Bae Jong Ok Reveals the Truth Behind the Physical Altercation Rumor With Screenwriter Noh Hee Kyung

Actress Bae Jong Ok has opened up about a physical altercation she once had with screenwriter Noh Hee Kyung.

Episode 4 of Bae Jong Ok’s appearance on the YouTube channel “Song Seung Hwan’s Wonderful Life” dropped on July 24. In it, Bae Jong Ok met with her close friend, actor Song Seung Hwan, and looked back on the first time she met Noh Hee Kyung.

She started by bringing up the filming of the 1998 KBS 2TV drama “The Lie,” a melodrama written by Noh Hee Kyung. Bae Jong Ok recalled, “I heard the story through Yoon Yeo Jeong.”

At the time, Noh Hee Kyung and director Pyo Min Soo had already been trying to cast a different actress, Hwang Shin Hye, for “The Lie.” Bae Jong Ok revealed the story behind how she ended up on the project instead: “Back then, Shin Hye unnie had to get married, so she said she couldn’t do it. That’s why the project fell through. At the time I was busy with another project and also teaching as a lecturer at a college outside Seoul. So from Noh Hee Kyung’s perspective, she just didn’t like me. Back then, we’d all gathered in Gapyeong for some reason, and Noh Hee Kyung showed up late. I can’t stand that kind of thing. And then ‘The Lie’ landed on me and it put her in a bad mood. She asked, ‘You’re busy, can you even do this?’ I said, ‘I’ll try.'”

As for the rumor that she and Noh Hee Kyung once got into a physical altercation, Bae Jong Ok explained, “It wasn’t really a fight — I was cast late. Everything was already set by the time I joined. During rehearsal, I could barely keep up, but I ate a snack that was sitting in front of me. Noh Hee Kyung was an extremely sensitive rookie writer at the time, and on top of that, I wasn’t acting well, so she was upset. I didn’t realize it then. But I could tell during rehearsal that my acting wasn’t working, so I kept thinking about how to fix it.” She added, “After rehearsal ended, we got on the elevator together, just the two of us. Suddenly Noh Hee Kyung grabbed my neck and shouted, ‘Act better!’ She was truly furious. She’s quite small, you know — she just lunged and grabbed my neck. But I already knew my acting wasn’t working, so I just shook her off and said, ‘I’ll try harder.’ After that, there was nothing more she could say.”

She continued, “After that, I privately trained under a professor at the college where I’d been teaching. I analyzed the emotion behind every single line for the character. I memorized every emotional beat one by one. Between that coaching and working through it on set, I think it came together by around episode two, three, or four. Looking back now, I think I really loved that role. Even now, if you ask me which project stands out the most, it’s ‘The Lie.’ It was the first project where I found my footing again as an actress.”

She also shared, “In the early days, writers would come by to show support, right? Noh Hee Kyung came by once, and it was the three of us — Yoon Yeo Jeong, Noh Hee Kyung, and me — meeting at a cafe across from KBS. Noh Hee Kyung was talking about something, and to me it came across as her showing off. Without thinking, I said, ‘You’re quite the show-off, aren’t you?’ She already wasn’t fond of me as an actress to begin with, so when I said that, she bit my hand. I smacked it away and said, ‘Well, I guess that’s why you can write.’ The two of us were so intense in front of Yoon Yeo Jeong that she kept glancing back and forth nervously,” she said, laughing.

Source: (A)