Actress Yeom Hye-ran (49) has a rare gift — the ability to move audiences deeply, often making her characters feel like real people. This emotional resonance was especially evident in Netflix’s hit drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, where she portrayed Gwang Rye, the mother of Ae-sun (played by IU), a hardworking Jeju haenyeo who tragically dies young from decompression sickness. Even months after the show aired, viewers still recall Gwang Rye’s strength and heartbreak.
Now, Yeom Hye-ran is showing a completely different side of herself. In director Park Chan-wook’s film No Other Choice, she plays Ara, the wife of Beom-mo (Lee Sung-min), who is also the rival of the film’s protagonist Man-soo (Lee Byung-hun), a man fired from a paper company seeking reemployment. Ara is a sensual and artistic woman who never loses confidence despite repeated failures at acting auditions — a character radiating charm and vitality every time she appears on screen.
Meeting Yeom at a café in Jongno, Seoul, she admitted, “Ara needed to have an aura of sensuality, but that’s not really my image. I even wondered if Director Park hadn’t watched my previous work when he offered me the role. But he told me, ‘That’s exactly why I chose you. It’ll be more interesting to see you play someone unexpected.’ That gave me the courage to take on the challenge.”
To embody Ara, Yeom transformed herself from the outside in. She went on a diet, had nail extensions for the first time, wore eyelash extensions, and donned wigs to portray a woman who refuses to give up her long hair. “Ara is someone who never lets go of herself, even as she ages — she keeps loving herself,” Yeom explained.
Despite her excitement, Yeom confessed she was nervous working with Park Chan-wook for the first time. “I worried about how audiences who knew me from Mask Girl or When Life Gives You Tangerines would react to Ara,” she said. Art director Ryu Seong-hee advised her, “If you’re nervous, just visit the set often. The more comfortable you are, the better your performance will be.” Yeom took that advice to heart, visiting the set whenever possible, even on days she wasn’t filming. “Watching scenes come to life from the script was an incredible experience,” she recalled.
At first, Yeom felt Ara was completely unlike her, but she soon found similarities. “Like Ara, I always have a desire to create and a mindset of, ‘If I can’t do this, I’ll find another way.’ I’m a practical person,” she said. “For me, acting always starts from who I am it’s the journey from myself to the character.”
Yeom began her career in 2000 on the Daehak-ro theater stage and made her film debut with a minor role in Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder (2003). She gained public recognition through tvN’s Dear My Friends (2016) and has since appeared in numerous acclaimed projects such as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, When the Camellia Blooms, The Uncanny Counter, The Glory, and I Can Speak.
In 2025 alone, Yeom starred in When Life Gives You Tangerines, Law and the City, and films like Virus, Wall To Wall, and No Other Choice, firmly establishing herself as one of Korea’s most sought-after actresses. “These days, people introduce me as ‘the trendiest actress, Yeom Hye-ran,’” she said. “When you’re working alongside Park Chan-wook, Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, and Park Hee-soon — how could you not feel like one? It’s such a precious opportunity.”
Looking back, Yeom says she has already achieved her dream. “My dream used to be simple — I just wanted to act without worrying about paying the bills. I never dreamed of starring in a Park Chan-wook film or winning awards. I just wanted to live off my craft. Now that I can, I realize I’ve made it.”
As for what’s next, Yeom remains humble. “My only thought is to do my next project well,” she said with a smile. Still, she’s eager to show audiences more sides of herself. “The image of Gwang Rye as a devoted mother left a strong impression, and some fans still tear up when they see me. I’m grateful, but I don’t want to be confined to that image. I want to try everything — and keep surprising people.”
Sources: Daum
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