Meet Lim Ji-yeon, playing The Glorys oh-so hateable villain: besides starring with Song Hye-kyo i
As the buzz surrounding The Glory continues to grow, it’s impossible not to focus on the incredible supporting cast members, such as Lim Ji-yeon who stars as Park Yeon-jin, the grown-up bully in the series who fans love to hate and simply can’t get enough of.
So, what else do we know about the 32-year-old star?
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Lim is no stranger to the world of Korean entertainment, having made her debut in the industry back in 2014 with Obsessed, an erotic romance film opposite Song Seung-heon.
Since then, she has appeared in a number of popular TV shows and films, earning a reputation as a versatile and talented performer. She played a supermarket worker in High Society (2015), followed by the box-office action-fantasy film Spiritwalker (2021) and Money Heist Korea: Joint Economic Area (2022) where she played Seoul, a mercenary leader, in the show’s second part.
It’s worth noting that Seoul is a new character added specifically for the Korean adaptation, as no such character existed in the original Spanish version.
Since 2020, Lim has been signed with Artist Company, which represents many esteemed Korean stars such as Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae, Park So-dam and Jung Woo-sung, per Hellokpop.She is friends with Exo’s Suho and Song Hye-kyo in real life
With almost a decade-long showbiz career, Lim has of course worked with many celebrities. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Korea National University of Arts along with actresses Kim Go-eun and Jung So-min, reported Preview. Interestingly, she is also friends with Exo’s Suho, whom she met in university.
In 2016, Lim appeared in MBC’s Section TV and talked about their friendship. “I am close with Exo’s Suho because we are university classmates. We haven’t seen each other for a while, but got a chance to meet up at an awards ceremony and even took pictures together,” she said, adding that they are in a group chat together where they share support and funny pictures.
Lim also recently disclosed that despite their on-screen rivalry in The Glory, she and Song Hye-kyo are actually good friends in real life. “We are so innocent and nice. Even when filming, all we talk about is food and dogs. We are complete opposites of our characters. Hye-kyo unnie (older sister) even bought me pork belly and we are really close,” she told Korean Cosmopolitan, adding that due to the show’s meteoric success, the cast are closer now more than ever.‘Model Avengers’: meet 5 K-drama best friends who got their start in fashion
What Lim Ji-yeon think about her character in The Glory?
Along with the other villains in The Glory, Lim appeared in Korea’s W Magazine recently to discuss their TV characters. Lim said that she was shocked when she first read Park Yeon-jin’s character and confessed that it was hard to play a villain with no elaborate backstory.
“Should I say she has psychopathic tendencies? Is it because she was raised by her wicked mother? After having these questions, I ultimately concluded, ‘Yeon-jin knows nothing,’” Lim shared. “She doesn’t know the concepts of [feeling] bad or guilty. Without ever having to work hard because she wanted something, she just lived while enjoying what was given to her. Once I started [thinking] from there, all the scenes were gradually solved.”
Her global success was supposedly predicted by a fortune-teller
Here’s an interesting titbit for Lim’s fans: Esquire Korea reported that Lim met with a fortune-teller who supposedly predicted her global success before the release of The Glory.
“You are smart and you have an aspect that is genius. When you began acting is when you asserted your own will the most powerfully. If you first made your leap of faith by entering the entertainment industry, then it’s time you make a second leap,” remarked the fortune-teller, according to the publication.
He not only predicted Lim’s global success, but also advised her to learn Chinese or English as she is expected to receive greater attention in 2024, have a stronger fan base and appear in many advertisements. Wow!
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She is stylish, happily single, and a proud cat mum
Just like her character Park Yeon-jin who flaunts her designer bags and clothing on The Glory, Lim is also known for her impeccable style in real life. This is evident from her Instagram page, which has over 800,000 followers as of the time of writing.
She has also been featured in several fashion magazines, like Vogue Korea and W Magazine Korea, and has brand endorsement with the likes of Wooyoungmi Paris.
On a more personal note, despite widespread rumours that Lim is married to a business tycoon, KDramaStars reported that she is actually not dating anyone at the moment. In 2018, she was in a relationship with Lee Wook, the chairman of the non-profit organisation W Foundation, but they broke up after a year.
For the moment, Lim is happily single, focusing on her thriving career while also doting on her adorable cats, as evidenced by her Instagram page.
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