Choi Kang-hee announces acting return after 5 years with debut stage play 'Closer'
After five years away from screens, the 49-year-old actress is heading to the stage for the first time—and she's candid about why roles dried up.
Choi Kang-hee is coming back. Just not to a screen.
She announced her return to acting on episode 406 of MBC's Omniscient Interfering View (Jeonjamsi), which aired July 11. Her comeback project is a stage play: Closer, known internationally as a film. It marks her first time doing theater.
Her last screen credit was the 2021 KBS 2TV drama Hello, Me! (Annyeong? Naya!). Five years passed before she made this announcement.
On the show, Choi—born May 5, 1977, currently 49—was direct about what pushed her toward the stage. "Once you pass a certain age, the range of role choices becomes very limited except for established actors," she said. Parts she would have received in the past (think: Natalie Portman's role in Closer) are now coming to her as Anna or the Julia Roberts role. "I thought, 'Can I do this? It will be a new experience,' and decided to do it."
Theater also offered something film didn't. "Theater is something you do continuously together," she said. "I'm looking forward to that and I think I'll be able to rely on [the cast] a lot."
(She appeared on the episode alongside Lee Se-hee as the duo "Heehee Crew.")
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