The Glory: 5 things we know about Song Hye-kyo's new K-drama

Read on to find out everything that you missed at the press conference for Netflix's highly-anticipated K-drama, 'The Glory'

Boasting an all-star ensemble cast of Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, Yeom Hye-ran, Park Sung-hoon, and Jung Sung-ill, Netflix’s upcoming K-drama The Glory is set to cap off the year of fantastic Korean entertainment and go out with a bang. The highly-anticipated series, written by globally recognised maestro writer Kim Eun-sook (The Heirs, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Descendants of the Sun, The King: Eternal Monarch) is expected to rope fans in and keep them on the edge of their seats with a thrilling plot that's centred on revenge.

Song hye-kyo plays Moon Dong-eun, a victim of school violence, which forced her to drop out of high school. Years later, perpetrator Park Yeon-jin (Lim Ji-yeon) gets married and has a child that attends the same elementary school where Moon now works as a homeroom teacher. She then plots revenge on her tormentors and also the bystanders of her bullying days.

The Glory will be released in two parts: part one (eight episodes) on December 30, 2022, and part two (eight episodes) on March 10, 2023. Ahead of its release, the team came together for a press conference to promote the show. Here's everything that you missed.

Kim Eun-sook has always wanted to write about school violence

Above Writer Kim Eun-sook and director Ahn Gil-ho (Photo: Netflix)

Stories of school violence were something that has always intrigued Kim, but it was her 16-year-old daughter who motivated her to write the script. She shared: "I'm a parent myself and my daughter is going to be a sophomore in high school next year. So, school violence is a topic that I’m not new to and it’s something I want to delve into. We were talking about school violence and my concern was that my daughter, because of my fame, would be bullied in school."

"First, my daughter said, 'No, you’re not that famous.' That was the first shock that I had. Then, she said, 'Would you be more in pain if I hit someone or if I get hit?' That was the second shock that I had," she added.

As she pondered over that conversation with her daughter, thoughts and ideas unfolded in her head. She turned on her laptop and started writing, all while reading posts and interviews from victims of school violence. "In the moment of school violence, victims lose things that are intangible such as dignity, honour, and glory. I thought, if these victims get a heartfelt apology, they could restore things to the way they used to be before the violence occurred. That's why I named the drama, The Glory," Kim revealed.

Song Hye-kyo felt challenged playing Moon Dong-eun

Above Song Hye-kyo (Photo: Netflix)

While Song, a titan in the Korean acting industry, is no stranger to taking on melodramatic roles, portraying a victim was no walk in the park.

“When I read the script, I felt that this was exactly the genre and the character that I've been looking for all my career. It was so meticulously and beautifully written by writer Kim. So I thought if I could do a good job of portraying Moon, this would make a great show,” she enthused.

“It was very challenging to portray a victim. Extremely challenging. The young Moon was helpless and hurt. She was unable to put up a fight against it. But the grown-up Moon… I didn’t want her to seem as pitiful. I wanted her to seem solid and strong. And that was what I tried to focus on,” Song said.

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“I wanted to portray that she's aware of how different she is now compared to when she was younger like, ‘I’m much stronger, I’ve toughened up, I can do this’–that’s the kind of energy I wanted. I had many conversations with director Ahn, and thankfully, he and I saw eye to eye most of the time. So, I think it went quite smoothly,” she added.

Lee Do-hyun fine-tuned his acting with help from his pet dog

Above Lee Do-hyun (Photo: Netflix)

Lee plays Joo Yeo-jung, a bubbly plastic surgeon who has high energy but also a secret dual nature and he slowly transforms as the narrative becomes more revealed. Lee explained that he shot various versions of each scene: “I would prepare a simple delivery of a particular line, a little bit heightened, a little bit more complex–these different versions of the same line in the scene, that’s what I prepared so that we can be more adventurous in terms of what degree we should fine-tune the acting.”

It was also revealed that in practising for his scenes which involved Song’s character, he had his pet dog Ga-eul as a stand-in. “Because I live on my own, I had to rehearse at home. I couldn’t have anyone stand in for Song, who's irreplaceable, so I actually had to turn to Ga-eul, my pet dog. I’m sorry, Song,” he said.

To which Song replied, “It's okay! Ga-eul is the cutest dog.”

Lim Ji-yeon slapped Song until she completely blanked out

Above Lim Ji-yeon (Photo: Netflix)

Portraying a villain for the first time is Lim, in the role of Park Yeon-jin, who was born in a wealthy environment where she could have anything that she wanted without putting in any effort. She's a character who doesn't know why it's bad to hurt someone or the consequences of doing so, or how to feel guilty or apologetic about hurting someone–until Moon comes for her.

In speaking about one of her most memorable scenes in The Glory, Lim said it was a particular scene that involved slapping when Park and Moon come face-to-face with each other. "It was very tough to portray Park's emotions because I wondered, 'How would this woman feel, coming face-to-face with someone she was so mean to and bullied as a teenager?' And I remember director Ahn saying that we had to do it in a single take so... let's go! Song and I, our faces were pretty red afterwards."

"I've had quite a career but I think it was pretty much the first time I was slapped that hard–and I think it's probably the same for Lim as well. When I was first hit, I completely blanked out and I couldn't remember the next line," Song said in amusement. "We both looked at ourselves in the mirror after and saw that we had that very red trace of a hand on our faces. We actually had to take a break and ice ourselves."

'The Glory' will be rated 19+

Above Netflix's 'The Glory' centres on Moon Dong-eun (played by Song Hye-kyo), a woman who plots cold-blooded revenge against the perpetrators who bullied her as a child and forced her to drop out of school

Kim revealed that The Glory will be restricted to those aged 19 and above. "We made it 19+ because... it has to do with language and also content that's related to school violence. To add, it's also a story about vengeance that's not achieved within legal boundaries. It's personal revenge and since we neither protect nor support it, we thought that it has to be rated 19+. I believe that adults who watch this will be able to discern what's right and what's wrong and have a strong set of personal values."

"On December 30, 2022, anyone who's above 19 years of age, it’s cold so stay home and watch The Glory!" she added, referencing the winter season in South Korea.

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Topics

The Glory Song Hye-kyo Lee Do-hyun Lim Ji-yeon Yeom Hye-ran Park Sung-hoon Jung Sung-ill Netflix Korean Drama K-Drama