Viral Olympic pistol shooter scores film role as an assassin

Kim Ye-ji, of Team Republic of Korea, shoots during the women's 10m air pistol final at the Paris Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

It was the stone-cold stare that become one of the viral moments of the Paris Olympics.

With her baseball cap on backwards over her slick ponytail and eyes focused through futuristic glasses, South Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji drew her gun and shot her way to a silver medal.

But now, Kim’s steely performance has won her a new role — as an assassin.

The 32-year-old will take her first acting job alongside the Indian star Anushka Sen in Crush, a spin-off, short-form series of the film Asia, reported Yonhap, Korea’s main news agency.

The film explores stories of individuals tackling racial hatred and discrimination. It features a cast of American and Asian actors and is directed by Lee Jung-sub, who is also chief executive of the Seoul-based entertainment company Asia Lab.

The company said the Olympic silver medallist was “both nervous and thrilled” to take up the role of a “captivating assassin”.

Helped along the way by X owner Elon Musk, Kim was propelled to worldwide fame for her performance in the 10m air pistol competition.

“Her aura is insane!” exclaimed one admirer amid a rush of comparisons to James Bond and Satoru Gojo, a sorcerer in the popular manga series Jujutsu Kaisen.

Musk could not contain his excitement. “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” he declared.

‘I don’t feel any pressure’

After her medal win in July, Kim’s popularity was boosted by another viral video of her appearance at the International Shooting Sport Federation’s shooting world cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May.

The footage of her now-signature steely demeanour gained more than 20 million views.

Kim broke the world record in the women’s 25m pistol event in Baku and later told media there was “nothing to improve” before the Paris Olympics, Yonhap said.

“I don’t feel any pressure at all,” she said. “My confidence comes from a reason. It’s confidence based on a foundation.”

Since the Olympic Games, Kim has signed up with a Korean talent agency to capitalise on her new-found stardom.

Modelling gig

In one of her first gigs outside the sports arena, she landed a photoshoot with Korean fashion magazine W for Louis Vuitton.

The pictures tapped into her sharpshooter persona and featured props such as shooting glasses and air pistols.

Kim told W she wanted to use her new-found fame to raise the profile of shooting as a sport.

She also signalled this plan in a press conference on the margins of a national shooting competition in Naju, 280km south of Seoul.

“I’ve received offers for commercials and appearances in TV shows. I understand a US company also reached out. As long as they don’t affect my competition and training schedule, I’ll do them,” she said.

“I felt that there was only so much I could do to promote this sport just by going to competitions and setting records,” Kim said.

“Even with my Olympic medal, my name will be forgotten soon. But if I do appearances, then I think people will remember me and they will be reminded of the sport of shooting.”

‘Life of the party’

Previously, she told the Indian Express she wanted to use her profession to be a role model for her daughter. “I felt a strong sense of responsibility to work hard so that my daughter would be proud of me when she grows up,” she said.

She also revealed beyond the necessary composure and her icy persona at the shooting range that “among my friends, I’m known as the life of the party”.

Kim is not the first Olympian to make the leap into film stardom.

Johnny Weissmuller, a champion swimmer in the 1920s, became famous for his starring role in the 1930s Tarzan movies.

British fencer Bob Anderson competed in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki before his six-decade career as a fight choreographer and sword master in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Die Another Day and The Guns of Navarone.