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| ▲ This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows actress Lee Joo-myung. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows actress Lee Joo-myung. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by tvN, shows the poster for the Saturday-Sunday drama "Twenty-Five Twenty-One." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by YG Entertainment, shows actress Lee Joo-myung. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Apr. 17 (Yonhap) -- “I personally like the ending because it’s realistic. I think the viewers care for us so much that they just want us (characters) to be happy. (Laughs)”
Actress Lee Joo-myung (29), who played Ji Seung-wan, a class leader with a bold personality in the popular tvN Saturday drama “Twenty Five Twenty-One,” revealed her thoughts on the ending, which had mixed reviews among viewers.
“I am ten thousand percent satisfied with Seung-wan ending as an entertainment producer” expressed Lee Joo-myung, in a café located in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 14th. “She was always someone who tried to find something fun, so I really liked the fact that she got to be someone who made a fun and witty entertainment program like producer Na Young-seok.”
Ji Seung-wan, who she plays, was the top of her school and the class leader of Tae Yang High School. Although she looked like a perfect student on the outside, she was full of rebellion in her heart. With her refreshing personality, her prioritizing friends over grades, and a spirit of resistance that never closes her eyes to the absurdity of the world, she earned the nickname “Ji d'Arc” (a combination of Ji Seung-wan and Joan of Arc) and was loved by the viewers.
“I think people felt vicarious pleasure about the way Seung-wan was confident and brave. While some people would just think and let it go, she always showed it with action,” said the actress. “I too, am actually timid and shy, so I had a lot of fun acting.”
“Seung-wan was a very attractive character with the script alone. I was just worried how I should be acting Seungwan who is so colorful and attractive. I took reference from the dancers in 'Street Women Fighter,' and also looked at a lot of interviews from the 1990s on YouTube to express the emotions of that era.”
Ji Seung-wan was the only person who did not have a love line among the “5 Tae Yang High Squad,” including Na Hui-do (Kim Tae-ri), Baek I-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), Ko Yu-rim (Bona) and Moon Ji-ung (Choi Hyun-wook).
“Seung-wan was a person who was enough with herself” she said. “Since I wasn’t able to have any romance this time, I wish I’d be able to act in a romantic comedy next time.”
When asked about the 5 Tae Yang High squad, she said “The characters and individuals were so perfect that it felt like fate to have these five people together. We were all similar in age so we had a lot of fun acting, and I think that chemistry penetrated the screen.”
In particular, she received a lot of help from Kim Tae-ri, saying, "Tae-ri is a person who speaks with her eyes.” She added, “When we act together, she has the magic to raise the other person's tension by making one know how she feels just by looking at her eyes."
After turning from a model to an actor through the web drama “Man in the Shower” in 2016, she has been building filmography step by step by appearing in minor and supporting roles in works such as “A wise doctor's life,” “Missing: The Other Side,” and “Kairos” and has become a rising star this time.
When asked if she felt her popularity, Lee Joo-myung laughed and said, "It feels really good and cool that people recognize me a lot when I go to cafes these days."
"'Twenty-Five Twenty-One is like my second youth. Luckily, thanks to this work, I have been through my school days twice, and that itself makes me feel happy and honored.”
(END)
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