Lee Bo-young, “After meeting Ji-sung, my attitude towards acting changed”

"I was surprised that the viewership rating was higher than I expected. I was hoping it would be 7-8% and then 10% at the end, but it went up steeper than I expected and I thought, 'Why is this happening?' “When the viewer ratings came out, I would ask the director, ‘Why are they going up like this?’”

Lee Bo-young, the main character of JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Agency', which ended on February 26, expressed her gratitude for the love and support from viewers. 'Agency' is a work that depicts Go Ah-in (played by Lee Bo-young), who became the first female executive at a VC group with an advertising agency, and builds her career to reach the top position. Lee Bo-young played Go Ah-in, a powerful character who joined the company as a copywriter at a VC group and became the first female executive. Lee Bo-young said, "At first, I told the director and writer that I didn't want this drama to stand out for its gender issues or gender conflict structure. I said I wanted it to feel like a person growing up. I didn't want it to be male vs. female."

“I have nothing in common with Goain. I don’t want to live that obsessively. I can’t be someone who pretends to be strong and puts on an outward appearance when I’m weak. Haha. I always felt sorry for Ain. Especially the scene where he enters the lonely house with the lights off. "I didn't like it even though I was filming it. If I were to find something in common, it would be our similar looks. Haha."

Lee Bo-young has never worked in a company or organization. Through ‘Agency’, I got to indirectly experience the intense corporate life.

“While filming, I asked the director, ‘Is this really how you get promoted, not just a script made up in your imagination?’ I didn’t really understand the politics. I asked if that was actually the case. When working in an organization, people are like Ain. I don't think I'll be able to scream like this. That's why I think it's like a fantasy for some people, and they get vicarious satisfaction from watching Ain scream. It's refreshing to see Ain say out loud what I only said in my head. I took the picture. “I thought, ‘It’s really hard to work at a company,’ and ‘Every day is like a battlefield.’ I thought that my social life was difficult, but my organizational life was also difficult.”

Lee Bo-young also changed her external appearance, from the fresh appearance of a beginner in society with a stiff body due to tension and lack of leisure, to the appearance of a career woman with composure and confidence after achieving success in her field. In order to create a difference in the temporal changes and flow of the character Go A-in, he cut off the long hair he had grown out without hesitation and even showed off a bold styling change with a short bob. As Goain is a perfectionist, he maintains a neat and tidy appearance even though he constantly works overtime. Lee Bo-young showed off the ‘wannabe style’ of female office workers.

“I have worked with my stylist and staff for over 10 years. After reading the script, I tend to leave it to them. I don’t know much about this field and they are the experts. People say that the styling was good in the drama ‘Mine’, but there were a lot of expensive clothes at that time. It's hard to buy. This time, I think people looked at it with more interest because it was a more accessible office look."

Lee Bo-young revealed that she also had fun filming with Cho Sung-ha and Son Na-eun. Lee Bo-young said of the cheerful filming site, "I thought it would have been nice to have fun filming the drama no matter how it turned out. Thank you for liking it."

“Senior Jo Seong-ha is a villain, but he doesn’t seem to be hated. If you hate him, you should hate him, but that’s not the case. Also, I didn’t think of him as a villain. Each person has a different way of surviving in their position. I had fun filming with Naeun.”

Lee Bo-young, who debuted in 2002, said, "There are times when my debut and career as an actor pass me by like a flash. I think, 'I've endured well' and 'I'm holding on well.'" "Aren't Ain and me, and everyone in society, holding on well? “He said. When asked about her satisfaction with being an actress as a career, Lee Bo-young replied, "I am grateful."

“When I was young, there were moments when I wanted to run away, there were times when I was afraid to go to the field, and there were times when I was scared because I wasn’t good at it. There were times when I wondered if this job was right for me. When I think about it, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. I was so robbed that I didn't know what I was doing for a living. I was lost. I thought a lot about whether this was the path for me. But these days, when I think about it, I think I like acting. There were moments when I had a hard time because I couldn't act, but at one point, I was on set, and there was a lot of trouble on set. The air was good. I felt like I was alive. I didn't want to get out of the car because it was cold and I didn't want to go out for fear of being scolded by the director, but when I went out on set, I was grateful that I was doing something. At some point, I started praising myself, saying, 'I'm holding up well.' . I feel like we should hold on well in the future.”

Lee Bo-young says ‘family’ is what drives her. The reason I truly fell in love with acting was also through my family. Lee Bo-young shared an anecdote from her time dating her husband Ji-sung.

“When I was dating, I met my brother (Jisung) and talked about the project. I’m a person who is scared of going on set and doesn’t know how to act, but this person was so excited. He was so excited that he read the script and wrote everything in it. Even though I prepare, I don't feel comfortable in front of the camera, so I stutter and wonder, 'How can this person do that?' It was amazing. As I watched from the sidelines, I felt like I was starting to change as well. I thought, maybe I should have fun doing things like that too."

Lee Bo-young and Ji Sung have a daughter born in 2015 and a son born in 2019. She said, "My children are now 8 and 4 years old. Even in noisy situations, they are immersed in the script and watch it. I think those skills are improving," and added, "Children grow up too quickly. I hope they grow up slowly," and revealed herself as an actor and mother.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr