Kim Ye-ji, Korean Olympic shooter, scores acting role as assassin

Kim Ye-ji practices at the Chateauroux Shooting Center in France on Sunday for the Paris Olympics 2024. (Yonhap via The Korea Herald)

South Korean pistol shooter Kim Ye-ji, whose skill and nonchalance won the internet at the Paris Olympics, has landed her first acting role — as an assassin.

The 32-year-old took silver in the women’s 10m air pistol in July and her ultra-calm demeanour, combined with her wire-rimmed shooting glasses and baseball cap, turned her into a worldwide online sensation.

As videos of her shooting went viral, she drew praise from celebrities such as Elon Musk.

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“She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” Musk wrote on his social media platform X at the time.

Now she will play an assassin in “Crush”, a spinoff short-form series of the global film project “Asia”, a spokesperson for Seoul-based entertainment firm Asia Lab told AFP on Friday.

Kim will star alongside Indian actress and influencer Anushka Sen, the company said in a separate statement, saying it was excited to witness “the potential synergy that will arise from Kim Ye-ji and Anushka Sen’s new transformation into a killer duo”.

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Since winning silver, a short clip showing Kim at the Baku World Cup in May has gone viral, spawning fan art, endless memes and multiple edits setting the clip to K-pop.

Kim signed with a South Korean talent agency in August to assist her in managing her extracurricular activities and she has since been featured in a magazine photoshoot for Louis Vuitton.