Kim Hieora is one of the rising stars from the hit series 'The Glory.' The actress has been applauded for her exceptional acting skills, especially in portraying a drug addict.

In part 2, Kim Hieora truly dominated the screen with her presence in the scenes where she became high in the abandoned church building. She was also very detailed in depicting the withdrawal symptoms when Son Myeong O, her supplier, went missing.

This attention she has been garnering recently through her performance in 'The Glory' was not just out of luck but the result of her hard work and efforts. Kim Hieora prepared diligently for the auditions, did not shy away from the extreme scenes, and even practiced smoking as a non-smoker.

In the latest interview, Kim Hieora gave some insight into how much she worked and prepared for her role as Lee Sa Ra.

Q. 'The Glory' hit number 1 on the global charts. Can you feel the popularity?

A lot of people around me contacted me. Right now, I have a pixie cut, so people think I'm just a dancer and pass me by (on the streets), but now they recognize me even when just seeing the back of my head and come to me. After Part 2 premiered, my Instagram followers went up, and also the number of likes went up too. I think about 2 to 3 times as much.

Q. Did you expect (the drama) to do this well?

I think I knew that the drama would do well as soon as I read the script and also when we began filming. However, I didn't expect it to be this much. I watched other fellow actors do well when their projects got popular, but I never thought this would happen to me. I think it's because I started (filming dramas) in my mid-30s. I thought I would remain unknown and quiet for a long time, but I'm so thankful that I've become a hot (topic).

Q. Who is Lee Sa Ra from the perspective of Kim Hieora?

I believe there is no justification for being a perpetrator. I didn't really think about the reasons. She's a person who just lives because she has to, not because she has a particular goal or a sense of purpose like the other perpetrators. I thought she was a person who had very little will to live and had the delusion that someone would come to save her. I thought she was a perpetrator but also a bystander. She's a character who doesn't react like Yeon Jin or Hye Jung when there is an issue. Instead, she says, 'So what? Does that have anything to do with me?' and depends on drugs and cigarettes.

Q. Tell us about the audition process.

I had to go through 5 pages of the script with other actors. There were various characters such as Yeon Jin, Sa Ra, Hye Jung, and more that were open. I prepared all five characters. The director asked me to read the script for Sa Ra, and I thought I'd never be picked to play Lee Sa Ra.

Q. Why did you think you wouldn't be picked to play Sa Ra?

The script I received at that time was the scene where Sa Ra is looking for drugs at Son Myeong O's house, and I thought she sounded cute. I didn't know who was the protagonist and who were the perpetrators and had no idea what role it was. So I thought it was a cute and lovely scene. After that, they sent additional scripts through quick service (mail) and openly told me there are smoking and violent scenes and asked if that was okay. If I feel uncomfortable, the script can be edited, or I can turn down the role. But after receiving the full script, I felt like I can do it well.

Q There are a lot of extreme scenes involving the character of Lee Sa Ra. How did you prepare for the role of a drug addict?

At first, I thought it was being in a simply drunken state. I didn't have any role models in mind. There was a lot of content about drugs on Netflix. There are a lot of American dramas and documentaries. I was on Netflix all the time. There were documentaries about how drug addicts get out of drug addiction and showed how people are when they are addicted to drugs. The documentaries also shared how scary habits are when formed at a young age. So I thought a lot about what a pastor's kid would be like if she was addicted to drugs.

Q. You had to act as if drugs and swearing were just a part of your life. Were there any difficulties?

I am not a smoker. Since smoking is really bad for you, I asked my manager to get me an electronic cigarette. I didn't smoke it when I was alone but I would practice smoking using electronic cigarettes during filming when my manager went to smoke. It's because I couldn't just smoke; I had to look natural as if I enjoyed it. I also practiced swearing because I thought it would be more interesting to swear like a man rather than just swearing viciously. So I watched a lot of movies where men cursed a lot.

Q. Did you get addicted after filming?

Luckily, I didn't get addicted. There were scenes of smoking cigarettes, but there were scenes where I had to smoke marijuana. They prepared a prop that I had to roll myself to smoke. It was something more potent than cigarettes. The director told me that I can just pretend to smoke it if it was hard, but then I wanted to make it look natural. The director told me I could just put my lips on it, but I did it for real, and it was tough. So at that time, I thought, 'I will never smoke again.' I also asked my manager to throw away the electronic cigarettes.

Q. What was your parent's reaction to the drama?

We're a Christian family, and Sa Ra's role is intense. But my parents said it was only a drama and said, "you're really not like that." They enjoyed the drama. But these days, when they can't get in contact with me, they joke, 'Are you doing drugs now~?' They are super absorbed in the drama. I think Sa Ra, she didn't believe in Christianity; she believed in a god she created. 

Q. What kind of actress do you want to be remembered as?

I want to be an actress people want to see again. An actress who is missed when she's not seen. Rather than having my projects rank number 1 all the time, I want to be an actress where people ask, 'Why isn't she appearing? I miss her.' I want to go for a long time without fear of failure.