Lee Bo Young records an undefeated myth in every drama she appears in.
Lee Bo Young, who finished JTBC’s “Agency”, was recently interviewed by Wikitree.
“Agency” is an elegant yet intense office drama set in an advertisement agency. It depicts the story of Go Ah In, who works her way up to become the first female executive at VC group. According to Nielsen Korea, episode 16 of “Agency”, which aired on February 26th, recorded a viewership rating of 16.044%.
Lee Bo Young said, “I didn’t expect this kind of reaction at all,” and expressed her feelings about the end of the drama.
“The ratings aren’t good these days. Our drama starts at 10:30, so I was surprised. I go to bed at that time. I thought it would be nice if we could get 10%, but people watched it more than I thought. The result came out better than expected, so both the director and I were flustered. Every morning we exchanged messages like ‘What is this?’”
Lee Bo Young and her character in “Agency” are very different. Go Ah In suffers from insomnia and continues to have sleepless nights, but Lee Bo Young goes to sleep at 10 when her drama starts airing. Go Ah In makes strong advertising copies easily, but Lee Bo Young shook her head, saying that it does not fit with her creation.
In response to the premise of “What if Lee Bo Young was an office worker?”, Lee Bo Young sighed, saying, “I would have been defeated long ago because I couldn’t play politics.” She has no similarities with Go Ah In, who is not a sympathetic character, but Lee Bo Young wanted Go Ah In to be supported.
She said, “I’ve never seen a character that’s so socially unfit. I thought ‘Agency’ was a coming-of-age drama in which characters who are lacking grow and become better human beings.”
Go Ah In is a successful woman who became the first female executive in the large VC group with only her skills. It is more important for her to do well than to work hard, and she does not hesitate to say harsh things to the junior workers who do not have the skills. Her character, who does everything without giving up in front of anyone, brought catharsis to Lee Bo Young.
“I wondered how she could fight so well. Ah In’s lines are interesting. People don’t usually talk like Ah In. I didn’t see it. But when I saw someone talk like that, I found them cool. You’d hate to have someone like her next to you, but she is fun.”
It’s not just about having a nice look. Go Ah In, because of her gambler-drinking father and her runaway mother, she had to grow up eating her aunt’s food since she was seven. She is more confident than anyone else in the company, but when she is alone at home, she can’t sleep without alcohol and medicine due to panic disorder and insomnia.
Lee Bo Young said, “Every time I filmed scenes of Ah In drinking and taking medicines, I felt ached. When we shot the scene where she opened the door and entered the house alone, it was so lonely. Many people are noisy at work, but at home, she’s alone all day. She really hates going into an unlit house.”
Go Ah In’s mother, who said, “I’ll pick you up again,” ran away from her father’s violence, and showed up again after 35 years and confused her daughter. Lee Bo Young, a mother of two who married actor Ji Sung in 2013, confessed that she did not understand her mother being forgiven.
Lee Bo Young confessed that she thought of her rookie days while playing Go Ah In. She projected herself, saying, “I endured well, too,” as she watched Go Ah In endure without giving up to be the best in one field.
“When I was a rookie, the camera was in front of me and there were dozens of staff members, so my acting was not good. I got scolded for not being able to act, so it was difficult to go to the set because I noticed when filming was delayed, the atmosphere became cold, and that situation repeated itself. There were moments when I wanted to run away. But at some point, I was like, ‘Oh, I love this job so much!’.”
Lee Bo Young greets the public with a new work once every two years. The reason she has a hiatus in the middle of her activities is simply because she doesn’t find any interesting works.
“I have to have fun. When I read the script, it has to be fun so the people watching it will also find it fun. The first priority is to have fun or something that hits my heart.”
“Agency” is full of lines that resonate in Lee Bo Young’s heart, such as “Lead, follow, or leave”, “Sharing joy makes you jealous, sharing sadness makes you weak,” and “People should do what they are good at, not what they like.”
Lee Bo Young has just celebrated the 21st anniversary of her debut. When asked if being an actor is “what she is good at, what she likes to do, or what she likes but is also good at”, she said, “I am not good at it. The more I do it, the harder it is. I learned a lot while filming this time. It’s a project that I thought a lot about. Some people see my acting and say I did well, but some people say I didn’t do well. It’s subjective, so it’s really difficult.”
It’s still difficult acting, but one thing is certain. When Lee Bo Young sees a work that makes her smile after reading the script, the viewers also enjoy it. Attention is focusing on what kind of image she will show after choosing TVING’s “Hyde”, scheduled to be released in the second half of this year, as her next work.
Source: Wikitree.
