Why “Queen of Tears” Hong Hae-in is Among the Greatest K-drama Female Leads

The screenwriter of “Queen of Tears”, Park Ji-eun, has been a very famous female screenwriter for the past 10 years. In fact, you are likely to be familiar with her female leads: from Jun Ji-hyun in “My Love from the Star”, Son Ye-jin in “Crash Landing on You”, to most recently, Kim Ji-won in “Queen of Tears”. 

It can be seen that Park Ji-eun’s K-dramas all boast a central commonality: strong female leads – those who possess capability and independence, depth and complexity, while also breaking the boundaries of traditional gender roles.

Therefore, the actresses she selects typically embody independence and top-notch acting skills.

In “Queen of Tears”, Hong Hae-in remains an independent and capable female character. She’s a third-generation chaebol who must face a complex family, an unloving mother, familial rivalries, and a useless younger brother, who has been forced to mature since an extremely young age.

Hong Hae-in made an act of rebellion when she decided to marry the male lead Baek Hyun-woo, who is an average person to the core, and this showed her confidence in her judgment and perseverance in love.

Hong Hae-in never thought she would marry Baek Hyun-woo. Until that day, when Hyun-woo took her home under a sky full of cherry blossoms and said to her, “Even if yout family is in debt, it’s okay. Even if it’s harder, it’s okay. I’ll be by your side.” At that moment, Hae-in was overwhelmed; this was the love she yearned for.

So, when asked if she believed in love, Hong Hae-in replied, “I believe that the love I envision is not about enjoying good things together and saying sweet words, but about enduring hateful things and staying together without running away. Even if there are debts, even if there are more serious matters, we’ll still be together, that’s love.” This definition of love inside her mind was founded on Baek Hyun-woo’s words.

However, Hong Hae-in also has a materialistic and rather objective approach towards love.

When facing the fact that she only has three months to live, Hong Hae-in feels a sense of attachment towards the world. She humorously remarks that there are still limited edition items in the house she hasn’t worn, some islands she bought but never visited, valuable paintings and ceramics she bought from 90-year-old men – regrets filled her mind as she’s about to die. 

But none of these matters, as looking at Baek Hyun-woo, Hong Hae-in’s eyes brim with sadness, feeling that her husband is the biggest treasure she has to leave behind. 

Through this, it is clear as day that Hong Hae-in truly loves Baek Hyun-woo.

Hong Hae-in abandons the traditional matchmaking mindset and disregards all suitors to choose Baek Hyun-woo, whom she feels is the most spiritually and materially valuable. She is steadfast in her love for Baek Hyun-woo, even though Baek Hyun-woo has exhausted himself mentally and no longer cares about love.

Throughout the 4 episodes, Hong Hae-in is a very challenging character to portray, as from a traditional perspective, the characterization is not well-balanced:

For example, Hong Hae-in can only live for three months. From being healthy to being diagnosed with a terminal illness, the psychological changes pose a huge challenge to Kim Ji-won – who has to bring to life the character. At the same time, the plot unfolds very quickly, so it will be challenging to tell a reasonable story without disappointing the audience.

Additionally, it is different to strike a balance between Hong Hae-in’s objective mind and how she breaks tradition to marry Baek Hyun-woo – going against the “logical” norm. 

On the other hand, Kim Ji-won said she understood Hong Hae-in very well, describing the “Queen of Tears” female lead as an outwardly straightforward person, yet tries to keep most of her emotions hidden. Placed in the position and weight of responsibility, she conceals her true emotions and lives humorously. Most importantly, she has a sense of humor so she looks even cooler in the audience’s eyes.

In the first 4 episodes of “Queen of Tears”, Hong Hae-in has been straightforward, tolerant, mature, determined, even humorous and rebellious. Kim Ji-won’s acting helps to exploit the strengths and avoid the weaknesses, truly adding points to the character!

Source: Facebook