Jung Ho-yeon reveals what inspired her ‘Hope’ role

Jung Ho-yeon opened up about working with industry legends.

Jung starred as a police officer in the new science-fiction thriller, Hope, alongside Hwang Jung-min and Zo In-sung, while Na Hong-jin served as a director on the movie.

Before Hope, the actress appeared in the series Disclaimer, which was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and Cate Blanchett was the lead actress.

On Thursday, September 17, Jung revealed that she was eager to “work with industry veterans.”

Furthermore, expressing her gratitude. She said, “I was very lucky to be able to work with director Alfonso Cuarón on the show Disclaimer, and I got to work with Cate Blanchett, and that was a really great learning experience. I feel like an extension of that was getting to shoot Hope with legendary actors such as Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and also director Na [Hong-jin].”

“Being able to work alongside and learn from these legends has been an incredible opportunity,” Jung added.

It is worth noting here that Jung made her acting debut in the Netflix television series Squid Game in 2021.

Now, she said that the transition from TV to film does not seem quite different: “Even though Squid Game was a TV show, because the director was based in filmmaking, I didn’t feel like there were deep differences in the process.”

But “It was a little bit different in terms of the number of days that we’re shooting and the length of the days we’re shooting.”

Speaking about her experience of sharing Hope with her family and friends for the first time, Jung revealed, “My grandma came to the premiere of Hope in Korea, and she told me that she had to hide her eyes because it was so scary. But then she really, really enjoyed it. Oftentimes she falls asleep in theaters, but this movie, she couldn’t fall asleep.”

She further noted, “I have never done any movie premieres. So it was my first time inviting all my family and friends. I was quite nervous because those are the people who know you most. So you are quite worried about if they don’t like it, but they all loved it.”

Jung opened up about the inspiration behind her character, revealing that it was influenced by the iconic Japanese film Dr. Akagi, directed by Shohei Imamura.

“He’s one of the legendary directors in Japan, in film industry history even,” the Hope star acknowledged.

It is pertinent to mention here that the new sci-fi hit North American theaters on September 9, 2026.