Kim Ok-bin, first attempt at a romantic comedy, “I take the lead in love”

“I think it will be a turning point in my filmography.”

Kim Ok-bin, who challenged the romantic comedy genre with the Netflix series 'Love Battle', said she made this choice because she wanted to show a new side of herself. 'Love Battle', which was released on the 10th, is a romantic comedy about a woman who pathologically hates losing to a man and a man who is pathologically suspicious of women, and are healed through a war-like love. Yeo Mi-ran, a confident lawyer at the law firm Gilmu, played by Kim Ok-bin, is a character who pathologically hates losing to men.

"It's been a while since I debuted, but I haven't shown myself like this much. In fact, I'm not good at being shy. I thought it didn't suit me, so I stayed away from it. Then, when I hit my 30s, I got tired of playing similar roles. The actor said, I shouldn't have been fixed on various roles or images, but I thought, 'I've been narrow-minded in my intake of work.' When I decided that I should try something different, I came across 'Love Battle.' At first, I was afraid of whether I could do well. I thought about myself. “I think it might be awkward. I need to see more people’s reactions, but my friends around me are saying it’s okay, so I’m somewhat satisfied.”

There is a reason why Yeo Mi-ran dislikes men. I've lived my life disappointed by men, including my father, my school boyfriend, and a senior at a lawyer's office I trusted. I hated the idea that women were beings that needed to be protected, so I developed all kinds of ways to protect myself, including racing and martial arts as well as my career. Kim Ok-bin said that she felt that Yeo Mi-ran had many similarities to herself.

“The environment we grew up in and the way we react to situations were similar. In addition to the pathological dislike of losing, Miran grew up in a patriarchal environment, and I am also similar. When I was young, I was a really outcast. When I was young, my grandmother and father would take care of me at home. They told me not to run around like a old man, but I didn't understand. When I asked, 'Why?', the elders said, 'You have to do that.' It's customary. At first, I asked the writer, 'Is this character created with me in mind?' I did it too. Haha.”

Kim Ok-bin co-starred with Yoo Tae-oh. Nam Kang-ho, the top actor in the play, is called a romance master, but he pathologically hates women due to a childhood trauma. Kim Ok-bin called Yoo Teo “an amazing actor.” As for the reason, he explained, “I always do something new and unexpected.”

“My brother (Teo Yoo) has a serious attitude and attitude toward acting. Even when we prepare for scenes together, we try not to be obvious. Some days, when I act too and ask, ‘What is that?’, he says, ‘I just wanted to try it like this.’ “He was an actor who was not rigid and had a flexible mindset, so I was able to have fun with him like a friend. He wasn’t rigid, so it was comfortable and good for me to work with him.”

Kim Ok-bin, who took on the challenge of acting in a romantic comedy, chose the scene where Yeo Mi-ran's tough side stands out as a satisfying scene. He said, "The scene where I hit Nam Kang-ho (played by Tae-oh Yoo) at his house because he asked me to practice action scenes, and the scene where I hit Nam Kang-ho at the gym because I misunderstood. I laughed while reading the script. It was because I wondered what kind of female lead would beat up the male lead like that in a romantic comedy. She does that whenever we meet. “I had never seen a female lead like that, so I used my strength to film it,” he recalled. When asked about the difficult scene, Kim Ok-bin laughed and said, "I had to show a cute side in the latter half of the scene when love with Nam Kang-ho blossomed, but it was difficult and awkward."

Kim Ok-bin also thought, ‘I would have done more works like this when I was younger.’ Kim Ok-bin, born in 1987, confessed, "Now that I'm in my late 30s, I'm playing a middle-aged love story. There were roles that could only be played at that age, and I regret passing on that." About his actual dating style, he said this:

"Contrary to what I look like, I have a lot of charm. I tend to take the lead. I can't be in a relationship where I'm being dragged around. There are times when I try to show off my charm to the other person. I don't feel like I'm being dragged around, but rather, it feels like 'I'm the one showing off the charm.' This is it. Haha. There are people around me who are non-marriage, but even if they have no intention of getting married, when someone who convinces them of it comes along, it changes again. I want to get married. I am not a non-marriage person. I want to have a beautiful baby and live a good life.”

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