Kim Hye Soo, who is single at the age of 52, managed to deliver an emotional portrayal of mother mood in “Under the Queen’s Umbrella”.
Actress Kim Hye Soo’s performance as a mother has moved the public as a whole. Despite being unmarried at the age of 52, Kim Hye Soo impressed viewers with her portrayal of motherhood, something she has never actually experienced. The actress is truly a prime example to look up to when it comes to acting skills.
Kim Hye Soo perfectly transformed into Queen Im Hwa Ryeong, the mother of five grand princes in the Joseon era in the tvN Saturday and Sunday drama “Under the Queen’s Umbrella”, which ended on December 4th.
As a historical drama, “Under the Queen’s Umbrella” depicts a classic political power struggle on the outside, but when one looks closely, it is a well-made work about motherhood, where the mother overcomes all struggles to protect her children.
One of the most impressive scenes of the drama is when Kim Hye Soo scolds Royal Physician Kwon (Kim Jae Bum) for poisoning the former crown prince (Bae In Hyuk). Here, Queen Im Hwa Ryeong shed tears, saying, “How dare you kill a child in front of his mother’s eyes?” Kim Hye Soo’s low-pitched voice, which conveyed a mother’s deep resentment at the loss of her son, touched the hearts of viewers. In addition, the actress’ bloodshot eyes reflected how harsh and desperate the situation was. The effort that Kim Hye Soo must have made to sympathize with and express the heart of a mother that lost her child is simply immense.
Another was a scene where she embraces Grand Prince Gye Seong (Yoo Seon Ho), who wanted to live as a woman. Hwa Ryeong, who dressed Gye Seong up as a woman and drew a portrait of him, gave him her mother’s hairpin and said, “I was going to give it to my daughter”. She was shocked when she first learned of his wishes, but later recognized and accepted him without any problems, saying, “No matter what you look like, you’re my child,” showing a massive amount of love.
In addition, Im Hwa Ryeong apologizes to Grand Prince Seong Nam (Moon Sang Min), who had to spend his childhood outside of the palace, which meant a lot to the both of them. As such, the acting spectrum of Kim Hye Soo was confirmed through each and every episode of “Under the Queen’s Umbrella”.
However, such admirable acting skill was culminated through a lot of effort, understanding, and empathy for the world and humans on Kim Hye Soo’s behalf, which has never been easy to achieve.
In an interview for her 2016 film “Family Hood”, Kim Hye Soo spoke about her grievous acting struggles. In particular, the actress said, “The closer the shooting approaches, the more difficult it becomes. I wanted to die three weeks ago. I wanted to do this movie, but when the time comes, I started to think, ‘I’m crazy. Why did I say I’m doing this?'”. I think this worry will end only when I disappear.” Even though this remark was a somewhat violent expression, the actress’ sincerity was strongly conveyed.
At that time, Kim Hye Soo had already achieved success in so many works it is difficult to mention all, with notable ones being Madam Jeong in “Tazza: The High Rollers”, Jo Nan Sil in “Modern Boy”, Yeon Hong in “The Face Reader”, Pepsee in “The Thieves”, and Ma Woo Hee in “Coin Locker Girl”. Nevertheless, the actress still confessed that she was under extreme stress ahead of a new shoot, which showed how sincere she was to each work and character. It can be said that her attitude of not expressing any of her scenes carelessly has made the highly-respected Kim Hye Soo of today.
With such a mindset, Kim Hye Soo improved herself through different works and in 2022, shines spectacular as the mother of 5 children in “Under the Queen’s Umbrella”. It is no coincidence that she felt attracted to and nailed such a complicated role, despite her inexperience in motherhood.
Source: daum
