Park Ji-hyun makes unprecedented exposure in newly released movie ‘Hidden Face’

Actress Park Ji-hyun plays Mi-joo, a mysterious cellist who falls in love with an orchestra conductor in Director Kim Dae-woo’s new film “Hidden Face,” which was released on November 20. Courtesy of NEW

Orchestra conductor Sung-jin (Song Seung-heon) and cellist Soo-yeon (Cho Yeo-jeong) are lovers who are about to get married. The only daughter of a wealthy family, Soo-yeon lives with Sung-jin in the same house which is as good as a palace, but she mysteriously disappears after leaving him a video letter. Confused, Sung-jin meets Soo-yeon's junior, Mi-joo (Park Ji-hyun), and is attracted to her. Sung-jin and Mi-joo have a steamy affair at Soo-yeon's house.

Actress Park Ji-hyun (30) transforms into the mysterious cellist Mijoo in the movie “Hidden Face,” directed by Kim Dae-woo, which was released on November 20. Kim has been making “erotic movies” since 2006's “Forbidden Quest” (2006), “The Servant” (2010), and “Obsessed” (2014). “Hidden Face” is a remake of the Colombian original, a rare “erotic thriller” in Korea. The movie went viral even before its release due to Park's unusually revealing performance.

“I've been a fan of director Kim Dae-woo for a long time,” Park told reporters on November 19, and “when I read the script, I thought, ‘Mi-joo would be perfect for me,'” she said. “I think people have different desires, but they don't show them, and I'm very open about my desires, and I thought Mi-joo was similar to me, and I think I have two things in common with her: her innocent eyes and her intense eyes.”

Some people are puzzled about Park's decision to take on such a high level of exposure. Nude roles are usually reserved for rookie actors. Park made a name for herself playing the daughter-in-law of a chaebol in the JTBC drama “Reborn Rich” (2022). “Hidden Face” was filmed before “Reborn Rich” aired and released two years later. Mi-joo is the most idiosyncratic character between Sung-jin and Soo-yeon. Lines like, “Can’t you say it’s our house?” have the power to catch others off guard.

“I think I would have chosen it no matter when it was offered to me,” says Park Ji-hyun, adding, “Even if I was less famous or more famous, I would have joined the cast because I was greedy for her character.” “I think it's better now that my name is known, so more people will watch the movie, right? Even Cho Yeo-jeong said, 'You're making really cool choices,' so I don't think naked acting is necessarily for rookies.”

Park Ji-hyun made her debut in the MBC drama “The King in Love” (2017) after dropping out of college to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an actress. She played a member who participated in a haunted house experience in the movie GONJIAM Haunted Asylum (2018), a third-generation chaebol violinist in the drama Do You Like Brahms (2020), and a homicide detective in the drama Chaebol X Detective (2024).

“After becoming an actress and working on so many projects, I started to believe that there is a destiny for each role,” Park said. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get cast, and I asked myself a lot of questions like, 'Am I good enough? ' But I thought, 'I love acting so much; why hurt myself? There must be a character that is given to me, like fate,' and I ended up acting comfortably.”

Park is also upcoming with the movie “Sacred Her” (tentative title) and the Netflix drama “Eunjoong and Sangyeon.” “I have a long way to go, because I really enjoy acting. I just keep doing what I love, and if the audience likes it, I'm overwhelmed. I think it's too early to praise myself.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.