'Queen of romance' Gong Hyo-jin ready to step out of comfort zone into new genres

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'Queen of romance' Gong Hyo-jin ready to step out of comfort zone into new genres

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 16:47 Updated: 03 Dec. 2025, 18:33

JIN EUN-SOO
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Gong Hyo-jin [BY4M]

Gong Hyo-jin, often referred to as "queen of romance," for her lovely performances in a string of lighthearted dramas, is back doing what she does best in "The People Upstairs."

But this time, she’s also ready to step outside her comfort zone.

"I think romantic comedies are what I do best, and at one point, I even told others that it was the only thing I was good at," Gong said in a recent interview with local media to promote her latest film "The People Upstairs."

"Have I taken on intense roles, like a lawyer, or done period dramas? Not really. I recently started trying out action, something I never thought I'd go near because I didn’t think I could pull it off because I am just bad at doing anything that involves my body, like dancing."

The 45-year-old model-turned-actor, who debuted in 1999, is well-known for her bubbly roles in dramas like "Sangdoo, Let's Go to School" (2003) or "Pasta" (2010), where she starred alongside singer-actor Jung Ji-hoon and Lee Sun-kyun. More recently, she starred in "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), which logged record-breaking viewership.

She took a long hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic, as did many actors. During that time, she married singer-songwriter Kevin Oh in 2022.

Still from "The People Upstairs" [BY4M]

"To be honest, I was so happy while taking a break — not having to think about or prepare for anything. At one point, I thought I wasn't sure if I would be able to go back on the shooting set because I liked taking a break so much.

"But as time passed by, I realized that acting was my core, and without this core, my life would become meaningless and lack endorphins. Since then, taking on challenges became easier, and I now want to experience more diverse characters that are dense in color," she said.

Her attitude on set also shifted.

"After the hiatus, I became much more enthusiastic on set. I tried to stay one step ahead and be helpful to the director," she said.

For her latest film, "The People Upstairs," Gong said she offered various suggestions to director Ha Jung-woo to help make the film more relatable and convincing.

The R-rated comedy flick follows two couples — one in a slump and the other at their romantic peak — who live in the same apartment building. Over the course of one evening, the four sit down for dinner and engage in a frank, and somewhat steamy, conversation.

Gong plays Jung-ah from the couple in a slump.

"It might have appeared like I was doing a lot of nagging on set, but because director Ha is a male and the film follows Jung-ah's perspective, I thought I could contribute a lot more in terms of depicting the mentality of a female," she said.

"But I didn't give much opinion on changing the lines because I knew how much hard work Ha put into them. He would contemplate on a single suffix for three straight days. He doesn't waste a single minute of his life, and I thought that only a person with that much dedication can be a director and actor at the same time. I would just casually toss my idea away."

"The People Upstairs" opened nationwide on Wednesday.

Her next project is the Netflix action thriller "Married Woman Killer" set for a 2026 release.