Han So Hee Did Her Own Stunts In “My Name”! How The K-drama Actress Trained For Her Most Challenging Role Yet
Omo, ultimate girl crush!
Han So-Hee has been making waves and gaining recognition because of her stellar performances in her recent projects. Since her debut, she has been proving how versatile and talented she can be from playing the mistress in “The World of Married” to the shy art student in “Nevertheless.” So-Hee has definitely demonstrated exemplary work.
Her recent role as Yoon Jiwoo aka Oh Hye-Jin, an undercover police officer secretly working for a drug gang who is driven by revenge in “My Name” did not disappoint at all. Han So-Hee wanted to put in all of her effort into this character and prepared for months to give justice to her role in the drama.
Here’s how Han So-Hee prepared for the role in “My Name”:
She gained 22 pounds.
Her role in the drama required her to develop strength, so she exercised a lot and also ate what she wanted to. Because of her workouts and her new athletic abilities, she gained 10 kilograms or 22 pounds of muscle weight. Talk about dedication!
She barely exercised before the drama.
In one interview, she revealed that she barely knew how to exercise. Han So-Hee said, “When we started filming, I barely knew the ‘e’ in ‘exercise. It was quite sudden. I wasn’t looking for an action genre project specifically, but I always wanted to do a script in which a female character led the project by herself. It so happened that that script I wanted was in the action genre, and I said that I would do it. I really like the noir genre, so I think that was a big influence on my choice.”
After watching “My Name,” you wouldn’t believe that she didn’t work out before. She literally made everything look so easy!
She drew inspiration from action films.
Just like any passionate actor, Han So-hee immersed herself in her character by watching a lot of action films that featured female characters. She mentioned that she watched Old Guard, Atomic Blonde, and a lot of Marvel films! Apparently, she’s a fan of Black Widow too.
She stayed in action school for an extra month.
All of the actors in “My Name” went through training, but So-Hee exerted a little more effort. While the rest of the cast trained for at least 2 months, she stayed in action school for more than three months for a more extensive coaching. She really wanted to perfect her stunts and scenes. What a girl!
She also learned kickboxing.
Han So-Hee really is the epitome of hard work and dedication. She is always motivated to do and explore different things to hone her talents and her skills. In one interview, she mentioned how the Korean phrase “hak mu ji gyeong” motivated her.
“It’s a four-character idiom that means that there is no end in learning. Literally, as there is no end to all learning, the eternal curiosity about the vast world of acting and my desire to do well. I think these two are the driving forces that make me move.”
She always carried a knife with her.
In a featurette, So-Hee shared, “We always use gun and knives. I always carried a knife so that I could get used to it. They always said that it didn’t hurt so that I could be comfortable as possible while acting.”
She also wanted to assure the safety of her co-stars, so she practiced a lot not just for her characterization, but also for the protection of the cast members. She wanted to make sure that no one got hurt in their filming.
She performed the stunts herself.
Besides wanting to give justice to her character, she also pushed to do every scene herself. Despite the risk and level of difficulty, Han So-Hee wanted to do the stunts without a double. She revealed how much she practiced so she could portray Yoon Jiwoo the best way she can.
“I wasn’t that familiar with physical training, so I knew that the results would pay off only when I practiced hard, and really devoted my time. As I went into shooting, I learned that I needed to make my actions bigger and wider in order for them to really show on the screen, so it was definitely important to make the sequences familiar to my body.”
“My Name” is a 9-part series that premiered on October 15, 2021. Watch it on Netflix.
