At 85, Kim Hye-ja returns to film after turning down role 6 times

“I just want to be like a nameless wildflower.” That was what veteran actor Kim Hye-ja told director Song Il-gon last year when he visited her home in Yeonhui-dong, western Seoul, to ask her to star in his new film. Song, whose films include “Picnic” (1999), “Flower Island” (2001) and “Always” (2011), was developing a movie about victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, and Kim was his first choice for the lead role. But Kim turned him down. “I've never played a role like this before, and I'm scared, so I don't want to do it,” she said. Song persisted, even writing her a lengthy letter. After six attempts, Kim finally agreed. The result is “Still Shining,” which opened Wednesday and marks the actor's first film in nine years, since “The Way” in 2017. She turns 85 this year on Oct. 25. What changed her mind was the way the film chose to remember the victims. “Still Shining” follows Sun-ok and Jeong-im, two 18-year-old girls living in a remote mountain village in 1942. Played in their youth by Park Seo-kyung and Choi Ju-eun, the inseparable friends spend the