[HanCinema's News] Lee Se-hee Talks About "Young Lady and Gentleman"
By William Schwartz | Published on
This past March 27th, "Young Lady and Gentleman" ended with ratings of 36.8%. The popular weekend family drama has done much to boost the reputation of lead actress Lee Se-hee, who played the female lead, a tutor who eventually marries and falls in love with the father of three who employs her. Lee Se-hee has been talking about her experience in the South Korean press.
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Lee Se-hee expressed disappointment she did not prepare better to assure an even better performance. However, she also thanked director Shin Chang-seok and screenwriter Kim Sa-kyeong for encouraging her to take it easy. Lee Se-hee was also grateful that her acting was good enough, and could invoke a wide enough array of emotions, that "Young Lady and Gentleman" could hit the golden level of drama ratings.
Lee Se-hee also noted keen interest in how viewers responded to "Young Lady and Gentleman" and said that she monitored online comments real-time whenever new episodes were airing. Lee Se-hee stated that one comment which said her character Dan-dan was more like dab-dab (a word that means suffocating or stifling in Korean) left a particular impact. Lee Se-hee said it was a lie that performers never read comments- but said that taking the good with the bad at the same time is fine.
"Young Lady and Gentleman" was the first lead role for Lee Se-hee, and she admitted some surprise at this. Originally Lee Se-hee had auditioned for a supporting role, but was handed the script for the lead in her second audition. Though skeptical that she really had a chance, Lee Se-hee still gave the opportunity her all, to apparent success. In retrospect, Lee Se-hee observed that her attitude at the time was quite similar to the one expressed by her character.
Lee Se-hee also mentioned that despite being the lead, she was often more deferential than not to Cha Hwa-yeon and Kim Young-ok, older actresses whose experiences and advice Lee Se-hee valued. Lee Se-hee described them as her sisters. Lee Se-hee also said they were the inspiration for her to take a personal vacation, since she wanted to travel with them. Practically speaking, though, Lee Se-hee felt like she would be a bit of a third wheel in such a venture.
Written by William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea from 2011 to 2021. He is currently located in the Portland metropolitan area. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net, and is open to requests for content in future articles.