Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
INTERVIEW Lee Sung-kyung felt liberated with her character in 'Call It Love'
Actress Lee Sung-kyoung played the character Shim Woo-joo in the Disney+ original series “Call It Love." Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Lee Sung-kyoung shared that playing her apathetic, despairing character in Disney+'s original series, “Call It Love,” has been a liberating experience.
Actress Lee Sung-kyoung / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
“Now I think of it, since filming wrapped, I felt so free playing the character of Woo-joo. I didn't see it during the filming because I was so focused on working on it. But when can I ever have another chance to be completely relaxed in front of so many people and just be myself, like you are allowed to not put effort into putting on a face,” she said, during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday, held at a cafe in Jongno District, central Seoul.
“I could just focus on my own emotion because I played Woo-joo, which I really liked. I think it was liberation.”
The 16-part melodrama series, which began releasing two episodes every week since Feb. 22, follows a woman named Shim Woo-joo (Lee), whose father ran away with his mistress when she was young.
One day, she gets a call informing her that her father has died. When the mistress tries to claim the house that Woo-joo and her family have been living in for years and kicks them out, Woo-joo decides to take revenge on the mistress's son, Han Dong-jin (Kim Young-kwang). However, her plans for payback go sideways when she falls in love with him as she learns more about him and his misfortunes.
The actress said that she was drawn to the character's imperfection.
“(The series) seemed like a strong revenge story, but the more I looked into it, the more I could see that the character is flawed, tender, and is far from being capable of fierce revenge. So my heart went out to her,” she said, adding that she wanted to portray the character's life and her pain.
“My actual personality is honest but also timid. I would be concerned about hurting other people, so I couldn't be blunt. But Woo-joo is straightforward. But she turns around and regrets it. She's genuine, which made me feel more drawn to her.”
A scene from the series “Call It Love" / Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea
She noted that despite her character's despairing situation, she tried not to present her as appearing too depressed.
“I refrained from acting superficially dark and depressed for the character. I wanted it to be realistic, like any of us living in reality. I would always think 'what if I was Woo-joo?' and thought about how would she live if she was a real person,” she said.
Lee and Kim have been longtime friends, sharing their previous careers as models. She shared that working with Kim had been a lot of help.
“As a co-star, he was very considerate and gave a good performance so it helped me a lot. Whenever I was exhausted and struggled, he wouldn't do it noticeably but he would take care of everyone. It was impressive how he puts thoughts into even tiny details on set. I learned a lot,” she said.