Song Hye-kyo’s chilling wrath intensifies in ‘The Glory’ Part 2

CEBU, Philippines —  “Welcome to my hell…”

The reckoning continues in Part 2 of “The Glory”, where the finale of Dong-eun’s masterful scheme of vengeance is set to unfold this March 10.

In the Netflix series, Song Hye-kyo gives a magnetic turn as a woman broken by childhood violence, who dedicates her life to a meticulous web of revenge towards all her high school tormentors and the authorities who did not lift a finger to protect her.

The actress has been reaping praise for her passionate performance of a school teacher who drives all the perpetrators and everyone around them to the brink of ruin.

Last year, “The Glory” was announced to much fanfare as the project brought together writer Kim Eun-sook of countless hits, master director of genre series An Gil-ho, and a star-studded cast led by Song Hye-kyo.

After its release last December 30, Part 1 recorded a total of 148 million hours watched, ranked within the top 10 charts three weeks in a row, and stayed in the top 10 list of 34 countries on Netflix’s Top 10 Non-English TV list.

Part 2 will build on the story closing in on the lives of Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon) and her fellow perpetrators and show how they fall into their versions of hell that Dong-eun has planned out.

In a press release, writer Kim teases, “If you’ve watched Part 1, you won’t be able to resist Part 2 which is refreshingly satisfying and shockingly intense”, while director An adds, “The fight between Dong-eun and Yeon-jin really takes off and the perpetrators dynamically meet their end. You won’t be able to take your eyes off of the screen. All elements of the story will now come full circle.”

In a virtual press conference, Song Hye-kyo discussed taking on a role that’s a departure from the roles that catapulted her to international fame:

What led you to take on the part?

First of all, with writer Kim Eun-sook and director An Gil-ho on board – there’s no reason not to do it. And when I read the script, I felt that this was exactly the genre and the character that I was looking for all of my career. I always had a thirst for this kind of genre and character. I felt very tragic for Dong-eun, and I couldn’t think of anything else. How can this happen to a person? And this was all so meticulously and beautifully written by writer Kim. So I thought if I could do a good job of portraying Dong-eun, this would make for a great show.

When the initial trailer dropped, viewers commented that it was not the Song Hye-kyo they expected to see.

I did a lot of melodramas in the past, so in ‘The Glory’, I take on a totally new face. It was extremely challenging to portray a victim, but it was really fun for me. The young Dong-eun was helpless and hurt. She was unable to put up a fight against it. But the grown-up Dong-eun, I didn’t want her to seem as pitiful. I wanted her to seem solid and strong. That was what I tried to focus on. And how the grownup Dong-eun is aware that compared to when she was younger, she was much stronger, has toughened up, and that she can do this – that’s the kind of energy I wanted to portray. I had many conversations with the director, and thankfully, he and I saw eye to eye most of the time.

Your narration comes off extremely fierce but quiet…

I had done narrations in other pieces as well, but this one was definitely different. Fortunately, the director and I saw eye to eye in that I wanted it to sound like she was really speaking as if Dong-eun is whispering these words into Yeon-jin’s ears. It was great to hear that the director also thought of it in that way.

How was that slapping scene with Lim Ji-yeon who plays your main tormentor?

I have had quite a career. I have worked as an actor for quite a long time, and I think it was pretty much the first time I was slapped that hard. And I think it’s probably the same for Ji-yeon. When I was first hit, I went completely blank, and I couldn’t remember the next line. We both looked at ourselves in the mirror after and saw that we had that very red trace of a hand on our faces. We actually had to take a break and ice ourselves.

How was it collaborating for the second time with writer Kim (Descendants of the Sun), and for the first time with director An?

Writer Kim and I are close friends. Thanks to ‘The Glory’, we came together again, and I was so happy that she offered me the part, and that I got to meet Dong-eun. It was an honor, and working together with someone you love is a glory for you. Regarding director An, I was a big fan of him. I wanted a chance to work together with him. And I got to, so I was very happy and excited about that. While I was working with him, I realized that genre shows could be challenging. The Dong-eun character could be challenging, so sometimes I would doubt myself. But he helped me choose which way to go while shooting, and every day, when I was on set, the director would be there the earliest and he would come up with the storyboard and everything. So whenever I was in doubt, he would give me the answers. He was truly a supporter of me playing Dong-eun.

You’re known as the goddess of Korean rom-coms. Especially in scenes with Lee Do-hyun, did you sometimes veer into rom-com territory?

I think when it came to the banter, the chemistry with Do-hyun and I, a lot of that was done by Do-hyun because he had so many different versions prepared. With the wide variety of how he was going to deliver his lines, I was just able to follow along as Dong-eun, so I thank him.

How emotionally was it to portray Dong-eun?

It was extremely challenging, and there were many moments where I really felt for Dong-eun. There were many difficulties in terms of how I wanted to portray those emotions. I found that all I had to do was be loyal to the script because it was all detailed there. So for every scene and every situation, every emotion that my character felt, I thought that as long as I was loyal to the script and I was being authentic and genuine, it would work. And the more rewarding moments when I was playing Dong-eun, as she lived out her lifelong vengeance, there are many scenes and lines that I had never said or used, facial expressions that I surprised myself with even, in certain scenes. So I felt really rewarded in those scenes.