Lee Bo-young dishes about her role in JTBC’s office drama ‘Agency’

Lee Bo-young dishes about her role in JTBC’s office drama ‘Agency’: K-DRAMA&FILM / 연합뉴스 / 2023-02-27 11:53:40

▲ This photo, provided by House Pictures and DramaHouse Studio, shows Lee Bo-young from a scene in 'Agency.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean actress Lee Bo-young, who became the character Ko Ah-in herself in JTBC’s recently wrapped up drama series “Agency,” depicts Ko as a capable and ambitious but traumatic workaholic in an advertising agency. It is no exaggeration to say that the actress’s interpretation and acting skills had the typical protagonist in a female narrative bloom and earmarked.

Lee, who looked back on her role during an interview held at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, last Wednesday ahead of her television series airing its finale, was nothing like the cold-hearted and cool-headed orphan Ko she played in “Agency.”

“I am having a hard time memorizing lines these days, and I blame it on the COVID-19 virus,” the actress said with jest. Then, the actress also added playfully, “I also am not a person with a lot of stories, but I cannot understand why I keep getting to play these roles with dreadful background stories.”

When asked if she found anything similar between herself and Ko, the actress replied while firmly shaking her head, “None,” adding, “I could not relate to her and always thought why does she live the life she is living.”

“In the meantime, I felt sorry for Ko who had this lust for success without knowing how to enjoy her life and what to be happy about. I constantly had trouble relating to her, but I did eventually come to look back to my youth.”

The office television series “Agency,” set in an advertising agency, is closer to a political series that follows the career of Ko and her success as a female executive in the workplace.

Ko, who comes from a poor family background and could not graduate from a prestigious university, has a strong desire for success. With her dedication to hard work and lust for accomplishment, she strives to become the first female lead executive while competing against the male employees, only with her skills.

She plays the character with a sense of leadership who is also known for her harsh criticism and cynical remarks, but also recognizes the talent within her co-workers and draws out their potential.

Lee emphasized that she enjoyed acting out Ko, as it was her first time playing a character like hers.

“I do challenge myself when there is a line or scene that sticks out from the script. I was specifically attracted to the lines from ‘Agency.’ I was amazed at how nimbly and sharply Ko speaks, and I was even liberated for her to say the things that I would have wished to say or stuttered.”

Ko, who acutely pinpoints the clients’ intentions and plays well against them, overcomes countless obstacles and gives the viewers a sense of liberation. However, her race toward success is yet unstable and precarious.

She suffers from panic attacks and sleep disorders by lashing herself incessantly and also struggles to rely on others so she chooses to rely on alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs to endure every day.

Lee said, “I figured that what attracted the viewers to Ko is how she pretends to be one strong, sturdy person, who actually is very weak,” adding, “I wanted her to look pitiful so that more could sympathize with her, who pretends to be strong from the outside but actually is broken from the inside.”

The story of Ah-in’s success as she climbs up the ladder one step at a time to break the glass ceiling has garnered not only the viewers’ attention but support. The television series, which kicked off with an average nationwide viewing of 4.8%, had its ratings constantly rising to a new all-time high, reaching 12% only in its eighth episode.

Lee expressed her thoughts, saying, “I was so thankful and surprised that the ratings scored way better than I have expected. As I have aged, I came to realize that the time has passed for me to be forgiven when I do poorly in acting, which is somewhat burdensome. however, I had no pressure on the ratings at all.” The 44-year-old actress added, “I have learned that even if we have poor ratings, I will soon forget about it in less than a week after the broadcast. So, I now tend to think less about the ratings.”

Lee, who made her screen debut by appearing in a commercial advertisement for “Pacific Seolrok Tea,” is one of Korea’s most celebrated actors who have a slew of hit works, including “Ballad of Seodong” (2005), “Seoyoung, My Daughter” (2012), “I Can Hear Your Voice” (2013), “God’s Gift: 14 Days” (2014), and “Mother” (2018).

In particular, a scene in “God’s Gift: 14 Days” where she sobbed alone without a partner for six minutes straight has been talked about as one of her most remarkable scenes so far. The actress has now established herself as a trusted actress, but she also had her time of Ko Ah-in where she had to endure and survive.

Lee confessed, “When I first started acting, I thought I was not fit for this job, so I once stopped acting for a while. When I stood in front of the camera, I felt like a fool and was overwhelmed. But I now realize that I was not the only one who goes through such challenges – people from all walks of life face the same struggles. While playing Ko Ah-in, I once again learned that people tend to go through the same obstacles at the beginning of their race. Since I have endured well so far, I became determined to hold on to what I am doing for the future.”

She also added that always playing heavy and dark roles, even though they are what rose her to stardom, has been rather stressful.

Lee said, “The roles that I first played used to be naive and lovable but since I am neither naive nor lovable, I had a hard time acting scenes with instructions like ‘getting gradually quieter’ and ‘having a drop of a tear running through my face.’’

The actress added, “I really wanted to play something else and have a turning point in my acting career. But I learned from experience that each actor has clothes that fit one perfectly,” explaining, “I then changed my mind that I will show enough variations within the character spectrum that I can play without pushing myself too hard.”

“I will be starring as an expert also in my next work, who has many stories. She also does not have the luck of coming from an affluent family with nice parents. However, I really enjoyed reading the script,” Lee said with a smile.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)

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