Ha Ji Won Interviewed by CNNGo

Newsflash: Ha Ji Won is one tough chick.  Well, okay, that’s not really news to anyone who’s ever seen this spirited actress take on role after role of rear-kicking protagonists (from dynasty-era policewoman to modern-day stuntwoman, she’s really got it covered).  But since Ha Ji Won is pretty much unrivaled as the nation’s female action star, she always makes for an interesting interview!  Recently she sat down with CNNGo to discuss her latest movie, “Sector 7,” in which she plays an oil drillship crew member who has to battle a deadly sea creature.  Yes, often single-handed, because that’s how Ha Ji Won rolls. 

In the interview, Ha Ji Won discussed how she wound up in the hospital several times during the shooting of “Sector 7,” after suffering from dehydration and fatigue.  To help her through the exhaustion, she drew inspiration from her character’s strength.  “My character, Hae-jun, is a feisty woman who’s tougher than the men in the film and loves her job so much that ‘she can probably eat rice with oil,’ as one of the guys say in the film. That’s why when she’s left alone to face the monster she sets off to kill it instead of breaking down and crying. When I was wearing the oil rig uniform, I just thought I had to be strong like Hae-jun.”

Anyway, here are some more soundbites from our favorite action leading lady:

“To be frank I am quite tired, but decided to take on ‘Korea’ because I loved the script. But I do want to go back to the sea as soon as I can. I fell in love with scuba diving while taking lessons for ‘Sector 7.’ Being underwater is so magical, as if you’re floating in space. But I can’t because right now I’m playing ping-pong all the time, even inside my head.”

“I built my muscles too much to play a boxing champion in ‘Miracle on 1st Street.’ It was great for the movie but an actor’s career goes on after one work, and it didn’t help doing ‘Sector 7’ and playing a stuntwoman. I’m still recuperating from [these roles].”  (Now Ha Ji Won is cutting out red meat from her diet to prepare for her upcoming role as an Olympic ping-pong champion!)

“I did feel a great deal of burden trying to build a believable character and the fact that I had such a big role in the movie. I just tried my best. Now I feel like I can do anything, whatever it might be.”

Here are some shots from “Sector 7”:

Read the interview here!  Will you be checking out “Sector 7?”