Woman-oriented action noir, a challenge for actress Kim Hye-soo

Since the bulk of her work lately was dramas and sexy roles, being cast as the lead in a women-oriented action noir film presented a considerable challenge for actress Kim Hye-soo.

"I am a coward who's different from the public image of me, so whenever I'd been offered an action film I always thought I could not do it," the 47-year-old star said at a press conference in Seoul for her new film, "A Special Lady," on Tuesday. But the film's interesting story and characters captured her mind, leading her to stake her career on the challenge, she said.

Actress Kim Hye-soo poses for photographers during a news conference for "A Special Lady" at a cinema in southern Seoul on Oct. 10, 2017. (Yonhap)

After doing the movie, she gained confidence that she can expand her filmography to the action genre.

"What I confirmed this time was that I have very good physical fitness as I expected," she said. "I felt like I was dancing, not the action that I was learned to do. I thought it could have been my last time doing a noir film but now that has changed. I want to be better prepared next time."

In "A Special Lady," Kim plays Hyeon-jeong, an underboss of an organized crime ring who grew it into a promising business group. She dreams of leaving the criminal world and making a new start. However, her loyal subordinate and fixer Sang-hoon (Lee Sun-kyun) can't understand her and helps prosecutor Choi (Lee Hui-joon) take revenge on her.

Director Lee An-gyu said that he simply began from the desire to produce a female-oriented action noir because there are already countless films out there featuring cool guys.

"Kim came up in my mind as the only option for the role of Hyeon-jeong," he said.

Kim showed her charismatic image as a female cop in the 2016 tvN series "Signal" and the female boss of a criminal ring in the 2014 Korean film "Coinlocker Girl."

She also touched on the lack of female-centric titles in the Korean film industry.

"I think you'll all know the reality facing actresses. This is not a problem limited to Korea after all. There are also only a few films led by women in Hollywood and most European countries," she said.

She expressed hope that there will be more films like "A Special Lady" to enhance the diversity of the local film industry.

"A Special Lady" is set to open in local theaters on Nov. 9.

(YONHAP)