Key Sentence:
- Actor Goh Du – Shim, known as a mother in various TV dramas and movies, shows a new kind of love in the new film “Everglow.”
- Goh, born and raised on Jeju Island, plays Go Jin-ok, Jeju Haeneo, who goes diving to gather seafood to support his family.
Go, the Guinness World Record for Longest Breath has a solid and aggressive personality and quickly hooks up with documentary filmmaker Kyon Hoon, who travels to Jeju to interview him. After being rescued from drowning at sea by 30-year-old Gong Hong, he begins to open up and experience romantic feelings he has never experienced before.
Goch talked about trying to play a completely different character in an interview with Ilgan Sports, a subsidiary of Korea JoongAng Daily. The quote has been edited below.
Q. Why did you choose to make movies?
A. I was thinking about Jeju Island. Since it’s a story about Haenyeo, I think I’m probably the closest person to [being able to play this role well]. I’ve played the mom on many different projects over the past 49 years, so I thought maybe I finally had the urge to make a dramatic piece. I wonder who my partner will play. (laugh)
How does it feel to read a script?
The director said he had written the script with me in mind. He said Jeju Island reminded him of me and my face reminded him of Jeju landscape. He must have seen something to say such things. I find it hard because there are so many expectations, but I have to work on it because I don’t think many people will play haenyeo as I do. Haenyeo is what Jeju represents. Jeju made the energy. Your thoughts are Jeju’s thoughts. So I started to think that I had to fulfill the role no matter how difficult it was.
What do you do when you prepare for the role?
I have seen Haenyeo up close since I was a teenager. Households with Haenyeo workers have kept this tradition alive for generations. My family grows crops on the farm, but I have many relatives who are Haenyeo. So that’s how I know what they’re doing. And what they do is inexplicable.
It would be best if you see them live right on the border that separates life and death. You rely solely on that one lifeline to plunge into deeper water. They almost always have headaches and take medication.
You have difficulty working with underwater pressure, and you have to hold your breath. And I can’t imagine how cold it is submerged. It is impossible to stay underwater for a long time. It’s tough to repeat all the pain you’ve been through.
