“The Witch 2” lead actress Shin Si-a, “I realized that eyes were more impactful than words through this work, my debut film”

Shin Si-a, who plays the new witch in “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One”, talked about her acting in the movie.

Park Hoon-jung’s “The Witch”, which made a big hit with its unrealistic but sensual action scenes that are rarely seen in Korean movies, has returned with a new part called “The Witch: Part 2. The Other One” (hereinafter referred to as “The Witch 2”) as a stronger superhero film. Although this work features characters who do typical superhero actions, such as flying in the sky, fighting, moving quickly, and controlling the opponent’s movements using psychokinesis, it does not look old-fashioned at all. Director Park shared, “I thought of making a movie that you can enjoy like a cartoon. I literally wanted to make a supernatural action movie.”

Actress Shin Si-a, who makes her movie debut through “The Witch 2”, is currently the center of attention. In this movie, she plays the “girl” who steps out and adapts to the world after surviving alone in the devastation of the secret laboratory “Ark”, which hosts the “Witch Project”. The “girl” doesn’t have a name since this is her first time coming out to the outside world. In the first part of the movie, the scene where the “girl” walks out of the snow alone with her whole body covered in blood reminds the audience of actress Shin Si-a, a new actress whose face is not known until the release of the movie, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

Compared to other characters, Shin Si-a does not perform many lines and action acting but her appearance alone is enough to give a strong impact and prove that her character absolutely overwhelms others in power. 

In an interview conducted at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Seoul on June 13th, Shin Si-a said, “I tried to portray the ‘girl’ by imagining her as a baby bird coming out of its egg for the first time. She knows nothing about the world, like a white paper”. When asked if it was hard to act without lines and used only eyes, facial expressions and gestures, the actress said, “I can’t make any comparison because this is my debut movie. However, I realized that eyes were actually more important than words”.

Regarding the core action, she explained, “In order to show the accurate action of a person who is the most powerful, I practiced continuously while thinking about how to look strong even in just small movements”. Shin Si-a saw the overall feeling of the movement of superpowers in Marvel movies. The ones she referred to the most are the female action movie “Hanna” and Hugh Jackman’s “Wolverine 3: Logan”. As a fan of this genre, she picked “various actions featuring guns, swords and superpowers” as the attractive point of the movie.

Shin Si-a, a 4th-year student of Hanyang University’s Theater and Film Department, became a hot topic when she was selected for the lead role after an audition with a competition ratio of 1,408 to 1. She liked fantasy-like stories, so she was a fan enough to watch season 1 on the day of its release. She applied with the thought of wanting to be a part of the movie without knowing The Witch 2’s roles. She found out that she was cast as the main character only after receiving the script.

She has already been given the modifier “The second Kim Da-mi” because of her similar image to Kim Da-mi, who played season 1’s main character Goo Ja-yoon. She also has a similar image to Jeon Yeo-bin, who starred in director Park’s previous film “Night in Paradise”. Shin Si-a said, “People around me say that a lot, and I’d be grateful if you see me that way. I think it’s an honor to be compared.”

“The Witch 2” is a development that strongly hints at a sequel, signaling the actual start of a Korean-style superhero series. Director Park also does not hide his desire to continue the series. Shin Si-a expressed her expectations, “I don’t know yet because I haven’t heard about the production of season 3. Personally, I think it’ll be more fun to show the appearance of the girl who experienced the world more.”

Source: Daum