Ha Ji-won Says Her Real Climax Is Still Ahead as She Reflects on 30 Years of Acting

In a recent interview for ENA’s new drama ‘Climax’, the veteran actress spoke not about trophies or past success, but about the emotional weight that comes with putting stories into the world after three decades in the spotlight. For Ha Ji-won, acting is no longer just about performance. It is about what a role says to society, what kind of questions it leaves behind, and what responsibility an actor carries once that character reaches the public.

Ha Ji-won said that when she was younger, acting itself was simply thrilling. Back then, learning what it meant to be an actor was enough to make her happy. Now, however, the feeling is different. What matters more to her today is the impact of the story she chooses to tell and the responsibility attached to the character she brings into the world. That shift in perspective reveals how she now sees acting not only as craft, but as communication something closer to a moral and emotional dialogue with the audience.

A Character Built on Survival

In ‘Climax’ Ha plays Chu Sang-ah, a painter and actress living with anorexia. She described the character as someone who cannot be neatly divided into good or evil. Instead, Sang-ah is a figure driven entirely by survival, moving through a world shaped by power, pressure, and desire. That complexity is what seems to have drawn Ha Ji-won in. Rather than portraying a straightforward heroine or villain, she is taking on someone whose choices are painful, extreme, and deeply human.

To embody the character’s anxiety and obsession, Ha pushed herself physically as well as emotionally. She revealed that during fittings, the director wanted her body to look even more fragile, asking that the clothes appear slightly looser on her frame. Because she naturally builds muscle easily, she said she focused intensely on stretching and reshaping her body to achieve a more delicate, elongated look.

If the physical transformation was demanding, the psychological cost was even greater. Ha Ji-won shared that as her character moved closer to the edge, she herself began to feel similarly consumed by the role. She said she became so emotionally synchronized with Sang-ah’s desperation that even eating became difficult. At points, she found herself wondering whether it was worth enduring such pain just to keep going.

“My Life’s Climax Is Not Here Yet”

Given the title of her new drama, Ha was asked whether this moment her 30th anniversary, her decades of acclaim, her long list of hit projects might be the climax of her own life.

Her answer was unexpected.

She said she has never really thought of her life in those terms. In fact, working on ‘Climax’ made her wonder whether what people commonly think of as the peak may not be the real climax at all. Instead of defining this moment as her summit, Ha expressed a quieter hope: that viewers watching the drama might be inspired to reflect, even briefly, on the relationships in their own lives and the choices they continue to make.

It was a fitting answer from an actress who has spent 30 years refusing easy self-definition. For all the success she has already achieved, Ha Ji-won still does not speak like someone standing at the end of a journey. She speaks like someone who believes the most meaningful work may still lie ahead.