A bright smile, warm eyes, and a voice full of charm.Sitting across from her, Jo Yu-ri was 180 degrees different from the young pregnant woman ‘Jun-hee’ in Season 3 of Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’.In ‘Squid Game’, Jun-hee lived a life of poverty and met a heartbreaking end, but Jo Yu-ri smiled and said, “I gained an experience and love that I will never forget” through this work.

He mentioned a ‘Squid Game’ fan event held in New York, USA not long ago, and said, “I saw foreigners cheering ‘Junhee!’ with the correct pronunciation, and I whispered to myself, ‘Junhee, look at this, you are a person who is loved like this.’”

O “The birth scene wasn’t easy though”

As an actor in his early 20s who started out as an idol, he took on the role of a pregnant woman, which is not an easy choice, and even performed the painful act of giving birth.He proudly said, “It was a good challenge for me as I am taking my first steps as an actor.”

“While preparing for the birth scene, I searched for a lot of ‘birth vlogs’ on YouTube.I also asked for advice from people I know who have given birth and from moms.But they all said, ‘No matter how much you prepare, when you give birth, you’ll just be in a state of nothingness.’ I tried to be faithful to that advice.”

He also said that playing a mother in particular made him think deeply about “motherly love, which I had vaguely thought of as something great and noble.”

“Even though she knew it was acting, my mother said she was so heartbroken when she saw me giving birth.I still act spoiled by my mother, but I reflected on it a lot.I learned that ‘motherly love’ is ‘true love.’”

O “Bad reputation, too good Siwan oppa!”

He said he was genuinely angry when he saw the scene in the drama where the ‘biological father’, Myeong-gi, sent his child to death.However, he said he couldn’t help but be impressed when he saw Im Si-wan perfectly portraying the role.

“After finishing the drama, the first thing I did was contact(Im)Si-wan oppa and say, ‘He’s really the best.’But I never want to meet the’ bad guy ‘he plays! (Laughs).”

She felt a great deal of pressure as she chose a drama that received worldwide attention as her acting debut.However, she said she was able to persevere thanks to the support of the precious people around her, especially the members of the’ sister ‘group IZ*ONE, whom she met through the audition program’ Produce 48 ‘.

“(Choi)Yena unnie said a lot of good things to me.She even said she had a’ precognitive dream ‘that I passed the’ Squid Game ‘audition! To show her gratitude, she treated me to’ grilled clams’ in Wolmido, Incheon a while ago, haha.”


Reporter Seungmi smlee@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.