Jun Ji Hyun did not worry about looking pretty for her latest film. Instead she wanted to look like a killer.

When she appeared on the July 15 SBS show "Nightly Entertainment," the 33-year-old actress talked about cutting her long hair to play the role of a sniper in the film "The Assassination."

It was more important to convincingly portray the killer than it was to look pretty.

"It's like people already know what I look like," said Jun. "So I don't try to look pretty any more."

Her film role did not require much make-up and she was often ready to work before the male actors were.

"It took less than 10 minutes to do my make-up. Because the actors needed to glue on mustaches and do other makeup, mine took less time."

But then she says she really doesn't wear much make-up at home these days either.

"My husband even asks me when I'm going to start wearing makeup," said Jun.

Her husband, banker Choi Joon Hyuk, probably figured that since he married a movie star, make-up went with the territory.

But Jun Ji Hyun does follow some beauty regimens and common sense precautions to protect her good looks. She credits her clear skin with meticulously washing her face every night and drinking plenty of water every day. The actress stretches and meditates before she goes to bed. She also jogs and does yoga every day.

According to a report in The Korea Bizwire, she is a "workout freak" known for her self-discipline.

It's the same self-discipline that makes her an effective actress. In her new film she plays Ahn Ok Yun, a sniper so talented that the Korean resistance movement breaks her out of jail to employ her talents. To play her role, she also learned how to shoot.

At a press conference for the film, she spoke about her training.

"As I was playing the role of a professional assassin, the gun had to look natural with me. This was very difficult at the beginning of the filming. I trained and even brought model guns home, to feel more natural around them."

The film is set during the 1930s when the Japanese controlled Korea. Korean resistance fighters get orders to assassinate a Japanese army commander. Ahn Ok Yun works with a team of ruthless comrades but she does not know that one of them is a spy.

The film, which co-stars Lee Jung Jae and Ha Jung Woo, premieres on July 22.