Kim Minha Lost 17kg for Her New Film, and She Wants to Explain Why

Kim Minha has confirmed that a 17kg weight loss, which drew sustained public attention over recent months, was undertaken specifically to play a terminally ill character in the new film Shake Our Sun. "If you're asking why I lost this much weight, about 90% of it is because of the role," she said in a recent interview with TenAsia. "I was already thinking about how to show a different side of myself, and I lost the weight gradually over a long period so I could maintain my stamina at the same time."

The film, produced by Acemaker Movieworks and directed by Park Dan-hee, began principal photography on the 19th. It pairs Kim Minha with Lee Do-hyun for the first time on screen.

Shake Our Sun follows two characters whose lives intersect through an unexpected promise. Kim Minha plays Woo-ri, a young woman fading without a future but still hoping for a miracle. Lee Do-hyun plays Taeyang, an unpredictable, free-spirited young man who offers to give her a tomorrow. The film is described by its producers as a survival romance built around the ways each character disrupts the other's world.

Kim Minha also addressed a tension some observers had pointed out: that the dramatic physical change appeared to contradict earlier public statements in which she had said she loved her body as it was and that being thin was not a requirement. Her response was direct. "People are saying there's a contradiction, because I once said I love myself as I am and don't have to be thin," she acknowledged. "But this is unconditional, 100% for work. I was satisfied with my fuller figure, and I'm satisfied with how I look now. There are all kinds of people in this world, and expressing that is my job. I need to be able to change like a chameleon."

The framing matters in the context of Korean celebrity culture, where any visible change in an actor's body tends to generate immediate commentary and speculation. Kim Minha's choice to explain the weight loss publicly, and to offer a substantive answer rather than deflect, is relatively uncommon.

Lee Do-hyun takes the role of Taeyang, a character preparing for his own ending while drawing Woo-ri into something larger. He is best known internationally for Netflix's Sweet Home series and for The Glory, but his screen debut came in Exhuma earlier this year, where he played shaman Bong-gil in a film that crossed the ten-million-ticket threshold in Korean cinemas. Shake Our Sun will be his first screen romance.

Kim Minha has built a varied filmography across Pachinko, The Luminous Pharmacist, A Week Before I Die, and Typhoon Superior, as well as the film Hana Korea.

Director Park Dan-hee previously co-directed Weak Hero Class 1 and helmed the series Your Taste. She is also credited as the film's screenwriter, handling both the narrative and direction of the two leads' relationship.

A table read bringing together the director and principal cast was held ahead of the production start, marking the first time Kim Minha and Lee Do-hyun worked through the material together. Filming began on the 19th.