Kim Go-eun on Netflix role: 'I would say 'yes' to friend’s assisted death request'

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Kim Go-eun on Netflix role: 'I would say 'yes' to friend’s assisted death request'

Published: 22 Sep. 2025, 20:46 Updated: 23 Sep. 2025, 18:42

JIN EUN-SOO
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kim Go-eun [NETFLIX]

When a friend asks you to accompany them for an assisted death, what would you say?

“I would say yes,” says actor Kim Go-eun from Netflix's latest series "You and Everything Else."

"If someone really important to me asks to accompany their death, I think I would gladly say yes," Kim said in a recent interview.

"Though, I'm not sure if I agree or disagree to the concept of assisted death because I've never been in their shoes and I have not directly felt their pain."

The topic of assisted death is portrayed in "You and Everything Else," a 15-episode drama released on Netflix on Sept. 12. It follows Eun-jung, played by Kim, and Sang-yeon played by Park Ji-hyun, whose decades-long friendship is tested by jealousy, rivalry and romance, repeatedly breaking apart and mending over time.

Eun-jung is portrayed as a bright woman raised in a modest but loving family while Sang-yeon appears cold and flawless but struggles with emotional wounds mostly rooted in a not-so-happy family background.

Still from "You and Everything Else" [NETFLIX]

Most of the time, it is Sang-yeon who ends the friendship either in words or by just vanishing while Eun-jung is the one who listens and forgives.

After yet another declaration of breakup, which this time Eun-jung is furious about, Sang-yeon one day appears at her doorstep asking Eun-jung to accompany her death in Switzerland. Sang-yeon says she has cancer and only has months left to live.

"I'm more on the side of Eun-jung than Sang-yeon in real life, and I never imagined myself playing Sang-yeon during filming either," the 34-year-old actor said.

"The similarity between me and Eun-jung is that I get really excited when I see someone doing something well, whether it's singing, dancing or acting. I tend to look up to those kind of people, just like Eun-jung."

In the drama, Eun-jung, too, has moments of feeling insecurity compared to the more composed Sang-yeon. But rather than resenting her friend, she treats it as an opportunity for growth.

"I think Eun-jung kind of 'fell in love at first sight' with Sang-yeon [when they first met each other in elementary school]," said Kim. "To Eun-jung's eyes, Sang-yeon always looked sparkling, special and inspirational. But instead of feeling jealousy, she was proud of her friend."

As someone who holds a more pessimistic perspective towards faith or credibility when it comes to relationships, the story of "You and Everything Else" at times felt like a fantasy, Kim said.

Still from "You and Everything Else" [NETFLIX]

"I thought about what a 'good relationship' would be like while shooting this drama, and it was suggested that a good relationship is just accepting that person as they are. But does that kind of relationship really exist? It felt somewhat like a fantasy. If I get to experience that kind of relationship, ever in my life, I thought that would be very valuable."

The series avoids explicit climaxes, but instead builds tension through subtle changes in tone, expression and gesture.

"The drama didn't take any emotion for granted or try to simplify it, and as an actor it was a great opportunity to have expressed them," Kim said.

"It was a subject that's not easy to handle but the drama didn't try to make it look grand or add something. Instead it unraveled it in the simplest and the most straightforward way, and I think that left more lingering emotions on me after the shooting was over."

Performing well on the streaming platform wasn't that much of a priority for her when deciding to participate in the project.

Still from "You and Everything Else" [NETFLIX]

"I think the biggest appeal of this drama is the storyline, and I didn't pick it thinking it would perform well, although it would be nice if it did," she said with a giggle.

"For the viewers, I think this is a drama where they have to endure a little bit in the beginning, but at the end, you will be glad you did. Because that was how I felt when watching it too."

The drama ranked fourth spot in the shows category in Korea on Netflix in its first week.