‘The Glory’: Why Actor Cha Joo-young Felt Her Character’s NSFW Was Necessary: ‘I Thought It Was a Scene That Completely Expressed Hye-jeong’
The Netflix K-drama, The Glory was advertised from the start to have an 18+ rating, mature scenes, violence, nudity, and NSFW scenes. The first half of the K-drama had only one mild sex scene, while The Glory Part 2 had more suggestive sexual scenes. But actor Cha Joo-young, who played Hye-jeong, defends her NSFW scene in The Glory Part 2 and its overall purpose.
[WARNING: This article contains mild spoilers for The Glory and Part 2.]
Hye-jeong showed off her chest when confronted by Yeon-jin in ‘The Glory’ Part 2
From the first half of the K-drama, fans could tell the dysfunctional dynamics of the bully group. Hye-jeong is seen as someone below Yeon-jin, Sa-ra, and Jae-jun, alongside Myeong-o. She does not have the same luxury status or prestige as the others. Fans see this when she wears Sa-ra’s white dress and is made to feel dirty for having stretched it out with her voluptuous chest.
Dong-eun appealed to Hye-jeong’s inability to stay loyal and wanting to protect only herself. For The Glory Part 2, Hye-jeong is now under Dong-eun’s thumb and helps her set the pieces to ruin them all. But with Jae-jun becoming more attached to the idea of being Ye-sol’s father, he uses Hye-jeong’s feelings for him for his own greed.
Hoping to get in his good graces, Hye-jeong shows him the video recording of Myeong-o’s voice before his possible death in The Glory Part 2. He asks if she is capable of raising a child. Hye-jeong then learned the truth about Ye-sol and liked the idea of playing husband and wife with Jae-jun.
Fans only see her blurry naked figure as she joined him in the tub. But in The Glory Part Episode 13, fans got a full frontal NSFW shot of Hye-jeong’s chest. Yeon-jin confronted her at Jae-jun’s house about Yeo-jeong’s connection to Dong-eun. But Hye-jeong only egged her on about being ghosted by Jae-jun. In return, Yeon-jin told her Jae-jun’s shirt she was wearing was bought by her. Hye-jeong laughed and stripped. But Yeon-jin laughed in return and said her boob job always looks good.
‘The Glory’ Part 2 actor says her NSFW scene catered to Hye-jeong only having her body
Hye-jeong and Myeong-o do not have the same monetary value compared to the other bullies. Myeong-o is Jae-jun’s employee and is pushed around. Meanwhile, Hye-jeong mooches off the others and only has her sharp tongue to protect her. But when it came to The Glory Part 2’s NSFW scene with Hye-jeong’s naked chest, fans were less than enthused.
Many felt that the full frontal scene was unnecessary. A fan on Reddit commented, “But i thought it was unnecessary for the show to show her shirtless in that scene that was literally a second. She couldve just worn a bra cuz her b**bs showing was for no reason. And its interesting they just added that especially since its a korean drama but then again they showed yeo jin and jae jun having sex in part 1. But it wasnt like explicit.”
But The Glory actor Cha Joo-young did not see it that way and defended having filmed it for the revenge K-drama. According to Koreaboo, Cha explained, “I didn’t (have any apprehensions). I thought it was a scene that completely expressed Hye Jeong. All she had was her body, and she had never defeated her friends in anything, but at least for that moment, Hye Jeong had nothing to be envious about. We shot the scene thinking Hye Jeong was really cool. (The production team) also were very considerate.”
Considering the actors’ words, the logic behind the scene is true. Sa-ra and Yeon-jin both have family wealth and prestige. But Hyeon-jeong is a flight attendant, tries to get enough money to meet their level. She also uses her good looks and body to appeal to wealthy men.
Cha Joo-young admitted no CGI was used for the NSFW scene
Actor Cha is no stranger to working on-screen. The University of Utah graduate made a name for herself in the popular webtoon romance Cheese in the Trap. She has had her fair share of roles on the small-screen and knows the ins and outs of what it takes to make a scene work. But fans called her out over speculation that CGI was used for Hye-jeong’s NSFW scene in The Glory Part 2.
According to Koreaboo, the actor explained none was used and what fans saw was all her. The actor explained she and the director talked diligently about the scene. Cho knew it had to be done since landing the role, as “Hyejeong herself made it clear she had breast augmentation surgery.”
“But I haven’t had that, and the part that many people are curious about is whether CG was involved in that scene. But rather than not taking [my clothes] off, yes, that was my body. It might sound vague, but I wanted to accurately point it out,” explained Cho. But the actor did reveal that the blurred backless scene of Hye-jeong with Jae-jun was a body double.
