A collaboration between a smoking nun and a cursing nun fighting against evil spirits. It’s Song Hye-kyo and Jeon Yeo-been in ‘The Black Nuns’.
Director Kwon Hyuk-jae introduced the film at the press screening and media conference for ‘The Black Nuns’ held at Megabox COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 20th, saying, “I know that this project has been in planning and development for a long time at the production company that made ‘The Priests’. The intense reading swept me away. The aftermath of the ending was also tremendous, and I tried to stay true to the script. I worked hard to create it piece by piece with great actors and an excellent staff.”
Director Kwon, who said he was “a fan of the previous film,” added, “When I first saw the long-planned script, I thought it was refreshing to be able to do a spin-off like this. I did my best.”
Song Hye-kyo, who plays the role of a nun, responded to the question of whether she would like to experience the life of a nun in the film, saying, “I thought about how far I could go to save a child. I wondered if I could act like Sister Unia, even though she’s not family.”
She continued, “I felt that being a nun might allow me to do that. In that sense, I don’t think I could live as a nun. It seems like it requires tremendous courage, just looking at Sister Unia.” Jeon Yeo-been added, “I think I naturally asked myself that question too. It seems too difficult. It feels like a choice I wouldn’t dare to make.”
Song Hye-kyo shows several smoking scenes in the film. She said, “This is my first time attempting smoking acting in this movie,” and added, “As a non-smoker, I had a lot of concerns, but I only thought about Sister Unia. I thought it was an essential part for the character.”
She revealed, “I started practicing smoking six months before filming. It’s not a good thing, but I ended up practicing smoking. The first scene is a smoking scene and a close-up, so I didn’t want to fake it, so I practiced a lot for both acting and smoking.”
Additionally, she mentioned, “When I thought only about Sister Unia as in the script, I had many concerns about whether I could save a child possessed by an evil spirit. I acted with the belief that ‘the nun would do that’ after discussing it with the director and Jeon Yeo-been.”
Jeon Yeo-been plays the role of ‘Mikaela’, who is initially wary of the headstrong ‘Unia’ nun but gradually opens her heart and helps save ‘Hee-jun’ (played by Moon Woo-jin).
She explained, “Mikaela’s role is more about reacting to the surrounding situations rather than explaining herself through dialogue. Acting is a feast of action and reaction, and there’s no performance where reaction isn’t important, but I think it’s especially crucial for Mikaela. I tried my best to focus, but as someone who watched the film for the first time, I feel a lot of regret thinking, ‘I wish I had done better.’”
She added, “It starts with a sense of resistance towards Unia, but at some point, a desire to help arises. This isn’t just a sense of solidarity between women; it seems to be a greater belief to save a life. In this process, Father Paulo’s new determination was also necessary. I felt the steps and help of people moving forward gradually. I hope this is well expressed in the film, and I think it has been well expressed.”
Regarding her chemistry with Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been said, “It was enjoyable to watch Hye-kyo sunbae as an actor on set. Even without many words, I learned a lot by observing her actions. I think Mikaela in the film might have felt the same way.”
Song Hye-kyo also responded, “While acting, I have many happy memories with Yeo-been. The content of the film isn’t very happy, but while creating the work and sharing various stories, I feel like we became closer, which seems similar to our characters in the film. It was very difficult to act out the process of two women with different beliefs coming together, but it was enjoyable. Even while acting, I felt that we were getting closer personally, which allowed me to immerse myself more in the performance.”
‘The Black Nuns’ is a sequel to ‘The Priests’, which opened a new chapter in Korean occult films, and is a new work from the production company that created ‘The Priests’, ‘The Day of the National Bankruptcy’, ‘Master’, and ‘Broker’. It tells the story of people who embark on a forbidden ritual to save a boy possessed by a powerful evil spirit.
This film also marks Song Hye-kyo’s return to the screen after 10 years since ‘My Life’s Last Season’ (2014). Director Kwon Hyuk-jae, who directed ‘Count’ and ‘The Solver’, is at the helm.
It will be released on the 24th.
