Han Ji-min plays tough woman in “Miss Baek”

Actress Han Ji-min takes on the toughest role of her entire acting career in her latest film “Miss Baek.” She plays ex-convict Baek Sang-ah who was abused by her mother and abandoned as a child. / Courtesy of Little Big Pictures

Actress Han Ji-min is no longer a “sweetheart.”

In her latest film “Miss Baek,” the 35-year-old actress turns into a tough ex-convict, swearing, spitting and smoking on the street corner _ an image one can hardly imagine for the actress, known for her humanitarian work and voluntary efforts to help children from North Korea and in developing countries in Asia.

The film “Miss Baek” deals with child abuse. Han plays Baek Sang-ah, a woman abused by her mother and abandoned as a child, who in protecting herself from sexual assault had to serve jail time, and then lives an emotionally closed-off life from the rest of the world.

Instead of her given name, she lives as “Miss Baek” to hide her identity, but as she happens to meet a girl in the street who has been abused by her computer game-addicted father and his lover, she tries to save the child who reminds of herself during her own childhood.

In order to better play her new role, Han bleached her hair and wore no makeup except for red lipstick as if saying, “I'm a strong woman. So leave me alone.”

From the first scene, her charismatic look and acting gives a strong impression to viewers. But, Han says the image makeover was not the major reason she joined the project. “Although I've always been looking for new characters and changes as an actress, it was not the reason I chose this film,” said Han in a recent interview.

“I accepted the offer because the film deals with the painful subject of child abuse but looks at it with a warm heart and solace… When I first read the script, I felt like all the things (that happen in the movie) happen in the real world. Baek was a very different character than I've done before, but I felt strongly like I wanted to embrace her hurt and vulnerability.”

Actress Han Ji-min / Courtesy of BH Entertainment

The film was inspired by the director Lee Ji-won's own experience of a neighborhood girl who people suspected was being abused by her parents.

The low budget film is having a meaningful success at the local box office, ranked the third most seen at the weekend box office, following Korean crime thriller “Dark Figure of Crime” and the Marvel blockbuster “Venom.”

As for some acts of violence seen in the film, the actress said they were necessary in order to emphasize its message. “It might be uncomfortable for some audiences, but without them, the film would not sufficiently express the child's situation and pain. So many people read about child abuse in the news on a daily basis but they end up just thinking another unfortunate case happened,” she said. “When the same story is told in the medium of a film, it has a more emotional impact on viewers. People quickly forget social issues, but when they are told through film, more people remember them and also for a longer time. So I really wanted to play my role well.”

Han says viewers after watching the film will leave theaters with the meaningful message the film carries.

“The film gives the message that personal lives are important but the world people leave behind to our children is more important and without creating social awareness for this issue and acting on it, we can hardly change the world.”

Han, who debuted in the teenage role of main character Song Hye-kyo in the hit drama “All In” in 2003, says as she gets older, she thinks more of what she can do as an actress. “Whenever I finish my work, I receive a lot of feedback from audiences and I realized that I'm doing work that can give hope to many people. Now I'm in the process of straightening up my thoughts on what responsibilities an actress should have.”