[News Culture] “I want to establish myself as a real actor through another project.”
Seo Soo-min, a 20-year-old newcomer poised to become one of the next faces of Korean content, recently sat down for an interview at TXG Academy inside Starfield COEX Mall in Seoul’s Samseong-dong. She spoke about her unexpected path into acting, her first television role and the moments behind SBS hit drama ‘Manager Kim.’
After arriving at the interview, Seo politely asked whether she could hold a small squishy toy in her hand. It was her own way of managing the nerves that came with the first post-drama interview of her life, and the gesture immediately revealed the unguarded charm behind television’s newest breakout star.
Seo made her acting debut in ‘Manager Kim,’ which peaked at 23 percent in nationwide ratings and remained No. 1 on Netflix’s global non-English TV chart for more than three weeks.
She had already built a sizable social media following through casual photos and an appearance on a beauty-focused online channel. ‘Manager Kim,’ however, showed that her appeal extended well beyond her online presence. Her emotionally assured performance established her as an actor to watch.
‘Manager Kim’ is a revenge-action drama about an ordinary father who transforms into the most dangerous man in the world to rescue his only daughter.
Seo stood at the center of the drama’s father-daughter narrative as Kim Min-ji, the teenage daughter of the title character played by So Ji-sub.
She captured Min-ji’s emotional range with remarkable control, moving from the recognizable frustration of an adolescent daughter to terror and anxiety in the face of an unexpected crisis. She also conveyed the desperation of a young woman fighting to survive until the very end.
Her performance hardly felt like the work of a first-time actor. Even alongside seasoned performers including So Ji-sub, Yoon Kyung-ho and Choi Dae-hoon, Seo held her ground and left viewers eager to see where her career would go next.
One visible measure of that newfound attention has been the rapid growth of her social media audience.
“I had around 300,000 followers before the drama began, but after it ended, the number had gone well beyond 600,000,” Seo said. “More than that, it still feels unreal that the television ratings surpassed 20 percent at a time when streaming platforms are so dominant.”
Asked whether more people now recognize her in public, she broke into a bright smile.
“They do not seem to recognize me when I am out as myself rather than as Min-ji,” she said. “I still do not feel as though I have become a celebrity, so I am enjoying being able to walk around freely.”
Seo joined ‘Manager Kim’ after an unusually extensive audition process.
“I auditioned around September last year,” she recalled. “It was not simply a first, second and third round. I remember auditioning throughout an entire month. I performed nearly every major scene from the scripts for Episodes 1 and 2.”
The role demanded considerable emotional flexibility.
“Min-ji expresses herself differently depending on which character she is facing,” Seo said. “I needed to show that I could respond differently to each relationship.”
Throughout both the audition and filming process, Seo held onto one seemingly paradoxical principle: do not act.
“I kept telling myself, ‘Do not act,’” she said. “That may sound strange coming from an actor. But when I approach something as ‘acting,’ I feel as though I am performing simply to show something rather than truly becoming the character.”
“I think the director responded positively to that quality during the audition,” she added.
The perspective was especially striking because Seo had not attended an acting academy or formally studied performance before landing the role.
Before filming began, the director gave her one piece of advice that shaped her entire approach.
“He told me, ‘Of everyone here, Seo Soo-min must understand Min-ji better than anyone else,’” she said. “I took that deeply to heart and worked hard to study and analyze the character in my own way.”
Seo said the director and veteran cast members helped her develop Min-ji without dictating every choice.
“The director, So Ji-sub, Yoon Kyung-ho and Choi Dae-hoon supported me throughout filming,” she said. “Instead of telling me, ‘Do it this way’ or ‘Do it that way,’ they would ask, ‘What do you think Min-ji would do?’”
“They gave me room to think for myself and build the character,” she continued. “I think that helped me find a much wider range of emotions.”
Through the drama, Seo became widely known as “So Ji-sub’s daughter.”
Although she entered the production knowing that every situation had been scripted and staged, she said her feelings toward So eventually became surprisingly real.
“I genuinely began to feel that he was my dad,” Seo said. “I think it was because he quietly stayed by my side whenever we filmed.”
“He did not treat me like a veteran actor dealing with a newcomer,” she continued. “He made me feel comfortable, as though we really were a father and daughter.”
Seo is grateful that her first performance received such a positive response, but the early success has also brought pressure.
“I am incredibly thankful that people responded well to my acting in ‘Manager Kim,’” she said. “At the same time, I worry that when I take on another role, I may not perform as well as I did with Min-ji. That thought has created a sense of pressure.”
She plans to study acting more intensively this year while remaining conscious of the dangers of becoming overconfident.
“Above all, I do not want to lose my humility,” she said. “There were moments when the drama did well and I could feel myself becoming a little too proud.”
“Then I thought, ‘This did not succeed because of me alone, so why am I getting carried away?’ I want to keep reminding myself to remain grateful.”
Seo turned 20 this year. She had applied to and been accepted by a university theater and film program, but ultimately gave up her place after being cast in ‘Manager Kim.’
“I had auditioned for around five or six projects before ‘Manager Kim,’” she said. “My original plan was to receive formal acting training and then begin auditioning, but I was fortunate enough to receive an opportunity earlier than expected.”
“I did not want to let a project as good as ‘Manager Kim’ pass me by, so I took the chance,” she added with a smile. “I ended up making my debut much sooner than I thought I would.”
Seo’s interest in acting began while watching films and television dramas during middle and high school.
“I realized that stories could broaden the way I see the world,” she said. “They made me consider ideas that would never normally occur to me.”
She recently discovered the 1997 film ‘The Contact,’ starring Jeon Do-yeon and Han Suk-kyu, while searching for older Korean films.
“The performances by Jeon Do-yeon and Han Suk-kyu were naturally remarkable, but one actor in a very small role stood out to me,” Seo said.
She described a subway scene in which a man with a speech impediment addresses a crowd of largely indifferent passengers.
“He says that although he has difficulty speaking and moves slowly, he has fallen in love with someone,” Seo recalled. “He wants to find the courage to confess his feelings and asks the people around him to give him strength.”
“Some passengers applaud him, while others laugh at him. That scene stayed with me. I wondered whether I could ever do what he did. It is not the kind of question we usually ask ourselves in everyday life.”
Seo named Kim Go-eun as her role model and also expressed admiration for veteran actress Lee Hye-young.
“I think Kim Go-eun is incredible because she works across so many different genres,” Seo said. “She is clearly the same person, yet she expresses herself completely differently in every project. I deeply respect that.”
“I want to become an actor like her,” she added.
As for Lee Hye-young, Seo smiled shyly and said, “Her voice is extraordinary. I personally admire her very much.”
Seo has also attracted attention for her resemblance to actress Kim Da-mi. A fan of genre films such as ‘The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion,’ she hopes to take on action and thriller projects of her own.
Her eyes lit up as she said, “I would love to try action and thriller roles.”
She is equally interested in stepping onto the stage.
“With theater, you can interact directly with the audience and perform in a completely immediate way,” she said. “To be honest, that also frightens me.”
“Even while filming ‘Manager Kim,’ I experienced how difficult it could be to perform in front of so many cameras and crew members,” she continued. “I understand that fear now, but I still want to challenge myself.”
Asked about her ultimate ambition, Seo returned to the goal she had stated at the beginning of the interview.
“I want to establish myself as a real actor through another project,” she said.
It was previously reported that Seo continued working part-time at a takoyaki shop even as she began her acting career.
“When people asked me about my dream, I once said I wanted to own a takoyaki shop,” she said with a laugh.
Her ambitions have since become more focused.
“I also dream of winning a rookie award this year,” she said. “In the future, I hope someone will watch my acting and decide that they want to become an actor too.”
P.S. “There is something I would like to say to friends around Min-ji’s age. I do not believe fathers like Manager Kim exist only in dramas. I hope they understand that every father in the world treasures his children more than anyone else.”
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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