The Intern’ Han So Hee: “I Was Nervous Meeting Choi Min Sik… When Would I Ever Get an Opportunity Like This?”
Han So Hee opens up about her nerves and excitement over acting alongside Choi Min Sik in The Intern and how she approached the remake.
Released on September 16, The Intern has captured moviegoers’ attention by climbing to No. 1 at the box office. The film follows the workplace lives of young CEO Seon Woo (Han So Hee) and senior intern Ki Ho (Choi Min Sik). To mark the film’s release, TV Report sat down with Han So Hee for an interview at a café in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
The Intern is a remake of the film of the same name, which attracted 3.61 million moviegoers in South Korea. Having a beloved original provides the advantage of an already proven story, but it also comes with the challenge of inevitably being judged by fans of the original.
Sharing her thoughts after watching The Intern, Han So Hee said, “When I watch the movie, I naturally focus on myself first, so I notice things I wish I had done better. After filming, there are always moments when I think, ‘What if I had approached that performance a little differently?’ Other than that, I think everything is perfect.”
Han So Hee said she initially felt excited when she received the offer to star in The Intern, but the pressure began to set in after she officially joined the project. “I was really looking forward to acting with Choi Min Sik. The thought of acting alongside someone I had always watched on TV made me nervous and even a little scared,” she said.
She continued, “I thought, ‘When would I ever get the chance to work opposite Choi Min Sik?’ I also heard that Anne Hathaway was around my age when she filmed The Intern. I felt that I could portray, both internally and externally, a character who is going through an uncertain period of youth.”
Asked whether she felt pressure about starring in a remake, Han So Hee replied, “I tried to act as though the original didn’t exist and simply stay faithful to the script.” She added, “I thought everything would be fine as long as I trusted the director, the environment on set, and my co-star. Just as two people drawing the same thing will never produce exactly the same picture, I felt it was important to believe that we would create a picture that was uniquely ours.”
Seon Woo, the character played by Han So Hee, is the CEO of a fashion brand that surpassed 10 billion won in sales within just three years. Explaining how she related to the character, Han So Hee said, “Because she became a successful CEO in such a short period of time, she still has many shortcomings and makes a lot of small mistakes. She’s an unstable character in that sense. I felt that many aspects of her journey overlapped with my own eight years of working as an actress.”
She continued, “I thought I was doing well, but there were many things I was overlooking. I also used to think that all I needed to do was perform well myself, but I realized that I also needed to be able to bring everyone together. While playing Seon Woo, I felt there were many points where she and I intersected.”
The Intern, reinterpreted through Han So Hee’s own style and perspective, is now playing in theaters.
Sources: Daum