Why did Kim Hye-ja return to film?

Veteran actress Kim Hye-ja had said she would stop acting after the drama Heavenly Ever After (2025). According to director Song Il-gon, he kept pursuing her for the lead role in his film As If Still Radiant, writing her letters and meeting her over meals to explain why she was the right choice.

What is As If Still Radiant about?

The film follows Sun-ok, played by Kim Hye-ja, who reunites with her childhood friend Jeong-im, played by Cha Mi-kyung, after 60 years. The story mixes tender memories with the painful history they carried, and the report notes that it also uses songs and other musical elements to express the bright youth these girls were denied.

Why is this casting notable?

Kim Hye-ja debuted in 1961 as part of the first class of KBS open-recruited actors and has spent 65 years moving between film and television. Song Il-gon said her accumulated emotions over those years cannot be replaced, and he praised how she conveys complex feelings through a single gaze.

For international fans

Kim Hye-ja is widely known in Korea as a national actress, and her last major hit was the drama Heavenly Ever After. Her previous film was The Road (2017). The film also joins earlier Korean films on the comfort women issue, such as Spirit's Homecoming (2016) and I Can Speak (2017). Song Il-gon first drew attention at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival with the short film Picnic.