A Shop for Killers star Kim Hye-jun has revealed that she initially turned down a role in the hit Disney+ K-drama series.
In A Shop for Killers, Kim Hye-jun plays an ordinary university student who find herself the target of highly skilled assassins. In order to survive, she will have to remember the lessons her uncle taught her before his apparent suicide and figure out why the killers are trying to gain access to her home.
Speaking to The Korea Times, the actress revealed that she had originally declined the role after reading the script because she “wanted to show my acting abilities in a genre that doesn’t involve so much blood”.
“I’ve typically taken on roles of tough characters, so I was keen to show a different side of myself,” Kim Hye-jun added. Prior to A Shop for Killers, she had starred in thriller series Inspector Koo and period horror K-drama Kingdom.
However, the actress later reconsidered her decision after Lee Dong-wook was cast in the series. “I felt Lee’s chic personality would make the character of [the uncle] really captivating [so] I had high hopes and was curious,” she said.
Elsewhere during the interview, Kim Hye-jun also opened up about working with Lee Dong-wook, saying that they had built a relationship together while on set and described it as “really supporting”.
In other related news, Lee Dong-wook recently revealed that he once considered retiring, but said that fellow actor Gong Yoo helped him reconsider his decision.