Han So-hee on 'Project Y,' Fame and Why She Removed Her Tattoos

Han So-hee is done asking why everyone does not love her.

"Not everyone can think the same way. You can't have all 10 out of 10 people like you," the actress said in a recent interview promoting her new film, "Project Y." "If you keep asking 'why?' there's no growth. So I accept some of it, treat some of it as good feedback, and try to wrap it up well. Still, I hope people like me. Haha."

That kind of direct talk is part of why Han is often called one of her generation's most iconic actresses. It is also a lot like Mi-sun, the character she plays in "Project Y."

"Project Y" follows two women pushed to the edge who decide to steal money and gold bars. Han's character, Mi-sun, is about to take over a flower shop when an unexpected event costs her everything. She looks soft on the outside but has a strong core.

The film paired Han with Jeon Jong-seo, an actress around her age. Han said she signed on partly because of her co-star and partly because of director Lee Hwan, who made the 2018 film "Park Hwa-young" (Park Hwa-yeong).

"I wanted to work with the actress Jeon Jong-seo, and Lee Hwan's 'Park Hwa-young' left a strong impression on me," she said. "The script mattered, but my expectations for the people I'd be working with were even bigger."

The two even went to a meeting with the director together. Before that, Han had slid into Jeon's DMs to tell her she wanted to be friends.

"I'm not someone who sends DMs to just anyone, but I sent one," Han said. "I personally wanted to get close to her. Haha. Jong-seo felt different from me in some ways but similar in others. I messaged her out of nowhere, and she answered right away. We met that day or the next day."

That offscreen friendship carried into their onscreen chemistry as close friends in the film. Asked whether they turned out to be alike or different in real life, Han said they share the same outlook.

"We're both people with a strong sense of love for humanity. The conversation flowed from the start. We talked about how to do this job with love as the base, and what the standard for 'good acting' even is. The kind of things actors usually talk about when they get together," she said. "I didn't major in acting, so Jong-seo, who studied it, is kind of a senior to me."

Han said she tends to be drawn to characters who have lived through something hard.

"I get offered a lot of characters whose lives are tough, who lost a parent, or who die," she said. "I prefer characters who overcome bad situations over characters who live ordinary lives." Asked if she likes growth-driven roles more than smooth ones, she joked, "Not anymore. I want to play a rich daughter and have it easy for once."

She sees pain as a tool, not a weakness.

"When there's sadness and hardship, I think there's a strength, a weapon, in being able to express emotion more realistically. I think I understand those feelings more deeply, so I've kept choosing those kinds of characters."

The same idea, she said, shapes how she lives off camera. Now in her 30s, she said she has been thinking about what it means to live well.

"There's no end to learning. I'm in my 30s now, and I keep telling myself, 'I should live better than last year.' Then I ask, what's the standard for living well? For me, it's having the ability to control myself. I think that's a form of learning too. Doing my job as an actress well is also learning. In that sense, the thing I'm most focused on is growth."

That same honesty has gotten her into trouble before. In March 2024, Han confirmed she was dating actor Ryu Jun-yeol, then later confirmed their breakup. Posts she made on social media during that stretch drew heavy criticism. Asked if the backlash felt unfair, she said the sting has faded.

"The pressure and the feeling of being treated unfairly are getting smaller. I feel it more each year," she said. "I'm someone who acts, but I'm also someone who receives the public's love, so I think I have to accept what I have to accept."

Han is also known for her fashion and hair, and her posts often go viral. She said the look is not strategic.

"I've always dressed like this. I think a lot of people just like my own style," she said. "I'm not the type who picks outfits based on where I'm going."

She has since removed the tattoos that used to be on her arm.

"With this job, I have to wear dresses. I meet all kinds of characters," she said. "If I have tattoos on my arm, it limits the clothes I can wear and the roles I can take. That's a loss for me. So I removed them." She added with a laugh, "I can always get them again later. For now I think removing them is the right call. But it hurt a lot to take them off."

Asked if she has picked up a new hobby to relieve stress, Han said she is still looking.

"After 'My Name,' it was working out. Exercise relieved stress, so I went to action school like it was a meal," she said. "Lately I've been looking for a hobby I can do at home instead of working out. These days I write in a diary. They say writing in a diary helps a lot with managing your emotions."