Nam Ji Hyun has shared her honest perspective on her character Oh In Kyung from “Little Women”!
tvN’s “Little Women” is a drama starring Kim Go Eun, Nam Ji Hyun, and Park Ji Hu as three sisters with a close bond who grew up in poverty. When all three of them become entangled with one of the nation’s wealthiest families, they are catapulted into a new world of money and power that is unlike anything they’ve known before. The drama aired its finale on October 9 to its highest viewership ratings.
Nam Ji Hyun starred as news reporter Oh In Kyung who learned to be wary of money from a young age. Even in the face of bad news, Oh In Kyung does not back down and instead powers through to fight injustices.
In an interview with News1, Nam Ji Hyun spoke about her character, how she was cast, chemistry with her co-stars, and more!
First, the actress was asked about any fascinating or unfamiliar reactions she got after the premiere of “Little Women.” “When revealed, I thought that the character of Oh In Kyung could cause a divide,” Nam Ji Hyun shared. “In my previous projects, I played a lot of characters who everyone could not help but support. Also, I was surprised that people were more scared of the drama than I expected. I don’t know if it’s because I watched while knowing the script, but I wasn’t scared.”
Although faced with a dramatic number of obstacles and difficulties, Oh In Kyung perseveres tenaciously through each and every hardship. Regarding what gave her the motivation to do so, Nam Ji Hyun commented, “There’s a period In Kyung endured in the past. It comes out in a conversation with [her sister] Oh In Joo [played by Kim Go Eun]. She said that when she was younger, everyone else was rich while she was not wealthy, and that she had to become a thief, despite never having stolen anything. I thought that was when her wariness regarding money grew bigger. Although In Kyung’s actions can appear reckless and frustrating, I believe that the choices she made led the case. Ultimately, the Won family are bad people. Within that image of the three siblings taking those people down, I thought the role of In Kyung would be fun.”
Nam Ji Hyun recalled why she was cast for this role, saying, “Both the director and writer said that the character of In Kyung was really hard for them too. Since she isn’t a character who is biased for one side, they said they felt apologetic to suggest [the role] to someone. When I asked why I was cast, they said that for starters, I was trustworthy. They said that if they just kept watching, that no matter what, I’d end up taking the path of justice. They said a couple more things but that was the most memorable.”
Oh In Kyung’s older sister Oh In Joo was played by Kim Go Eun, while their younger sister Oh In Hye was played by Park Ji Hu. Despite being sisters, the three characters all had entirely different personalities and charms. On their roles, Nam Ji Hyun remarked, “In real life, I have an older sister and we have a great relationship, but our personalities are really different. The fact that siblings’ personalities could be different was not something I needed to try and understand. There were no difficulties in understanding the relationship between In Joo, In Kyung, and In Hye. As we got closer to the second half, I thought about how the three sisters were ultimately representative of siblings.”
She continued, “What was regretful while filming was that the three sisters didn’t have as many scenes together as expected. Since there weren’t too many scenes where the three siblings were together, I was so excited when I saw them on set.”
During the broadcast run of “Little Women,” BTS‘s RM shared a photo of his TV screen, showing that he was watching the drama. In the caption, he added that the show was incredibly fun. Nam Ji Hyun revealed that her friend had showed her this post and shared, “‘What is happening?’ I was shocked too. After the first week of broadcasts, I received a ton of messages from people I know. I was surprised as I had so many messages from my office worker friends whom I’ve been close with since school, to actors, directors, and PDs [producing directors]. I was so happy. The more [the drama] went on, the more curious they became about what was to come. It was enjoyable to get such excited reactions.”
Nam Ji Hyun also revealed that one of her college friends had said that Oh In Kyung was an exact depiction of her. She commented, “From a certain standpoint, I thought you could say we were similar in the way that we consistently do one thing. When I asked ‘how are we similar?’ they said, ‘expressing an opinion about something she doesn’t think is right, that’s exactly you.’”
The actress added, “I thought we were the least similar out of all the roles I’ve done so far but my friend said, ‘I thought it was a documentary [about you].’ After that, seeing In Kyung made me think that we could be similar as people who consistently do one thing and take awhile to start, but once they do, head towards what they want no matter what anyone says.”
Nam Ji Hyun elaborated, “I thought I was someone who wasn’t able to go quickly. I spent a long time as a child actress. After appearing as an adult actress, I spoke a lot with my acquaintances about how I’d be able to fill up my career. What I chose then was ‘slowly, taking one step at a time,” describing her trust in the saying “slowly but surely.”
Both Nam Ji Hyun and actress Park Eun Bin are alumni of Sogang University’s psychology department, so the “Little Women” actress was asked if they were acquainted. Nam Ji Hyun shared, “Park Eun Bin and I appeared in the drama ‘Lobbyist’ together as child actresses. She is three years older than me. I’ve always been supporting her. Our school doesn’t have a set curriculum so we could’ve met, and we could’ve not met. Like a legend, I heard rumors that she was attending [the school]. Coincidentally, we met on a staircase that wasn’t even in our department building. We had to go quickly so we couldn’t even exchange numbers. Since she was in the psychology department, I thought that it would’ve helped her while acting in ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo.’ I hope there comes an opportunity next time where we can meet.”
Finally, Nam Ji Hyun commented, “The set of ‘Little Women’ was so fun, to the point where I wondered whether I’d be able to encounter one like that again. People who do well gathered and filmed to the best of their abilities. I realized that a set that runs smoothly without issues is a set like this.”
She continued, “To me, ‘Little Women’ is the greatest gift. It was a gift-like drama and a continuous series of challenges.”
Catch Nam Ji Hyun in “Suspicious Partner” here!
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