[Herald Interview] Choo Ja-hyun realizes her dream of melodramatic role in ‘While You Were Sleeping’

South Korean actor Choo Ja-hyun, who enjoys greater acclaim as an actor in China than in her home country, returned to the silver screen after 13 years with “While You Were Sleeping.”

In recent years, she starred in Korean dramas in various genres such as “Green Mother’s Club,” “My Unfamiliar Family” and “Little Women.”

Most of her roles in her 20s were fierce, wild characters which made it difficult to land roles in melodramas, according to Choo. In her late 20s, she moved to China and started her acting career over from scratch.

“I spent the whole of my 30s in China, starring in dramas and movies. There, I mostly shot melodramas, but I didn’t have a chance to shoot melodramas in Korea. So I wanted to try out this genre before I get too old,” Choo told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Monday.

“I’ve long dreamed of acting in my mother tongue and communicating with Korean actors to do a melodrama because I know that this genre requires articulate acting and detailed emotional development,” she added.

“While You Were Sleeping” is a mystery romance helmed by Chang Yoon-hyun who was behind the 1990s hit movies “The Contact” (1997) and “Tell Me Something” (1999). It centers on Deok-hee (Choo), who suffers from selective amnesia after a car accident. She traces the truth of her husband Jun-seok (Lee Moo-saeng) and his mysterious past.

Deok-hee’s turbulent past worsens her depression and trauma when an unexpected accident happens to her. Deok-hee, feeling no one is around her, expresses her emotional distress when in great pain, a climactic moment in the film.

“To be honest, all scenes except Deok-hee’s flashback on when she was dating Jun-seok as a college student were all tough for me (to act.) Because Deok-hee and I are at a similar stage of life -- a married woman with a baby -- it was very difficult for me, knowing exactly what it's like. So I decided to not calculate or prepare in advance, but show ‘raw’ acting,” Choo said.

Now in her 40s, married to Chinese actor Yu Xiaoguang with whom she tied the knot in 2017 and had a son the following year, Choo said such life events have changed her acting.

“I have to admit that I have become a bit more flexible, soft and skillful. In my 20s and 30s, I couldn’t find how to control and balance out my acting. Rather, I focused too much on acting that would make my character stand out. Now, I try to do acting which comes out naturally. I know that I can’t do acting just based on passion,” she added.

“Now I really get to enjoy acting. It’s really fun for me,” she added.

“While You Were Sleeping” hit local theaters Wednesday.