Song Hye Kyo ruled the screen as a queen of romance for decades. Her name alone could pull any rom-com or mellow drama, making her one of South Korea’s highest-paid female stars. But in recent years, her career trajectory has completely shifted, leaving fans wondering and waiting for her to return to her old groove. Now in her 40s, Song says love stories just don’t excite her anymore. In a rare appearance on musician Jung Jae Hyung’s YouTube talk show, she opened up about her recent choices and how her transformative role in Netflix’s 2022 hit changed her point of view.
Song Hye Kyo on avoiding love stories
When Song showed up on the talk show, she was promoting her supernatural thriller Dark Nuns, marking her return to films after 11 years. While she stayed active in K-dramas, her screen time was way less than expected, just two mellow dramas (Encounter and Now, We Are Breaking Up), and a full stop on rom-coms ever since Descendants of the Sun shot her to global fame, back when OTT wasn’t even a thing. Dark Nuns comes right after the massive success of Netflix’s 2022 hit The Glory, the revenge-driven K-drama that turned out to be another blockbuster in Song’s career, and arguably the reason she decided to lean deeper into darker roles.
She admitted she might not return to love stories anytime soon. “Personally, I really love melodramas. It’s just that I stopped feeling excited about acting after doing them for so long,” she said. “After finishing The Glory, I didn’t want to go back to a love story again.” These days, she’s more drawn to genre-based scripts. After seeing the popularity of The Priests, she considered doing the sequel. “There was some pressure about that,” Song said, adding that the occult genre already has a loyal fanbase. Still, she wanted to give it a shot. “It’s a type of acting I’ve never tried before… I feel excited about seeing a new side of myself.”
Song debuted in the acting scene during her teen years with the show Soonpoong Clinic. Ever since, her natural beauty and sea-like eyes had her typecast in romance shows, something she was ready to break out of after a long hiatus from acting, determined to make a proper comeback. In an earlier interview with a Korean media outlet, Song said, “Honestly, when I was younger, my focus when watching my projects was on how I looked on screen. Whether I appeared pretty or not was my top priority.” She added, “Of course, I still want to look good, but now my perspective has shifted. What matters most to me now is whether my performance has been captured well and if I’ve conveyed what I intended. Looking pretty or not just doesn’t feel as important to me anymore,” according to Chosun Biz. The actor now single-handedly carries the entire K-drama on her shoulders while taking home some of the biggest paychecks in the industry.
On the work front, Song Hye Kyo is gearing up for a business K-drama alongside Goblin star Gong Yoo. The series is penned by Noh Hee-kyung and will revolve around professionals in the entertainment industry, focusing on the ones behind the scenes, set in the 1960s and 1980s
