Shin Hae Sun Says She “Almost Wanted to Give Up Acting” While Filming Lady Dua — A Role Built on Ambiguity and Control

Shin Hae Sun is receiving some of the strongest reviews of her career for Netflix’s Lady Dua, but behind the praise was one of the most difficult acting processes she has ever faced.

The actress revealed that the character pushed her out of her usual method, forcing her to abandon preparation routines and step into uncertainty — a challenge that made her seriously question herself as a performer.

A Character With No Clear Emotional Answers

Unlike her previous roles, which followed defined emotional arcs, Shin Hae Sun described Sara Kim as a figure built on contradiction.

The character’s motivations constantly shift between sincerity and calculation, making it impossible to play with a single, fixed interpretation.

Instead of entering the set with a fully structured plan, she focused only on essential traits — elegance for Sara Kim and a raw, instinctive tone for her contrasting persona and built the performance in real time on location.

That lack of clarity became the core difficulty.

She explained that even while reading the script, it was hard to identify the subtext behind each line because every action could be genuine in one moment and strategic in the next.

“It Was So Hard I Thought About Giving Up”

For the first time in her career, the challenge was not physical exhaustion but emotional uncertainty.

The role demanded:

• a voice completely different from her natural tone
• controlled expressions that concealed inner emotion
• a constant balance between truth and performance

Because the character never offered clear emotional confirmation, every acting choice required extreme caution.

She admitted that there were moments when the process felt overwhelming enough to make her think about giving up.

Praise for the Performance — and Credit to the Team

Despite the difficulty, the result has earned descriptions such as “an acting showcase” and “career-level transformation.”

Shin Hae Sun, however, redirected the credit to the styling and makeup teams, saying the visual construction of Sara Kim allowed her performance to be fully realized.

The refined look and controlled aura of the character became an essential part of how the acting was received on screen.

A Global Response That Felt Like a Debut Again

The international success of Lady Dua brought a wave of reactions she did not expect.

She said the number of congratulatory messages she received after the release was so overwhelming that it felt like her debut period all over again.

The series quickly entered Netflix’s Global Top 10 for non-English shows and ranked No.1 in multiple Asian markets while charting in dozens of countries worldwide.

Why She Chose Lady Dua

What drew her to the project was precisely what made it difficult.

The story’s layered relationships and the uncertain authenticity of her character created a psychological tension that she had never experienced in previous works.

For Shin Hae Sun, the role was not about delivering a clear emotional message — it was about living inside ambiguity.

A Turning Point in Her Acting Career

In the end, she described the performance as deeply rewarding because she succeeded in creating a voice, tone, and presence completely different from her real self.

Lady Dua has become more than another successful project.

It marks a moment where Shin Hae Sun moved beyond technical precision and stepped into a new phase of acting — one defined by risk, restraint, and emotional complexity.