Director Lee Na-jung on leading hit female centric series 'Mine'

In file photo from May, actress Lee Bo-young, from left, director Lee Na-jeong, and actress Kim Seo-hyung pose for pictures during a media conference for "Mine." Courtesy of tvN

By Lee Gyu-lee

The tvN drama series "Mine" recently wrapped up a successful run, with the last episode which aired on June 27 scoring its highest viewership rating of 10.5 percent.

The female-centric series, starring Lee Bo-young and Kim Seo-hyung, garnered popularity with flamboyant and stylish set designs, a well-blended mixture of genres from murder mystery to black comedy, and compelling performances by the actors.

"I wanted to create a refreshing story from the female-centric narrative," the series' director Lee Na- jeong, who is known for leading romance series like "Fight for My Way" and "Love Alarm," said in a recent written interview with The Korea Times.

"Mine," written by Baek Mi-kyung, who wrote the TV series "Strong Girl Bong-soon" and "The Lady in Dignity," revolves around two daughters-in-law ― heiress Seo-hyun (Kim) and former actress Hee-soo (Lee Bo-young) ― from a wealthy family that owns a business conglomerate.

Amid secrets, cheating, and twisted desires that lie underneath the affluent lifestyle of the high-profile family and its household staff, the two women bond in solidarity to fight for something of their own and to find their identity.

The series involves extensive subplots, featuring many characters, from Seo-hyun's "forbidden" lesbian romance, Hee-soo's battle with her son's birth mother, the murder mystery of Hee-soo's husband, and a Cinderella story of the young heir and a maid.

"Because the series had colorful characters and different subplots, my main priority was to bring them all together into one story," the director explained. "To do so, I put Hee-soo and Seo-hyun's perspective in the center and followed their emotions. And as the second part added a mystery genre component to it. I took time in putting scenes together so that viewers could follow along and experience the change in the genre."

A scene from the series / Courtesy of tvN

The series has also been praised for the visual depiction of a wealthy family's lifestyle, such as the unique architecture of their mansion, ornate decorations around the house, and stylish outfits of the actors.

The director revealed that she had formed a pre-production team specializing in the visual part of the series and worked with it for four months to create the whole concept.

"We studied what type of architectural design upper-class families in 2021 prefer, and what they use, eat, and wear. Then, we shared them with other production staff to come up with the image and design (of the set)," she said. "I wanted to rewrite the standard of being 'elegant.' Not in a way of being extravagant and flashy as most people would think, but I wanted to show the realistic portrayal of the rich that exactly know what to fill in and what not to."

She added that she wanted to intrigue the viewers both with unique visual elements and with the story.

Such efforts in the visual design of the production was one of the key ways in delivering the series' narrative.

"I thought the fancy backdrops magnify the contrast between their lifestyle and the characters going through their own darkness and emptiness," she noted. "Although they live a luxurious life, there are disrupted relationships, meaningless desires, and conflicting perspectives, behind it. So I wanted to show this irony, and, amid that, their journey to finding what's really important to them."

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