As actor Kim Soo Hyun remains silent amid renewed controversies surrounding his alleged grooming of the late Kim Sae Ron and claims that Sulli was coerced into filming bed scenes in 'Real,' past comments from a 2017 interview during the film's promotion have resurfaced — drawing further attention to the production environment of 'Real.'

In an interview conducted at the time of the film’s release, Kim Soo Hyun spoke about cameo appearances by Suzy and IU, stating, “I asked them.” He continued, “At first, I casually said, ‘If you have time, would you consider a cameo?’ Both of them readily agreed, and I was thankful for that.”

Speaking specifically about Suzy, Kim shared, “She came in six hours before the shoot to get full-body tattoo makeup done.” He added, “After filming, Suzy came up to me and said, ‘You didn’t say anything about this,’” to which he responded with sincere gratitude, saying, “I was so sorry and just thanked her unconditionally.”

According to Kim’s account, Suzy — who had maintained a friendship with him since 'Dream High' — agreed to the cameo without full knowledge of the concept, only to discover on the day of shooting that she would be portraying a heavily tattooed tattooist. Despite the detailed makeup process, her screen time lasted only a few seconds.

The remarks are now being revisited in light of recent allegations brought forward regarding the treatment of female cast members during the filming of 'Real.' Allegations have surfaced that Sulli, who played a lead role in the film, was pressured into performing bed and nude scenes that were not specified in the original script.

On March 28, Sulli’s older brother publicly accused Kim Soo Hyun and director Lee Sa Rang (also the head of the production company) of coercing Sulli into filming explicit scenes, despite the existence of a body double. He also claimed that the double was in fact present on set, contradicting earlier statements that she had been unable to attend due to illness.

This follows another controversy involving the late Kim Sae Ron. On March 27, her family held a second press conference, revealing KakaoTalk messages exchanged between Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Sae Ron in 2016, when she was 16 years old. While Kim Soo Hyun maintains that their relationship began only after she became an adult, he has not made further statements following the press conference.

As criticism mounts and past behind-the-scenes stories come under scrutiny, the culture on the set of 'Real' is being increasingly questioned by the public.

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