Actor Jung Ryeo-won talks about return to big screen, 'redemption' in 'The Woman in the White Car'
Published: 29 Oct. 2025, 14:00
Updated: 29 Oct. 2025, 19:10
![Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/29/59f6739f-8623-4021-a1d3-771082241d03.jpg)
Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]
Jung Ryeo-won returns to the big screen after seven years in the psychological thriller “The Woman in the White Car.”
The thriller film “The Woman in the White Car,” which opened on Wednesday, begins with Do-kyung, played by Jung, rushing her blood-covered sister Eun-seo, portrayed by actor Kim Jung-min, to the hospital after she is stabbed in the early hours of a winter morning.
Barefoot and dazed, Do-kyung tells detective Hyun-joo, played by Lee Jung-eun, that her sister’s fiance is the attacker — but her statement is erratic and confusing.
How much of Do-kyung’s testimony can be trusted? Is Eun-seo really her biological sister? And what role does Do-kyung’s history of schizophrenia play in the story? Detecting something off, Hyun-joo begins to dig deeper into the case.
What seems at first like a straightforward crime story ends up comprising only the first third of the film. The rest unfolds through two alternating perspectives, forcing the audience to struggle through mind games to uncover what really happened that night.
Originally produced as a two-part television special for the Chuseok holidays, the project was later re-edited for theatrical release. The cinematic version went on to win Best International Feature at the 2022 San Diego International Film Festival and was invited to the London International Film Festival. It also earned two awards at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival that same year.
![Actor Jung Ryeo-won [BY4M STUDIO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/29/9b23b5b9-2ea2-4e83-b6c4-9a80241ba19d.jpg)
Actor Jung Ryeo-won [BY4M STUDIO]
Meeting with the JoongAng Ilbo at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul on Sunday, Jung said she was “overwhelmed to finally meet audiences three and a half years after filming.”
“I didn’t know it would become a film when we shot it. If I had, I might have approached it differently — but in the end, it feels like receiving an unexpected gift,” she said.
“The Woman in the White Car” marks Jung’s first film role in seven years since “Gate” (2018). Director Christine Ko, formerly an assistant director on JTBC dramas “Diary of a Prosecutor” (2019) and “Law School” (2021), wrote the script with Jung and Lee in mind, having previously worked with both actors.
In the film, Jung moves delicately between fragility and strength.
“My first scene is a close-up of me screaming for someone to open the door,” she said. “The director wanted to imprint Do-kyung's trauma [onto viewers' minds] from the very first moment.”
![Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/29/e4f54cac-b6af-44c5-9cfa-c1f0ee461b84.jpg)
Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]
When she first read the script, her immediate thought was that “it’s going to be freezing during filming.”
“It was so cold that I tried to keep my shoes on until the very last moment before the cameras rolled,” she recalled with a laugh.
Despite that, she accepted the role because she found the story irresistible.
“None of them are purely good or evil,” she said. “That’s what makes the film so compelling.”
“People can be both victims and perpetrators, depending on the situation,” she added. “But most still try to hold on to what's good. I didn't want any of these three women — all struggling to escape their trauma — to be labeled as either absolutely righteous or completely wicked.”
![Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/29/1f391e46-70b5-42dc-8ba0-9b719953dc9e.jpg)
Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]
She also found the role visually interesting. Known for her chic, urban image, Jung appears throughout the film barefaced, with dry skin and disheveled hair.
“I actually felt liberated not wearing makeup,” she said. “I imagined how someone trapped for a long time in the same space would look — drained both physically and emotionally.”
As the truth gradually emerges, the film explores the prejudice that vulnerable people face and the oppression of women, themes that ultimately converge into one idea: redemption.
“That word [...] stayed with me the most,” Jung said. “It’s not something that only comes from a higher power. When people who share similar pain help one another sincerely, that too is a form of redemption. I really related to that kind of mutual salvation.”
![Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/29/750d1ffd-5e40-447b-9594-34aa62960322.jpg)
Still cut from ″The Woman in the White Car″ [BY4M STUDIO]
She also spoke warmly of her co-star Lee Jung-eun.
“There were so many moments when I got chills acting with her,” Jung said. “Having such a strong senior actor beside me gave me so much strength.”
“A female audience member hugged me and said, ‘You must have been so cold filming this,’” she said, recalling a moment at the San Diego International Film Festival. “That comfort has stayed with me. I hope audiences feel that same sense of warmth and empathy through this movie.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG HYUN-MOK [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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