Kim Hye Soo has revealed how seriously she prepared for her role as a successful influencer in The Affair Was Just the Beginning.
In a recent interview with W Korea, the actress explained that transforming into Kyung Hee was not just about wearing stylish clothes. She also began working on her body as soon as she decided to take the role.
Kim Hye Soo said, “Once I received the script and decided to do it, I started working on my body as part of the preparation. I thought that was something necessary for the role.”
Kyung Hee is portrayed as a self-made influencer who built her success from the bottom up. Although she presents a glamorous and seemingly perfect life to the public, Kim Hye Soo said she wanted to show the pressure and instability underneath that image.
She explained, “She looks very successful and glamorous on the outside, but she is actually carrying a heavy sense of responsibility as the head of her family.”
To make the character feel more realistic, Kim Hye Soo studied successful influencers and celebrities, paying attention to how they present themselves, their families, and their lifestyle as part of their public image.
Fashion also became an important part of the transformation. Kim Hye Soo reportedly wore around 17 different outfits in the first episode alone, but she said the amount of styling did not feel like a burden.
“To play this kind of character, you have to take on that challenge,” she said.
For Kim Hye Soo, Kyung Hee’s fashion was not simply meant to look expensive or glamorous. She saw it as a storytelling tool that could show the growing gap between the character’s polished public image and her increasingly unstable reality.
She added, “Fashion was a very useful device for expressing the cracks that become more visible as the story continues. At the same time, it could also give viewers something visually enjoyable, so I prepared for it very carefully.”
Kim Hye Soo’s comments show that her transformation for the role involved both physical preparation and detailed character research, with her appearance designed to reflect much more than just an influencer’s glamorous image.
