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| Actress Lee Joo-young as Soo-in, an aspiring baseball player, in a scene from the film "Baseball Girl" / Courtesy of Sidus |
'Itaewon Class' actress challenges baseball player role
By Kwak Yeon-soo
"Baseball Girl" is a coming-of-age story of a young female baseball player who competes with male athletes to break the glass ceiling in sports.
The film follows the story of Joo Soo-in (played by Lee Joo-young), the only girl on her high school baseball team, who dreams of becoming a professional baseball player.
Although Soo-in is capable of throwing balls at 130 kilometers per hour on average, she faces challenges to join the "men only" professional team.
Her coach Choi Jin-tae (played by Lee Jun-hyuk), who initially tells Soo-in that she is never going to make it to the pro league because of her physical limitations, changes his mind after seeing Soo-in's ambition.
Choi comes up with a new strategy to arrange a tryout for her for a professional baseball team. "If you can't beat boys by strength, throw something that boys cannot hit: a knuckleball," the coach tells Soo-in in the film.
Director Choi Yun-tae said he got the idea for "Baseball Girl" after watching an interview with a female baseball player in 2017.
"When I told my wife that there is no current rule banning women from playing on a professional baseball team, she seemed surprised. So I thought it would be interesting to write a story on an aspiring female baseball player," Choi said during a press conference for the film held at CGV Yongsan in Seoul, Monday.
The director chose Lee Joo-young for the lead role because of the image she has. "I wanted an actor who has a presence or aura. I immediately thought of Joo-young who is strong-willed and energetic," he said.
On playing a character that proves the doubters wrong, Lee said "There are scenes where the coach persuades her to play on a women's baseball team. But Soo-in wants to play baseball with the boys. No matter what, she is so determined and devotes herself to the game."
She added, "Soo-in also has thick skin to deal with doubters. She's like 'the more you tell me I can't do it, the more I'm going to show you I can.'"
Lee said she trained with professional baseball players for a month to prepare for her role. "It wasn't a long time, but I tried to look like a real baseball player. Through engaging in strength training, I was able to understand Soo-in's feelings," she said.
Lee won an Independent Star Award at the 2019 Seoul Independent Film Festival with this film. She has starred in many hit TV dramas including "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo" and "Itaewon Class."
"Baseball Girl" will hit local theaters June 18.
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