From ‘Heaven’ to ‘Hell’: Park Shin-hye plays quirky demon in latest series

Park Shin-hye is “The Judge from Hell.” —DISNEY+

Park Shin-hye is only 34 years old, but her costars in “The Judge from Hell” defer to her seniority in the South Korean entertainment industry. After all, Shin-hye was only 13 years old when she made her award-winning acting debut in the 2003 K-drama series “Stairway to Heaven” as the younger version of lead star Choi Ji-woo’s character.

Thereafter, Shin-hye continued to blaze the trail for other young performers by taking on memorable roles in “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” “The Heirs,” “Pinocchio,” “The Doctors,” “Memories of Alhambra” and, most recently, “Doctor Slump.” Talk about not resting on one’s laurels, Shin-hye is certainly one to emulate.

Take 35-year-old, 6-foot-2 actor-model Kim Jae-young (“Love in Contract,” “Wonderful Life”). “Shin-hye is younger than me, but she’s more senior as an actress, so I relied on her a lot,” he explained at the press con last week. “She has so much stamina, which is certainly better than mine.”

Chiming in, Kim Ah-young (“Welcome to Samdalri,” “Miss Night and Day”) disclosed: “I’m an avid fan of Shin-hye because she was in a lot of shows that I grew up watching. So at first, I didn’t feel comfortable around her, but she showed me so much kindness during our first shoot. It was really cold because we began filming in the winter, and I didn’t bring enough layers of clothing. But she gave me some of her thermal wear to keep me warm! That gesture really touched my heart.”

Unexpected romance

“The Judge from Hell,” which began streaming on Disney+ with a two-episode rollout last weekend, explores themes of justice, revenge, vigilantism and unexpected romance as it follows a demon named Justitia after she possesses the body of Judge Kang Bit-na (Shin-hye).

The possessed judge then wreaks havoc on the cases she handles until she crosses paths with compassionate detective Han Da-on (Jae-young), whose kindness makes her question her mission in no time.

Bit-na was sent back to earth, with demon colleagues Koo Man-do (Kim In-kwon of “Parasyte: The Grey”) and Lee Ah-rong (Kim Ah-young) in tow, as punishment for a botched job. Her mission: Kill 10 unrepentant murderers in one year. But what initially seemed like an easy job is turning out to be harder than she thought.

Asked to explain the production’s decision to cast Shin-hye, director Park Jin-pyo said, “Shin-hye has been taking on various characters that are bright, very lively and joyful. But underneath all that, she also possesses a lot of desires as an actress.

“Shin-hye wants viewers to see different facets of herself. Bit-na is wicked, but she’s also lovable. I needed an actress who possesses that duality, that’s why this character is perfectly cut out for her. People are going to love her even more.

“Our series may seem like a legal drama from the outside, which is partly true, but there is something that differentiates it in the sense that there’s this universe-building around the world of hell. And much like in the code of Hammurabi in the past, it has that ‘eye for an eye’ sort of fantasy element to it.

“Within that fantastical backdrop, what we tried to bring was to shed light on victims whose lives were completely taken away from them. That’s the area of focus that I wanted to shed light on. So, it’s not your typical legal drama and more about the cathartic action-fantasy element of it where good and evil exist together.”

It’s that intriguing duality that was also a crucial draw for Shin-hye.

“When I first read the script, I thought it was so entertaining and gripping,” the actress recalled. “I could imagine the story as if I were watching a movie inside my head. I’ve been wanting to transform myself into other different characters, but this wasn’t something I would normally do.

“I was curious how people would accept me if I were to portray this demon, this antihero … The characters that I’ve been playing so far have all given me a lot of joy, so I was curious about the kind of experience I’d have in bringing Bit-na to life. And I wanted to challenge myself with this role. I felt that Bit-na was so multifaceted and three-dimensional that channeling all of that would be an exciting challenge.”

“Bit-na is fierce. She doesn’t care about hierarchy, and she says whatever she feels. She’s very haughty, cruel and coldhearted. And when you see her, you’d be like, ‘How can she say such [insensitive] things to the victims and their families?’”

Not a typical villain

But Bit-na isn’t your typical villain, Shin-hye pointed out: “She has a different perspective. Because usually when we think of the villains in TV series, we think of characters who cause harm to others.

“However, she isn’t so much a villain as she is a plot device as a devil. When we think of devils, they’re deceitful and mischievous. They trick people. They’re not the most honest beings. That’s how I approached the character.

“Bit-na is a judge who’s in her mid-30s (she’s 35). But then, she changes overnight completely! She becomes unfiltered, unapologetic and extremely fierce … and that’s what I tried to focus on.

“There’s truth in the notion that I’ve been playing a lot of characters who never give up despite hardships. My fans out there always tell me that I’m always cast as this sort of poor girl with undying spirit, so I think this series is a chance for me to break through that.”

Jae-young, Ink-won and Ah-young were also asked to describe their respective characters.

“Unlike Bit-na, my character Da-on is very friendly. He always shows compassion to the victims and their families,” said Jae-young. “I care so much about them, but I’m also professional when it comes to tracking down criminals.”

On the other hand, In-kwon said that his character Man-do is the youngest of the three demons. “Man-do went by the name of Valak when he was in hell,” he related. “Justitia is the senior demon, but so is Ah-rong. But when I came into the body of Man-do, he just happened to be quite old. Given this hierarchy, you’ll see very fun moments where the three demons interact with each other.”

As for Ah-young, she explained her character’s loyalty to Justitia/Bit-na. “I have ascended to the human world as Lee Ah-rong, a part-timer who works in a convenience store,” she stated. “My character has always looked up to Justitia when they were still in hell, so she’s 100 percent loyal to her. But when she is with Man-do, she’s really fierce (laughs)!” INQ