance. I suggested performing 'Seungmu' (a Buddhist dance), but even though 'Seungmu' is difficult, I tried to persuade them for two weeks about expressing it with the long sleeves of a 'Jangsa' robe. However, they insisted on Salpuri.'

Kim Min-jong praised her resilience, stating, 'No one else but Ye Ji-won could have handled this.' Ye Ji-won continued, 'I consulted with a master teacher. When I told them that Korean dance would be featured in the film 'Florence,' the teacher gave me three beautiful choreographies, each over a minute long. The director loved them and decided to use all of them, expanding the total to seven minutes. So, to prepare in just a month and a half, I had to work with three teachers,' she expressed her hardships.

When asked about the reactions of local tourists during filming, Ye Ji-won said, 'When shooting full shots, tourists, not knowing a camera was present, probably thought I was a shaman performing a ritual or some ceremony.' She added with a laugh, 'I didn't know at the time, but I heard later that they applauded after I finished.'

Netizens who watched the broadcast commented, 'Actress Ye Ji-won's acting is truly amazing,' 'I'm curious how she managed to perform Salpuri in the movie,' and 'The chemistry between Kim Min-jong and Ye Ji-won is great.'