[HanCinema's News] Seo Yea-ji Earns Plaudits for Role as Counterintuitively Cold and Cruel Romance Protagonist
By William Schwartz | Published on
Relatively little was made of the premise of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", as the romantic drama quickly became a source of interest mainly due to it being Kim Soo-hyun's comeback project. But since the drama started airing Seo Yea-ji has attracted considerably more attention in her own leading role as a fairy tale writer who is, in medical terms, a psychopath.
Advertisement
Far from attempting to romanticize her mental condition "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" has been quite blunt in making Seo Yea-ji's character out to be explicitly abusive. She is frequently seen physically assaulting employees at her publishing company who are too concerned about her reputation as it relates to their economic well-being to report her to the police.
Her behavior is so disconcerting that in the most recent episode, Kim Soo-hyun's character attempts to restrain her from meeting another man alone, as he is concerned for the other man's safety. Later in the episode she uses verbal slurs to chastise a family whose young son is a big fan of hers. Though such actions are to the detriment of her professional reputation, her psychopathic tendencies are too strong to allow her to care.
The creepy undertones persist further, as Seo Yea-ji's character attempts to bully Kim Soo-hyun's character into approaching her romantically by playing off an experience in their youth which appears to have traumatized him. The tone is tense and extreme even in regards to romance stories that start out with the lead couple on antagonistic footing, even lending itself to creepiness. In this way "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" has already greatly elevated Seo Yea-ji's standing as an actress.
Written by William Schwartz
___________
"It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is directed by Park Shin-woo, written by Jo Yong, and features Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, Oh Jung-se, Kang Ki-doong, Park Gyu-young, Kim Chang-wan. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2020/06/20~Now airing, Sat, Sun on tvN.
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.