Acclaimed actress Kim So Yeon recently reflected on her role in the popular 2000 MBC drama All About Eve, a role which achieved her fame but also a considerable amount of backlash.

In a 2008 guest spot on KBS's Happy Together Season 3, Kim, as reported by Field Movie, mentioned how having portrayed the villainous Heo Young-mi, who struck a chord with so many viewers, made her life more difficult.

However, although the show went on to become a massive hit, peaking at a 48 percent audience share, her realistic portrayal received backlash from fans.

Kim said, "There was a lot of hate for my part. The story was so engaging that people would call the network to complain about my character."

The actress even got voted as the "most hated celebrity" by soldiers that made up a big audience for the drama.

Kim So Yeon's transition from a cute, little child actor into a leading lady was helped by roles in male-centric fare like All About Eve (with Chae Rim along with top male leads like Jang Dong Gun and Han Jae Suk).

Still, after her breakout role, she regretted being pigeonholed as a villain. "At this stage of work, I was looking to be enacting a fresher type of role but finally the offers I was getting were only for a villain," she said.

Then, two decades later, Kim reprised the villain role in the hit drama Penthouse, earning critical acclaim once more, this time as Cheon Seo-jin.

Somewhere down the line, she notes, "it sounded like those villain roles were ideal for me."

Kim So Yeon's rise and fall and the rise again encapsulate the trials and tribulations of the acting world, which is more cutthroat and competitive than any other industry.

And as she remains a magnet for attention, her experiences are a cautionary tale for actors: the road to success is rarely as glamorous as it might appear.