bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

The Korea Times

By KTimes
In the newly released season two of Netflix series Hellbound, actress Kim Shin-rock, 43, reprises her role as the resurrected character Park Jung-ja, delivering a chilling portrayal of a soul who has experienced hell.
When asked, “What is hell like?” Park responds with hollow eyes: “That’s … something words cannot explain.”
In season one of Hellbound (2021), Kim left a strong impression as Park, a devoted mother fiercely protecting her children. In the second season, her character has undergone a transformation, reflecting the torment of four years in confinement.


Audiences have praised her intense performance, describing it as a “masterclass in acting” and “possessed acting”, and “otherworldly”.
In a recent interview, Kim said: “I portrayed Park Jung-ja as fragmented and broken, making her voice inconsistent to convey the aftermath of her experiences in hell.”
Hellbound is a thriller series that depicts a phenomenon in which people are notified of their death by ghostly apparitions, only to be brutally killed by monsters. Kim’s character is one such person, returning to life after being killed in this supernatural event.
Her ethereal, floating portrayal was immediately recognised during the first season shoot.
“After the first scene, the crew said nothing. Later, I heard that my tone had everyone buzzing behind the monitor, and director Yeon Sang-ho decided to trust my approach, saying, ‘Kim Shin-rock is at her peak these days, so let’s go with it’. I’m grateful for their trust in me,” she said.

Her synergy with veteran actresses like Moon Geun-young, Kim Hyun-joo and Moon So-ri has been credited with deepening the series’ intensity.
Kim, who debuted on stage in 2004, gained wider recognition through Hellbound season one and has since pursued diverse roles across film and drama.
In Uprising, the film that opened last month’s Busan International Film Festival, she plays the role of a militia fighter named Beom-dong – a character that was originally written as male.
Director Kim Sang-man, impressed by her performance in Hellbound, changed the character’s gender to cast her.
After initially studying geography in university, Kim discovered acting through a theatre club.
By her final year, while friends prepared for exams and jobs, she found herself struggling with illness that kept her from campus and led her back to her southwestern hometown of Gwangju.


Reflecting on that time, Kim noted it might have been depression but that her young sibling helped her find a turning point.
“One day, while watching Animal Farm with my younger brother, I asked him, ‘Are you happy living like this?’ He answered, ‘If I had died yesterday, I wouldn’t have seen Animal Farm today’,” she said.
“It was a revelation for me, and after that, I recovered and returned to Seoul.”
After graduating from university, Kim joined a theatre troupe but admits: “I was so bad at acting that I felt like a burden.”
Determined to improve, she continued studying acting in graduate school and at the Korea National University of Arts’ School of Drama.

Later, with support from a grant from Arts Council Korea, an organisation for arts and culture, she spent two years travelling to various theatre troupes abroad, learning and refining her skills.
In 2013, wanting to study acting methods more deeply, she attended a practical acting school in New York run by a theatre company for a year.
Through this dedication, she has made a name for herself in the theatre world, committing to what she calls “my acting, under my own name”.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Read the full story at The Korea Times.


Actor Ju Ji-hoon on the message of K-drama Light Shop and the emotion he felt making it

The 15 best K-dramas of 2024 ranked, from Queen of Tears to LTNS and Squid Game season 2

Disney+ K-drama Light Shop review: Ju Ji-hoon in mawkish supernatural story of two halves

Who is Lim Ji-yeon, actress best known for K-dramas The Glory and The Tale of Lady Ok?

K-drama news

With Hellbound 2 performance, K-drama actress Kim Shin-rock shows she is ‘at her peak’

Kim Shin-rock with her 2022 Blue Dragon Series Awards trophy for best supporting actress in a drama for her portrayal of Park Jung-ja in Hellbound. Viewers have praised Kim for her performance in the second season of the Netflix Korean drama. Photo: Instagram/@netflix.hellbound 

Kim Shin-rock as Park Jung-ja in Hellbound season two. Photo: Won-jin Jo/Netflix

Kim Shin-rock as Park Jung-ja in a still from Hellbound season two. Photo: Won-jin Jo/Netflix

11 of the best new K-dramas to watch in November 2024, from Gangnam B-Side to Mr Plankton

Lee You-mi (left) and Woo Do-hwan in a still from Mr Plankton, one of our top Korean drama picks for November 2024. Photo: Jiyeon Kim/Netflix

Yoo Yeon-seok (left) and Chae Soo-bin in a still from When the Phone Rings.

Netflix’s Squid Game 2 to be ‘more intriguing’ as Lee Jung-jae returns full of vengeance

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk (left) and stars Lee Jung-jae (centre) and Wi Ha-jun at a fan gathering in Lucca, Italy, ahead of the release of season 2 of the hit Netflix K-drama series. Photo: Instagram/@luccacomicsandgames

Scenes of alcohol drinking in K-dramas and viral YouTube chat shows draw fire in Korea

A scene from tvN’s hit series “Queen of Tears” shows its main character Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) crying after drinking beer. Courtesy of tvN

Ryujin of K-pop group Itzy drinks alcohol during an episode of Nothing Prepared. This and other YouTube chat shows, as well as K-dramas, are being criticised for promoting alcohol consumption to young viewers. Photo: YouTube

A scene from the hit K-drama series Queen of Tears shows its main character, Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun), opening up while drinking beer. Photo: courtesy of tvN

Shinee members Key (left) and Minho drink soju on MBC’s reality show I Live Alone. Photo: YouTube

A scene from YouTube drinking show Zzan Bro. Photo: YouTube

8 of the best new K-dramas to watch in October 2024 including Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born

Kim Tae-ri in a still from Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born, one of eight new Korean dramas coming to our screens in October 2024. Photo: Disney+

Lifestyle

K-Pop

K-drama

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Audiences have praised Kim Shin-rock for her otherworldly performance in Hellbound 2, and the K-drama’s creators couldn’t agree more


Audiences have praised Kim Shin-rock for her otherworldly performance in Hellbound 2, and the K-drama’s creators couldn’t agree more.


Netflix

TV shows and streaming video

Korea Times