KIM So-hyun'98 is obviously the most popular musical actress these days in Korea.

Kim made her debut in"The Phantom of The Opera" in 2001 and has played in the 15 blockbuster musicals of Korea like"Jekyll & Hide","West Side Story","Sorrows of Young Werther", and"Dae Jang Keum" as main actress. She is currently starring in the musical ``Three Musketeers,'' and will soon perform in ``Romeo et Juliette''

In her first musical"The Phantom", Kim played as Christine and quickly drew 240,000 viewers, which is still a standing record in Korean musical history. She rose to stardom and got called 'Cinderella in the musical'.

``Yes, I am a sort of Cinderella because I grasped a great opportunity of performing the title role without any failure. When I heard about the auditions for `The Phantom,' I rushed there. I thought Christine is the role I can do best. I have always had to make more efforts than any other actors to catch up with them. People don't know how I have struggled to become a better actress behind the stage and just judge me for my external success,'' she said.

Kim always tries to immerse herself in every role because she believes an actor should make the audience feel a sense of reality about what's happening on stage. ``It's important for the performers to be engrossed in every character. Only when we immerse in the character, they can be assimilated with the character too,'' she said.

``At the time I played first as Christine, I was kind of naive and didn't know much about the musical. So the creative team thought I was like a white paper, so they thought they could create any image with me. They said that my pure image was fitted for the character of the chorus girl with the pure soul,'' Kim said.

The 32-year-old recalled the moment when she was so overwhelmed by the thunderous ovation of the rapt audience when the show was over. She said that the encouraging response pushed her to continue her musical career.

"The Phantom of The Opera" is to be presented again with a new cast and a 24-billion-won budget in eight years. The performance will open on September and run until August of next year.

After all those blockbuster musicals, she is eagerly anticipating her return to ``The Phantom of the Opera'' as Christine for the first time.

``I think now I have built up some experience and my acting has matured a little bit. For both my fans who saw me in `The Phantom' eight years ago and those who will see me for the first time in the musical, I promise a better performance,'' she said.

June 3, 2009
SNU PR Office