Shin Ye-eun reflects on Yook Ha-ri in Doctor Sumboy

Actor Shin Ye-eun, 28, told Newsis in a recent interview at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul, that she focused on carefully expressing the emotions of Yook Ha-ri in ENA's Monday-Tuesday drama Doctor Sumboy. Shin said she had hoped people would look at Ha-ri and say, 'Oh no, what should be done for that child,' but more people than that cried with the character, giving her a sense of achievement beyond what she had wanted.

Newsis described Doctor Sumboy as a romantic comedy about the love and growth of Do Ji-ui, a public health doctor sent to the notorious island Pyeondongdo, which everyone avoids, and Yook Ha-ri, a nurse with many secrets. Shin played Ha-ri as bright and lovable while holding hurt and sadness inside, according to the report.

Shin told Newsis, 'When I first saw the script, I was drawn to Ha-ri's clear, sun-like side,' and said she put parts of her own image and outgoing personality into the character because they shared many similarities. She said she studied how to follow the situations Ha-ri faced and tried to keep viewers from feeling confused when Ha-ri's bright, affectionate and over-involved nature collided with her caution around people because of a rumor that she 'meets many doctors.'

According to Newsis, Shin often asked the production team for opinions while shaping Ha-ri's inner life, which was marked by trauma. She said she talked often with the director about the rumor and thought that if everyone in an actual workplace looked at her that way and the situation kept repeating, it could become trauma. Shin said that while filming a scene in which Ha-ri watches people insult her at a convenience store, she briefly felt lonely and found it hard to look people in the eyes.

Shin told Newsis she asked acquaintances who work as nurses for advice because she was playing a nurse and wanted realism. She said she bought a medical kit used by nursing trainees and brought it to friends, who taught her details, and she found it interesting that each nurse had a different style of holding a syringe. She said she wondered how Ha-ri would hold one, but even after extensive practice it was harder than she expected and she once caused an NG because she was nervous.

On acting for the first time with Lee Jae-wook, who is the same age, Shin expressed satisfaction, Newsis reported. She said that if emotional range runs from 1 to 100, Lee can move freely through that span, so she felt his talent was immense. Shin also said that although they are the same age, she is the older one under the early-birth school-year convention, and described him as more mature than she is and as someone who gets along well with staff members and likes to give to others.

Newsis reported that Shin debuted in a 2018 web drama and is now in her 9th year since debut. The report listed roles including Park Yeon-jin, a school violence perpetrator in The Glory; Heo Young-seo, a member of a female Korean opera troupe in Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born; Seo Jong-hee, a bus conductor in A Hundred Memories; and Eun, described as Joseon's leading merchant in The Murky Stream.

Shin told Newsis she had not chosen those parts because she had a fixed wish to play such characters, but looking back, the roles had accumulated that way. She said the range gave viewers a chance to see many sides of her and gave her catharsis, excitement and pride as an actor when she did varied work instead of only one kind. Asked about her goals, Shin said she wants to keep proving her possibilities, try many genres and receive more love, adding that she would be happier if she had more chances to show her acting to many people.

If emotional range runs from 1 to 100, he can move freely through that span, so I felt his talent was immense.

I want to try many genres, and my goal going forward is to be loved more.