Lee Hwi Hyang stays at nursing home to prepare for role

Actress Lee Hwi Hyang entered a nursing home to properly portray a dementia patient. It was not a simple field trip; she lived with dementia patients at a nursing home in Busan for about a month, closely observing their behaviors, facial expressions, and relationships with their families. It was an extreme immersion chosen by the 65-year-old veteran actress for a single role.

On the channel 'Song Seung Hwan's Wonderful Life' released on the 25th, Lee met with Song Seung Hwan to reflect on her 45-year acting career. When Song mentioned his recent portrayal of an elderly person with dementia in the film 'Family Trip', Lee revealed, "To film the movie, I went to a nursing home in Busan and lived with people close to having dementia for about a month truly.""

Lee explained that she personally encountered various forms of dementia at the nursing home. "I saw all different types of dementia," she confessed. "It felt very close, as if I realized dementia could happen to me too." This indicates that she did not stop at simply observing the appearance or speech patterns of the role, but her perception of the disease itself changed as she experienced the actual lives of the patients up close.

In particular, life at the nursing home served as an opportunity for Lee to expand her thoughts beyond acting observations to her own family. "I also came to judge the roles of family members. It was a good opportunity," she said. This implies she directly experienced the reality that dementia is not just an individual problem but something that changes the lives and relationships of the entire family. Song Seung Hwan also nodded in agreement, empathizing with the actress's preparation process.

'Family Trip', in which Lee stars, depicts a family going on a trip together to celebrate the birthday of a mother-in-law suffering from dementia. Family members with different stories gather in one place, including a husband who is a film director in name only, a daughter who is serious about vampire cosplay, and a father-in-law who is a veteran of the Vietnam War. Lee took the role of the mother-in-law suffering from dementia, working alongside Nam Kyung Eup, Kim Jeong Tae, and Seo Young Hee.

Born in 1960, Lee is 65 years old this year. She debuted as a 14th generation talent through the MBC open recruitment in 1981, marking 45 years of acting this year. For Lee, who has primarily been active in TV dramas for a long time, 'Family Trip' is significant as her first leading role on the big screen. Furthermore, it is a work where actor Kim Jeong Tae transformed into a film director.

For an actor, understanding a character does not end with memorizing lines and changing appearances. Especially for roles involving dementia, where the characteristics of the disease and human dignity must be handled simultaneously, observation of real life is more important than hasty exaggeration. In that sense, the month Lee spent in the nursing home was an experience that went beyond simple acting preparation. She introduced the work as "a movie that families can watch while holding hands." 'Family Trip' will meet audiences in theaters on the 30th.