Park Ji-hyun Empties Herself for 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon,' Becomes the Character

Actress Park Ji-hyun has undergone a remarkable transformation for her role in the Netflix series 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon,' fully immersing herself into the character.

In a recent interview with Sports Seoul, Park Ji-hyun shared her thoughts on participating in the series. She confessed, "As a work that deeply explores human emotions and relationships, I really wanted to do a good job as an actress."

'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon' chronicles the intertwined lives of two friends, Eun-jung (played by Kim Go-eun) and Sang-yeon (played by Park Ji-hyun), over the course of their lives. Park Ji-hyun took on the significant challenge of portraying Sang-yeon's complex emotions spanning her 20s, 30s, and 40s.

"Being able to portray the journey of one character across their 20s, 30s, and 40s, with such a long narrative, is a great blessing for an actor," she said. "While there's no single right answer for Sang-yeon, it felt like there was a path, which made it a happy working experience."

Park Ji-hyun envisioned Sang-yeon as a "lake covered in thin ice." While outwardly cold and sharp, she harbored a fragile vulnerability within, always on the verge of breaking. "She's a very delicate friend, in terms of her image," Park Ji-hyun explained. "On the outside, she's calm, but inside, it felt like immense water was flowing. As time passed, Sang-yeon had many points where her appearance and psychology could change, so I wanted to express that range well."

In the drama, Sang-yeon, who experienced deep life struggles, deliberately provokes Eun-jung, who loves her the most, hurting both of them simultaneously. This leads to Eun-jung calling her a "thief." Regarding Sang-yeon's actions, some reactions pointed out they were "violent."

"Although others might see it as violent, from an acting perspective, I didn't see it that way. These were actions Sang-yeon took to survive. I think Sang-yeon was unfortunate rather than bad, which made me feel sympathy for her," Park Ji-hyun stated. "However, among the viewer reactions, there was a comment calling her 'the ultimate Sang-yeon.'"

After much hardship, Sang-yeon reaches her 40s and, tragically, becomes terminally ill. She then asks Eun-jung, whom she pushed away, for her final companionship.

To embody Sang-yeon's physical decline, Park Ji-hyun undertook an extreme fast for about three weeks, consuming only water and coffee. She deliberately induced tears to create a swollen face, soaking in a half-bath for two to three hours before each shoot to draw out tears. Through this process, she endured the painful period of drying out her body and swelling her face.

"Even so, when I got to the set, I couldn't hold back my tears. I was able to portray the appearance of a 40-year-old facing death with a swollen face. At the same time, I thought about how difficult it must have been for my co-star (Kim) Go-eun," she shared. "Honestly, all the critical acclaim I'm receiving for my acting now is thanks to her."

She poured her entire heart and passion into the role. Now, having become Sang-yeon, Park Ji-hyun faces the time to let her go. "No matter what I say, Sang-yeon would have made the same choices. I just want to tell her, 'You worked hard.' Sang-yeon, you worked hard!"

Netizens lavished praise on Park Ji-hyun's performance, with comments like "She was truly Sang-yeon herself," "A rediscovery of Park Ji-hyun," and "The chemistry between Kim Go-eun and Park Ji-hyun was insane."