Lee Ha-nee on her double role in upcoming comedy series 'One the Woman'

Actress Lee Ha-nee will play a double role in SBS's upcoming series, “One the Woman.” Courtesy of SBS

By Lee Gyu-lee

Actress Lee Ha-nee is set to make a small-screen comeback, playing a double role in SBS's upcoming series, “One the Woman,” about two and a half years after the network's hit series, “The Fiery Priest.”

“It's been a while, so I'm very nervous and excited to show viewers this series,” the actress said in the written interview, Tuesday. “The script was really funny. I normally don't crack up while reading scripts, but I was bursting into laughter with this one, and thought, I can't wait to play the character.”

The comedy series, directed by Choi Young-hoon, whose work includes the TV series, "Good Casting" and "Second to Last Love," follows two lookalikes ― corrupt prosecutor Cho Yeon-joo and wealthy heiress Kang Mi-na ― both played by Lee.

Yeon-joo gets into a car accident while in hot pursuit of a suspect. After losing her memory of the accident, she gets mistaken for Mi-na and wakes up to a different life. While trying to trace the memories of her past life, she struggles to settle into life as part of a wealthy chaebol family and to face the dark side of this new life.

“I get to do such colorful acting on 'One the Woman.' The foundation of the series is that it is a comedy, but as I play a double role, it will be interesting for the viewers to see the difference between hotheaded Yeon-joo and coolheaded Mina,” she said, adding that there also will be action sequences involving Yeon-joo's character.

Yeon-joo is the daughter of a mob member and the master of earning money in corrupt ways, using her position as a prosecutor. On the other hand, Mi-na is the daughter of a wealthy conglomerate owner and his mistress. She married into another chaebol family via an arranged marriage, but her life became miserable when her in-laws found out that she is the daughter of a mistress.

Scenes from the series / Courtesy of SBS

Taking on a double role for the first time in her career, the actress said that it has been an interesting process.

“The difficult thing about it is that I have to set a clearly different tone for each character, which otherwise would not be distinguishable. So I'm trying to dive deeper into each character to closely and delicately show the differences between the two,” she said. “What's interesting about this process is that I get to explore different layers of the characters, as if I'm zooming in on them with a microscope.”

The series will also star Lee Sang-yoon, who will play Mi-na's former lover, and Jin Seo-yeon, who will play Mi-na's sister-in-law.

The actress said that the co-stars are enjoying their chemistry together.

“We hit it off so well, especially myself with Lee Sang-yoon, who plays my counterpart. It's our first time working together, but we got along so well right from the start. He's very considerate,” she said.

“One the Woman” is set to premiere on SBS on Sept. 17.