In ‘The Glory’ Song Hye-kyo plays Dong-eun, a woman seeking revenge.
To celebrate the release of The Glory, Part Two, on March 10, writer Kim Eun-sook, Director Ahn Gil-ho, plus actors Song Hye-kyo, Jung Sung-il, Cha Joo-young, Kim Hieora and Kim Gun-woo took part in a press conference, where they responded to questions about the first part of the series and what the second part might feature.
The drama, which aired its first eight episodes on Dec. 30, 2022, focuses on the story of Dong-eun, a girl who is viciously beaten in high school and has no one to defend her. Played by Song Hye-kyo, Dong-eun spends her life planning revenge against the people who hurt her.
Writer Kim Eun-sook, who previously wrote Descendents of the Sun, The King Eternal Monarch, Guardian: The Great and Lonely God and Secret Garden, said she began writing the script for The Glory because of a question from her daughter. Would Kim feel worse if her daughter was beaten or if she hit other people?
“When I was writing the script, I was trying to find an answer to that question,” said Kim. “And if my daughter is beaten to death, there might be a solution and that solution would be pulling all the perpetrators to hell, because I have the money to do so. So my conclusion was that it would be better for me if you’re beaten. But in The Glory, this can’t happen to Dong-eun, right? And I think most of the victims can’t solve the problem like this because they don’t have wealthy parents like me. They don’t live in an environment where my daughter is raised. So I wanted to cheer for them because reality is harsh. And I hope Dong-eun’s vengeance is successful. So that’s how I tried to lead my storyline toward. And how it ends, you should watch it yourselves.”
Actress Song Hye-kyo, who previously starred in That Winter The Wind Blows, Descendants of the Sun, Encounter and Now We Are Breaking Up, spoke about how nervous she was before the first part of the series was released and how long it has taken for the success of the series to sink in.
“Even though I did see the final cut of the drama, all I could really focus on was what I could have done better,” said Song. “So I kept thinking to myself I should have done better and what if people don’t like it as much because I didn’t do a great job. So that was what I was really concerned about. But after Part 1 was released, it was just so well received. In the beginning, I couldn’t really come to my senses because it was so much love, and it had been a while since I had such a huge hit drama series. And I felt great because so many of us, including the cast and creators, as is with any other drama series really, we all put our hearts and souls into it. And this was my very first genre-driven drama series, so everything was a challenge. It was all very difficult, and there was that doubt, I think, with every scene. I was constantly asking myself is this right? And I feel very grateful, I’m just so thankful because of the great response.”
Dong-eun is brutalized, then so driven by her revenge that she forsakes the pleasures of a normal life. She lives to punish those who treated her so cruelly. The character says, “there is no mercy and therefore no glory.” For Song this line sums up who and what her character is.
“She will not be showing any mercy and also knows that she is becoming a perpetrator from being a victim,” said Song. “And she understands and knows that she is not seeking glory. It’s not a type of revenge where a person thinks, I’m going to get revenge and live a happy life. She’s saying, I’m going to get my revenge and I’m going to die with you. I feel like—I was really hurt by Dong-eun’s line in saying that and I really felt for her. A part that I really felt for in the many scenes by Dong-eun. Dong-eun goes to visit her teacher in the past and she’s friends with his son. And to that son, who is a friend of Dong-eun, she tells him, ‘I know you did nothing wrong, I know you’re innocent. But so was I. And you are an adult and I was only an 18 year old girl.’ And I was aching for her, hurting for her.”
There were many scenes that made Song’s heart ache. Dong-eun was a difficult role to play.
“For me, Dong-eun has those scars, burn scars to be exact, and it took a lot of time to do the special makeup,” said Song. “And I believe it was at the end of episode six and it took about four to five hours just to get the special effects makeup done on me. And I was on a very strict diet for about three days leading up to that shoot day. And from the day prior, I actually stopped drinking. And it was really difficult, because of all of that effort and the physical toll it took on me, I remember it was just so tough to go through that scene. But it ended up being more impactful because of that. And I had to get the special effects makeup done on me quite often, so my skin would break out, and you have to use a particular remover on my skin. So I think those moments where I had to wear that makeup, that was memorable. The reason I was put on a strict diet and even tried not to drink water was because I wanted to really convey how hurtful and difficult and broken Dong-eun was.”
Will Dong-eun get her revenge? After watching her be mistreated in the first half of the series, the audience certainly wants her to. But the writer, actors and directors don’t want to spoil the suspense. When he was working on the second part of the series, director Ahn Gil-ho asked his team how they felt.
“Everybody said, episode 10 is better than nine, 11 is better than 10, and I personally think episode 16 is the best,” he said. It is going to be the best episode of the whole series.”
The Netflix
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanmacdonald/2023/03/09/the-cast-and-crew-of-the-glory-discuss-part-two-of-their-hit-drama/