Moon Geun Young Plays A Terrified Princess In 'The Throne'

Before Moon Geun Young stars in her October comeback drama "The Village: Acharia's Secret," fans can see her on the big screen in the upcoming historical film "The Throne." It is Moon's first film in over eight years. The 28-year-old actress has not appeared in a film since "Love Me Not."

Her role in "The Throne" is not an easy one. She plays the ill-fated real-life princess Lady Hyegyeong. Although Lady Hyegyeong lived in Changyeong Palace and was married to a prince, her was not a fate anyone would wish for.

She was married to Prince Sado at the tender age of 10 and went to live in the palace under her mother-in-law's supervision. There she watched her husband, played in the film by Yoo Ah In, slowly descend into madness. Most historians of this period in history say that Prince Sado probably suffered from mental illness as he was accused of randomly killing and raping people. Lady Hyegyeong lived in fear of what the prince might do to her or their child, who survived to later become King Jeongjo of Joseon.

To protect her child, she was forced to make alliances against her husband.

Eventually the prince's father King Yeongjo, played by Song Kang Ho, decided his son was not only unfit to rule but deserved execution. Since the king could not lawfully execute him, he locked the prince in a rice chest on a hot day. After eight days the prince died.

A few historians later said that the story of the prince being mad was just a cover-up. These historicans belive that there was a conspiracy against the prince and his father did not approve of his revolutionary ideas. So they made up a story of madness.

But Lady Hyegyeong recorded the terrifying story of the Prince's madness in a series of journals titled "The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyeong."

It's not the first time that Moon Geun Young has played a character that was based on a real-life historical figure. In her last drama, "Goddess of Fire: Jeonji," she played a character modeled on the real life ceramic artist Baek Pa Sun.

"The Throne" also stars Jin Ji Hee as Princess Hwawan. Seo Ye Hi plays Queen Jeongsun and Kim Hae Sook plays Queen Inwon. The film also stars Park Won Sang and Jeon Hye Jin, with a cameo from So Ji Sub as Lady Hyegyeong's grown son, King Jeongjo.

The film began shooting in July 2014 and premieres in Korea on September 8.