The old line is drawing renewed attention as she prepares to return to acting.
59 minutes ago
Actress Kim Min Hee is set to make her first onscreen appearance in approximately two years through director Hong Sang Soo’s latest movie, but one of her most provocative lines from an earlier collaboration has unexpectedly resurfaced ahead of the comeback. Kim appears in Nowhere To Lay My Eyes, Hong’s 35th feature film, which has been invited to the international competition section of the 79th Locarno Film Festival beginning August 5.
The film follows Sang Hee as she travels to Jeju Island with her younger brother in search of their mother, whom she last saw ten years earlier. Kim stars alongside Choi Myung Gil, Kwon Hae Hyo, Shin Seok Ho, and Park Mi So. The project also marks Choi Myung Gil’s first collaboration with Hong, who reportedly handled the directing, screenplay, cinematography, sound, editing, and music himself.
For Kim, the film carries additional significance as her return to acting following childbirth. Although she remained involved with Hong’s recent films as a production manager, Nowhere To Lay My Eyes marks her first acting role since stepping away from the screen.
As attention returns to Kim and Hong’s professional partnership, Korean netizens have revisited a scene from their 2017 movie On the Beach at Night Alone. Kim portrayed Young Hee, an actress dealing with the fallout from a relationship with a married film director. The similarities between the movie’s premise and the controversy surrounding Kim and Hong led audiences to scrutinize its dialogue closely upon release.
One particular line is now circulating again.
I don’t care about men’s looks anymore. Handsome men all act like they know how handsome they are. And I’ve really lived it up with them already. Now I’m going to do whatever I want before I die.
— Kim Min Hee’s Character
Although the words were scripted dialogue spoken by a fictional character, many viewers interpreted them as unusually personal. Before becoming involved with Hong, Kim had publicly dated several celebrities widely praised for their appearance, including Lee Jung Jae, Jo In Sung, and Lee Soo Hyuk. That history made the character’s declaration that she no longer cared about a man’s looks feel particularly pointed to audiences.
Nine years later, the line has returned as Kim prepares to promote another movie made with Hong, and the reactions have been ruthless. Some netizens joked that attractive men with large egos would still be preferable to an older, less conventionally attractive man—or an old one like Hong Sang Soo—behaving the same way. Others questioned whether the line had been improvised or deliberately written to resemble Kim’s real-life romantic history.
- 233. Hong Sang Soo has so much money that he basically made a movie to justify his affair with her.
- 234. She avoided handsome men who were full of themselves and chose an old, unattractive, and selfish man instead. Her personal preference would be one thing, but did she also have to choose a married man?
- 235. Even if a handsome man were full of himself, you could probably tolerate it. What use is an unattractive, old, pathetic man?
- 236. What an absurd line.
- 237. The conclusion is simply that she ended up with an extremely old married man. That is it.
- 238. Aren’t her ex-boyfriends all doing perfectly well? We do not know their private lives, but they built successful careers and married beautiful actresses. Meanwhile, Hong Sang Soo is a married man without looks or charm. Her final choice is the strangest one.
- 239. The line about handsome men is so funny. I cannot stop laughing.
- 240. Don’t Hong Sang Soo’s movies usually give the actors a situation rather than writing every line for them?
- 241. A handsome man who is full of himself would still be better.
- 242. If both attractive and unattractive men are going to act the same way, wouldn’t it still be better to choose the attractive one?
- 243. Who said anything about looks? We’re disgusted that you chose a married man.
- 244. OK, but wouldn’t you rather have a good-looking man over an ugly one if they’re both going to act stupid?
- 245. Yeah whatever. An affair is an affair.
Kim and Hong publicly acknowledged their relationship in 2017. Hong has remained legally married, and the pair have continued collaborating on films despite years of public criticism. Kim’s upcoming return will also bring her back to the Locarno Film Festival, where she previously received the Best Performance award for By the Stream in 2024. Festival organizers praised Nowhere To Lay My Eyes for conveying the meaning, beauty, and complexity of life through its imagery, dialogue, and encounters. Whether Kim will personally attend the event has not yet been announced.
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