Credit: Netflix
For her role in Netflix’s You and Everything Else , Park Ji Hyun transformed herself with an intense approach, fasting for three weeks on nothing but water and Americanos. “My body grew thinner but my face swelled, and I knew this was the look,” she explained, noting she deliberately kept her appearance that way to capture her character’s decline.
The series chronicles the intertwined lives of Eun Joong ( Kim Go Eun ) and Sang Yeon, best friends turned lifelong rivals. Park takes on the role of Cheon Sang Yeon, a woman raised in privilege but plagued by envy over Eun Joong, who possessed everything she could never have.
“People praised my acting a lot, but I never thought it was mine alone,” Park explained. “I’m an emotional person, and I cried constantly on set. But the actors and staff supported me and helped me ground those emotions. Thanks to their care, I was able to portray Sang Yeon fully.”
To convincingly play the character across decades, Park immersed herself in documentaries and videos, studying how people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s carried themselves. Her most drastic choice came when preparing to play Sang Yeon in her final chapter as a terminally ill woman. “The night before filming the euthanasia scene, I watched sad things to cry myself, and I got to shoot the scene all swollen,” she admitted.
The moment left an indelible mark, especially when co-star Kim Go Eun improvised lines not in the script: “Sang Yeon, breathe. Sang Yeon, I love you.” Park recalled, “Sang Yeon had never heard anyone say they loved her. To hear it at the very end made me want to respond.”
She described Kim Go Eun as an anchor throughout production. “She was like a rock for me,” Park said with a laugh. “Even when I threw out raw emotions, she absorbed it all quietly. Because of that, I could fully express Sang Yeon. I’m so grateful to her.”
Reflecting on the role, Park said Sang Yeon will stay with her long after the cameras stopped rolling. “She lived a life of loneliness. That’s why she could say, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose’ so easily. To me, she’s still a heartbreaking character,” she shared. “Some viewers may see her as a bad person, but to me, Sang Yeon is someone I could understand completely.”
Kim Go Eun Explains Why She Broke Down in Tears at ‘You and Everything Else’ Press Event
Source ( 1 )
