Kang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo talk about learning life lessons from My Brilliant Life
South Korean stars Kang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo learned valuable personal and professional lessons from their latest roles
Song Hye-kyo and Kang Dongwon are superstars in their native South Korea, and they reached that status long ago. Both enjoyed early success, making professional debuts in their teens – the actress in television drama First Love (2000), and Kang as a model before trying his hand at acting. Now in their early 30s, they are both in their prime, and in their new film, My Brilliant Life, they play parents for the first time.
The film is based on Kim Ae-ran’s bestselling 2011novel, My Palpitating Life, about a 17-year-old boy, Ah-reum, who suffers from progeria, a rare genetic condition which causes premature ageing.
Looking like an 80-year-old and realising his time may be running out, the teenage Ah-reum sets out to write a story about how his young parents fell in love.
“As soon as I read the script I was drawn to it,” says Song. “I liked the humanistic focus of the story, and I have a lot of trust in director E J-yong, so I agreed to do it immediately.
” She happened to mention the project to Kang, who is in the same management company. The two have been friends since appearing together in Jang Joon-hwan’s Love for Sale (2010), and move in the same social circles. “He showed a great interest in the story, so I told him to ask for the script,” the actress recalls.