Singer on a deadly mission

South Korean singer Han Groo plays an assassin in the drama series Girl Killer K

SOUTH Korea’s rising young star, Han Groo, who made her acting debut last year in MBC’s hit drama series, Be Like Today, returns in the upcoming action-packed series, Girl Killer K.

The series, which cost US$2 million (RM6.2 million), is one of South Korea’s most expensive productions to date.

 In the series, 20-year-old Han Groo plays Cha Yeo Jin, a notorious troublemaker in school, who mixes with the wrong crowd. One day, Yeo Jin is involved in an illegal arms deal that goes wrong, which results in her mother’s death.
Driven by rage, she joins S-1, an underground crime organisation, whose members are trained to become assassins. The series also stars Kim Jeong-tae as Yoo Sung Ho, Park Hyo Joo as Min Ji Young and Baek Do Bin as Choi Tae Young.

Han Groo is also known for her singing and released her debut album, My Boy, last year. “A career span for an actor can be much longer than that of a singer. Actors can still play many different roles throughout their lives,” she said , in a press release.

 While playing a female assassin was exciting for the young star, Han Groo said she wants to try out as many roles as possible.

“I’ve always wanted to play the femme fatale. Wouldn’t it be good if I could play the role and ‘catch’ guys with my charisma?” she joked. She also admits that dealing with the character’s emotion in the series was as tough as working on the action scenes.

Here, she talks about her role and her experiences while filming the series.

Q: Was it stressful filming Killer Girl K?

It was tough. I practised martial arts in China for a while, but acting is totally different. I felt frustrated in the beginning, when I could not meet the director’s requirements. But I decided to take things one step at a time and it got better.

The action scenes looked pretty good onscreen. Were you hurt during filming?

When I was practising martial arts, I studied sword fighting. During the shooting process, my character had to deal with a lot of weapons like guns and chains . So it was helpful to me. Of course, you can’t run away from injuries. I only sustained minor bruises, but that’s fine with because I just want to make it (fight scene) look real.

Your performance in the series is very impressive and people say you’re a natural actor. What is your take on that?

I’ve always wanted to be an actor. I like dancing and singing very much. I left Korea for the United States when I was eight. I learnt dancing and English in the US and then spent a couple of years in China to learn martial arts and horse riding. These precious life experiences have helped me in my acting, but it is a pity that I did not get to spend my formative years in Korea.

You’ve shown great potential performing the action sequences in the series. Do you think you will continue to do action roles?

At times I felt really exhausted doing all the action scenes and I had second thoughts about being in an action movie. The action genre might be tough, but I am open to all possibilities.

What goes on in your mind when you look back at your performance in the series? How do you rate your performance?

When I look back, I think I could have done better. Killer Girl K is a very important project for me. I want to be an actor, where people identify me with my abilities rather than with my looks or appearance. I’m giving myself 60 out of 100 for my action scenes in the movie and 50 for my overall acting.
 
What do you hope to achieve in your acting career?

Acting is fun and I like it a lot. I am still a beginner and I am willing to learn. I hope that one day people will say “there are no other actors who can do this role better than Han Groo” after watching my TV dramas or movies.  nstent@nstp.com.my

Girl Killer K airs every Thursday, beginning tomorrow on KIX HD (Astro channel 729) at 10pm.

Han Groo plays an assassin in Girl Killer K

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