[Interview] Heo Gayoon "Song Kang-ho Gave Me Many Acting Tips and Took Me to Busan's Best Restaurants, I'm Grateful"

[Lee Isul, Entertainment Reporter]

Photo by D&Y Storm Pictures Korea Co., Ltd., HoduenU Entertainment

Actress Heo Ga-yoon expressed her gratitude to senior actor Song Kang-ho.

On the afternoon of the 9th, Heo Ga-yoon shared various stories about the movie Search Out (directed by Kwak Jung) during an interview held at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

That day, Heo Ga-yoon updated on her recent life, saying, “Due to social distancing caused by COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), I have mostly stayed at home. I couldn’t go to the gym, so there wasn’t much I could do, but I spent my time eating well at home.”

When asked if she felt disappointed about the film being released during a difficult time for theaters due to COVID-19, Heo Ga-yoon said, “I want to put meaning into the release. It’s the director’s first work, and he worked hard, so we can’t just keep postponing the release. The movie might do well or not, but I want to focus on the fact that we can show the work we put our effort into.”

Heo Ga-yoon, who debuted as a member of the group 4Minute and then transitioned to acting, said, “I am a rookie as an actress. While filming my first lead role in Search Out, I seriously took the time to learn,” adding, “I also felt a sense of responsibility not to cause trouble for others,” showing her strong determination.

When asked if 4Minute might reunite, Heo Ga-yoon said, “These days, I see seniors reuniting, and I wonder if it might be hard to dance as we get older. We just talked about how it might be fun to do it later, but we didn’t discuss anything concrete,” adding, “It’s hard to meet personally, and we belong to different agencies, so I don’t know if we can do it together. Personally, if there’s a chance, I’d like to do it someday.”

When asked if she wants to sing again, Heo Ga-yoon firmly replied, “Not yet. I want to focus on acting.”

She continued, “Sometimes when I miss the 4Minute days, I look up videos online,” and added, “Right now, my task is to show myself as an actress. I want to focus and act diligently.”

In the film, Heo Ga-yoon captures attention with her girl crush charm. She said, “About 70% of it is similar to my real self,” laughing, “The way she says everything she wants to say is like me. Being good with computers is different from me, but there are many similarities.”

Regarding her real personality, Heo Ga-yoon said, “I’m the shy type,” and added, “It’s harder to get close to peers. Even during my time as a singer, it was difficult to get close to members of other groups. We only briefly met at the ending stages of music shows. I want to make many friends among actors my age while acting.”

She also added, “I want to get closer by working on projects with female actors of my generation.”

Heo Ga-yoon also expressed her gratitude toward Song Kang-ho, who showed special consideration on the set of The Drug King (2018). She recalled, “Senior Song Kang-ho was really kind. At first, he didn’t know I was from 4Minute, but later he found out and was surprised. He gave me a lot of acting advice after reading the script. It was my first time on a big set, and he showed me various versions of acting. He praised me and bought me a lot of delicious food.”

Heo Ga-yoon said, “He also took me to his favorite restaurant in Busan, where The Drug King was filmed. Director Woo Min-ho also shared many stories with me.”

Search Out is an SNS tracking thriller where a suicide occurs at a goshiwon (a small, cheap lodging) where Seong-min (Lee Si-eon) and Jun-hyeok (Kim Sung-cheol) live. The two sense that the death was manipulated through mysterious messages and face the reality of SNS crimes that deeply invade individuals’ daily lives.

In the film, Heo Ga-yoon plays Nuri, a sharp-minded hacker from a detective agency, who tracks the IP of the account suspected to be the culprit and gathers crime clues scattered across SNS, playing the role of the case solver. The movie opens on the 15th.