Jung_E actress Kim Hyun-joo on the heart of the Netflix sci-fi film, pushing boundaries and why she’s planning on taking a break

The emergence of streaming services like Netflix have allowed Jung_E actress Kim to take on more diverse roles and ‘see what else I can do differently’

Kim took the role in Jung_E despite misgivings about sci-fi, as she thinks viewers will identify with the mother-daughter relationship at the heart of the film

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Korean actress Kim Hyun-joo in a still from Jung_E. She explains why she took on the sci-fi film and how streaming services are helping her push boundaries as an actor. Photo: Netflix

Published: 6:15pm, 28 Jan 2023

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Actress Kim Hyun-joo, best known for her lead role in Netflix’s Hellbound, says streaming services have allowed her to take on more diverse roles.

“Now that we have plenty of streaming platform options, actors are given a wider array of roles and filmmakers are experimenting with a variety of genres,” she said during a recent interview. “For me, I was able to push my boundaries to see what else I can do differently as an actor.”

Kim’s latest film, Jung_E, is set in the post-apocalyptic 22nd century and follows the story of Yoon Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-yeon), a researcher at Kranoid Lab who clones the brain of her mother – an elite soldier called Yoon Jung-yi (Kim) – for a combat AI warrior.

Kim in a still from Jung_E. The film is set in the post-apocalyptic 22nd century. Photo: Netflix

The film topped Netflix’s non-English-language film chart in the first week of its release, according to data released by streaming analytics company FlixPatrol. It was on the list of Netflix’s top 10 films in 80 countries, including Germany, Spain, Turkey, Brazil and Singapore.