While many of her characters lack happiness, she explores them with enthusiasm. The passion is palpable. She unites her magnetism with her sharp stares, translating the nuances of her character into something perfect
Seo Yea-ji plays Ko Moon-young in 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay.' Photo: Courtesy of tvN
Seo Yea-ji, as Ko Moon-young of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)—in how she embodies her sociopathic state, her lowest points in life, her hardship, and her self-discovery—touched hearts. She breaks through in this stellar psychological fiction cathartic romance K-drama as Moon-young, one who rises from the ashes like a phoenix.
Moon-young is conceited, destructive, and indecent; she shatters alliances. Her story entails her pursuing Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun), a mental health ward attendant committed to caring for his autistic brother, Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se). She’s difficult to relate to but stunning in her uniqueness, which Seo Yea-ji enlivens.
At the heart of the story is her incredibly sensitive portrayal. She has had a bunch of interesting comparable roles in complex narratives thus far. Seo can play around with genres and attitudes, given her innate acting expertise. Scene by scene, she unites her magnetism with her sharp stares, translating the nuances of her character into something perfect.
The actress first caught my eye in the music video for “Let’s Not Fall in Love,” by BIGBANG tackling the essential issues of adolescent love. It was a hit and much praised for its uniqueness. Seo plays G-Dragon’s romantic interest in the video, featuring the band members racing around a school courtyard while they act out as lovers to five different girls.
That being the first time I had ever seen Seo Yea-ji on-screen, I subsequently found her in Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016), as Princess Suk-myung, a maternal half-sister and future bride of Prince Sammaekjong (Park Hyung-sik). The supporting role and I say this based on my impressions of her from the drama, thoroughly showcased her theatrical prowess thanks to her striking emotive expressions.
Debuting as an actress in the sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3 (2013–2014), the 33-year-old has cut diverse roles in an expanse of productions including Diary of a Night Watchman (2014), Last (2015), and Moorim School: Saga of the Brave (2016), among others, going every way consistently functioning with a sense of authority, at times obscuring herself, to make her character’s feelings felt best.
While many of those characters lack happiness, she explores them with enthusiasm. The passion is palpable. Consider her Im Sang-mi from the thriller mystery series Save Me (2017). Sang-mi (Seo), moves to a hamlet with her family and, soon, finds herself ensnared in a religious cult that masquerades as a regular church but has darker, more sinister motives to control its most ardent members. Sang-mi’s helplessness, and desperation come to pass with Seo’s seamless delivery.
In 2018, she hit a milestone with the release of the courtroom thriller, Lawless Lawer. It has Lee Joon-gi’s Bong Sang-pil and Seo’s Ha Jae-yi who constitute the Lawless Law Firm. Sang-pil, an ex-gangster turned lawyer, targets the powerful and seeks vengeance for his mother, often turning to his fists and legal maneuvers. Following her expulsion for criticizing the judiciary, Jae-yi, a high-integrity lawyer, joins him. They use the judicial system as a united front to fight a corrupt judge and her accomplices.
Lawless Lawer became a commercial phenomenon, ranking among the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history, and with that, Seo Yea-ji’s fame in Korea and beyond shot through the roof.
She had starring roles in the 2019 movies Warning: Do Not Playand By Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture ahead of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Her searing chemistry with Kim Soo-hyun in the latter makes for some of the best K-drama love confessions, such as the very special moment they share on Mun-young’s birthday.
It’s one of my favorite scenes where she counts one, two, and three to tone down and then sees Gang-tae is just as absorbed in the moment, culminating in a rush of emotions. Their superb execution beautifully evokes the nuances of the incidents that result in their overwhelming feelings.
The sequence carries so much credibility via Seo Yea-ji’s fluid rendering of Moon-young’s responses, let alonethe unerringKim Soo-hyun. Playing Ko Moon-young yet again catalyzed Seo Yea-ji’s growing global renown.
Her next was in the noted mystery-thriller Recalled (2021), a smash at the cinemas that screened at the 10th Korean Film Festival Frankfurt that year. She plays Soo-jin, an accident victim suffering from memory loss who starts seeing into the future. And when her visions begin to materialize, her jarring recollections reveal the reality of her husband.
Seo resurfaced on television the next year as Lee La-el in the revenge melodrama Eve (2022). La-el’s idyllic life goes south when her father gets killed. Consequently, she devotes more than a decade to looking for and organizing retaliation; she initiates with one of the prime suspects. However, things get tricky when La-el begins to feel for the guy and gets caught by both her thirst for revenge and her growing fondness for him.
Stories like these have beena staple of Seo Yea-ji’s filmography, where she has proven heremotional range and technique in capturing demanding roles. Her best talent is how sheremainsintriguing in every character’s façade. That, I think, is mostly responsible for her success.