Lee Jung-eun on Revenge Thriller 'The Journey to Gyeongju' and Reuniting With Gong Hyo-jin

"Being on set is exhausting, of course. But someday I'll get to rest, so for now I'd rather be working. It's not always fun, but the sense of accomplishment after a hard stretch is what I love."

Actress Lee Jung-eun has barely had time to breathe. She has been pulling all-nighters while filming the Netflix series "Granny," and on the day she sat down to talk about her new film "The Journey to Gyeongju," directed by Kim Mi-jo, she had slept only an hour. Instead of looking worn out, she showed nothing but enthusiasm. "The film needs to find its footing, so I'm fine," she said with a smile.

Opening on the 26th, "The Journey to Gyeongju" follows four mothers and daughters who set out to take revenge on the man who killed the youngest daughter, Gyeongju, during a school trip. Lee plays Ok-sil, a mother who has spent years dreaming of vengeance after losing her child.

Lee was the first of the four leads to sign on. What drew her in was director Kim's willingness to push the story all the way to the end. "It's less a story about personal revenge and more about a family discovering the honest feelings they had been hiding from each other," she said. Then she added, laughing, "And, well, I was playing the lead."

Lee has played mothers many times, but Ok-sil is a different kind. One of the clearest signs of her state of mind is her messy hair. After losing her youngest daughter, she no longer has the energy to take care of herself, and that shows on the outside. "I thought if someone had no time to look after herself, or couldn't even bring herself to care, hair like that made sense," Lee explained.

When asked why Ok-sil pulls her three surviving daughters into her plan, Lee said, "Ok-sil is the kind of mother who can't separate her family from herself." She added, "Her youngest, Gyeongju, was killed when Ok-sil wasn't there to see it, so she carries a trauma about things happening out of her sight."

Ok-sil's three daughters are played by Gong Hyo-jin, Park So-dam, and Lee Yeon. Lee said hearing that the three had joined the cast "felt like getting reinforcements." She reunites with Gong, with whom she previously played mother and daughter in the drama "When the Camellia Blooms." "Hyo-jin told me she wanted to give her movie mom a lot of support," Lee said. "Back in 'Camellia,' I abandoned my daughter, so I joked, 'See, raising a daughter really does pay off.'"

Her dynamic with Park So-dam is a full reversal of "Parasite," directed by Bong Joon-ho, where the two were on opposite sides. This time they play mother and daughter. At an earlier press event for "The Journey to Gyeongju," Park spoke about her thyroid cancer treatment and thanked Lee for looking after her, including visits in the early morning hours. Lee's memory of it is fuzzier. "I don't really remember going over in the early morning," she said, laughing. "When So-dam brought it up, I was surprised. I thought, 'Wait, was I really that nice?'"

She also spoke about working with Byun Yo-han, who plays the killer and squares off against her in the film. "Byun Yo-han's performance as the murderer was genuinely terrifying," she said. She was acting without knowing how he would appear on set, and when he finally showed up, she got so scared she ran off and ruined a take. "When something is that frightening, you actually get pulled out of the role," she said.

From casting to release, "The Journey to Gyeongju" was indeed a long journey. Lee waited about a year after being cast before filming began, and after shooting wrapped, another two years passed before the movie reached audiences. That long wait deepened her attachment to the project.

"'The Journey to Gyeongju' is a story about a family doing something wild, but I think some viewers will pick up on the other, quieter kind of wildness hidden inside it," she said. "So many people are working hard to make Korean films right now. I hope audiences come out to the theater."