Shin Hye-sun is the hero everyone aspires to be in 'Brave Citizen'

Shin Hye-sun plays a vigilante teacher in the film "Brave Citizen," seeking justice against school bullies. Although the film addresses school bullying, its producers stressed it is rather about good punishing evil.

Actor Shin Hye-sun plays Si-min, a teacher and former boxer who seeks justice against school bullies, in the upcoming film ″Brave Citizen″ [MIND MARK]

Everyone loves a good story about getting back at the bad guys — beating up criminals and bullies and becoming a hero. But how many would actually get the chance to pull that off?

Actor Shin Hye-sun, who plays such a vigilante in the upcoming film “Brave Citizen," says she felt great satisfaction while playing the character So Shi-min, a former pro boxer who landed a temporary teaching job at school.

“In this film, I am a teacher who witnesses serious school bullying and goes on a hunt for the bullies, hiding behind a cat mask," she said during an interview with reporters at a cafe in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. "This film made my fantasy come true."

The film, directed by Park Jin-pyo, may look like another one of those school bullying films — an issue that's become a hot potato in Korea, even politically, following the success of shows like the Netflix series "The Glory." However, the producers stressed that it was filmed before school bullying became the major social issue that it is now, and that though the film uses "school bullying as a major material for the film," the film is "not about school bullying" and more about good punishing evil.

Actor Shin Hye-sun [MIND MARK]

“Our film is more like a comedy showing how an ordinary citizen has the power to seek justice against the bad guys,” Shin said. “And we did not make the film with any desire to address the issue of school bullying. I hope to make that clear.”

While Shin says she has not really faced injustice in her life, she doesn't thinks she would react like her character Si-min in “Brave Citizen,” who does not tolerate such acts.

“I haven’t witnessed any cases of injustice so I don’t know what I would do if I faced such instances, but I don't think I would be able to step forward and actively respond,” Shin said. “I think I would be one of those people who asks others to solve the problem. I don’t have that much courage or the guts for that. That is also why my character is special.”

A scene in the upcoming film ″Brave Citizen″ [MIND MARK]

Filming the action scenes was a challenge for Shin, who had not done any action films before. Shin debuted in the television series “School 2013” in 2012 and has since played leading roles in “Still 17” (2018), “The Hymn of Death” (2018), “Angel’s Last Mission: Love” (2019) and “Mr. Queen” (2020-2021) — all of which have been either a drama or romantic comedy.

“I trained with a martial arts master and learned to box and deliver punches and kicks,” Shin said. “I am quite tall, but I have no core strength, so I looked very flimsy at first doing the action scenes. But as I trained, I settled into it well and I am satisfied with the end results.

As Shin’s character fights the bullies and bad guys with a mask on to hide her identity, many assume Shin used a double. But Shin confirmed that all the actions scenes were done by her.

Main poster for ″Brave Citizen″ [MIND MARK]

Shin hopes to continue challenging herself with different genres and characters, and that is also the reason she took on the role.

“I wanted to try out action, which is why I decided to appear in ‘Brave Citizen,’ and I hope to keep trying new things and not put a limit on myself,” Shin said. “I still don’t know what kind of acting I can do best. I want to have many different kinds of experiences as an actor and push myself.”

“Brave Citizen” opens in theaters on Oct. 25.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]