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| ▲ This photo, provided by Jellyfish Entertainment, shows actress Kim Se-jeong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Apr. 8 (Yonhap) -- Kim Se-jeong, a former member of K-pop girl group, has built her notable career as an actress by playing an excessively bright and kind-hearted character that is likely to appear in comics.
Kim expressed her affection towards her role during a video interview, which was conducted to mark the end of SBS’ Monday and Tuesday drama "Business Proposal” on Apr. 7, saying, "Ha-ri is such a lovely character."
Ha-ri, played by the actress, is an ordinary office worker who met Kang Tae-mu(Ahn Hyo-seop), the CEO of the company she’s working at, after going out on a blind date on behalf of her friend. In order to deceive Tae-mu, she showed crafty acting that goes back and forth between Ha-ri and a fictional character "Shin Geum-hee."
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| ▲ This photo, provided by SBS, shows the drama "Business Proposal." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Although there were mixed reactions that the drama was fun and childish in the beginning, it started receiving favorable reviews as the episodes went by. On Netflix, it has drawn great attention of Asian countries and maintained the first place on the chart of non-English TV shows.
When asked if she expected such popularity, Kim said, "I expected global popularity, but I was rather worried if it would be accepted too childish in Korea," adding, "The strengths of K-romantic comedy is to handle simple and minor parts, and I think “Business Proposal” really made good use of this."
Kim was evaluated as a successful cast by playing the role of a cheerful yet considerate character. The actress admitted that she seems to have 80 to 90 percent synchronization with Ha-ri.
Even though some exaggerated performances or lines may have seemed awkward, Kim received favorable reviews for her natural acting by taking the bull by the horns.
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Jellyfish Entertainment, shows actress Kim Se-jeong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
She said, "I tried to perform from the bottom of my heart to show that Ha-ri is a character who holds this kind of emotions even in an over-reacted scene," adding, "I think it came out well on the screen thanks to the fellow actors who considered me just as Ha-ri.”
Regarding her fellow actor Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim said, "Our chemistry worked out so well," adding, "Ahn is such a thoughtful actor so he always figured out how to deal with the situation where he thinks Ha-ri would feel uncomfortable.”
It is usual for the actors to get awkward after filming the scene of physical affection, but Kim felt more comfortable as they continued filming. As the two actors shared a lot of ideas on the ground, many improvisations were also reflected in the episode. The ending scene of Tae-mu proposing to Ha-ri was also made on the spot.
Kim said, “I tried to understand the aspects of Tae-mu, whom Ha-ri fell in love with,” adding, “I worked hard to identify the background of him still looking like a little boy due to his trauma from early childhood, and the romance between the two progressed favorably after figuring out his situation.”
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Jellyfish Entertainment, shows actress Kim Se-jeong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
She also mentioned, “I thought a lot about how to perform in humorous scenes,” adding, “I felt that romantic comedy should not just be funny, but should draw enough understanding in emotions of love.”
Kim Se-jeong, who debuted through the audition program “Produce 101” in 2016, has performed in diverse fields as a singer, musical actress, and actress. She wanted to be appreciated by the public with her sincerity.
The modifiers of actress, singer, and musical actress would be dubbed in front of my name, but I want to be remembered as just Kim Se-jeong myself. I will continue to sing, act, and perform on stage in the future. At those moments, I want to be seen as Kim Se-jeong who always tries her best.
(This article, translated from Korean to English by Kim Sun Min.)
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