K-actress Lim Ji-yeon of The Glory returns to villain mode in My Royal Nemesis

SEOUL – Remember Lim Ji-yeon, who delivered one of K-drama’s most unforgettable villains as Yeon-jin in Netflix’s The Glory (2022 to 2023)?

The South Korean actress is once again stepping into familiar territory as a formidable antagonist, though this time with a comedic, supernatural twist.

In the new romantic comedy My Royal Nemesis, which is available on Netflix, Lim plays Seo-ri, a struggling actress in 2026 South Korea whose body becomes possessed by the spirit of Dan-sim – a ruthless woman from the Joseon era.

Her path collides with Se-gye (Heo Nam-jun), a chaebol heir driven solely by money and ambition, setting up a chaotic enemies-to-lovers scenario.

Lim, 35, has enjoyed a streak of acclaimed performances that began with the global breakout success of The Glory and continued through darker projects, including Lies Hidden In My Garden (2023) and The Tale Of Lady Ok (2024 to 2025).

Unlike those emotionally heavy dramas, however, My Royal Nemesis leans fully into comedy, a shift Lim said immediately drew her to the project.

“The biggest reason I chose My Royal Nemesis was because it’s a comedy,” she said during a press conference in Seoul on May 7. “At the time, I was really eager to take on the genre and it also felt like a huge challenge for me.”

She added that after portraying a succession of darker characters, she was looking for something “bright, lively and cheerful”.

“I tried hard to match the atmosphere on set and focused on making the comedy work,” she said.

Director Han Tae-seop said the heart of My Royal Nemesis lies in watching a woman shaped by Joseon-era Confucian values struggle to survive in modern society after returning from the dead.

“There’s a saying that good girls go to heaven, but bad girls can go anywhere,” Han said. “What makes this series compelling is seeing Dan-sim thrown into entirely new relationships and situations after coming back to life. The character herself drives the story.”

Han added that much of the creative process centred on exploring how someone from 300 years ago would emotionally respond to contemporary life.

“We worked closely with the cast and developed the scripts around what a person grounded in Confucian ideals would feel while adapting to the modern world,” he said.

When asked about the competition with buzzy K-drama Perfect Crown starring Byeon Woo-seok and IU, Han singled out Lim as My Royal Nemesis’ biggest asset.

“You start wondering whether an actress can really pull off this many genres at once,” he said. “Lim Ji-yeon herself is our greatest competitive edge.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK