'Low Life' Im Soo-jung, "I Didn't Want to Act with Lies"

Actress Im Soo-jung shared her thoughts on playing a character full of desire.

On the afternoon of the 19th, in a certain place in Jongno-gu, Seoul, actress Im Soo-jung from the recently concluded Disney+ series 〈Low Life〉 met with Cineplay to discuss the work.

The Disney+ series 〈Low Life〉 is based on the next webtoon by writer Yoon Tae-ho, ‘Low Life’, and tells the story of hardworking villagers who deceive and are deceived in order to claim a treasure ship buried in the sea in 1977. 〈Low Life〉 concluded with its 11th episode on the 13th (Wednesday).

In the series, Im Soo-jung plays the role of ‘Yang Jeong-sook’, the wife of the head of Heungbaek Industry, who knows how to handle money and harbors a cold ambition within. Yang Jeong-sook is the wife of Heungbaek Industry's chairman ‘Cheon Hwang-sik’ (Jang Kwang) and is a trusted aide who has an excellent sense of money, earning her husband's absolute trust. She appears to be devoted to supporting him, but secretly hides a stronger ambition than anyone else. She feels a subtle emotion towards ‘Oh Gwan-seok’ (Ryu Seung-ryong) and his group as they secure the funds needed to dig for the treasure, while also feeling a complex emotion towards ‘Oh Hee-dong’ (Yang Se-jong).

In the interview, Im Soo-jung expressed, “I think I have always been waiting for an opportunity to expand my character. While beloved characters are great, I feel so lucky to have had the chance to embrace change like this.”

Im Soo-jung mentioned that she found great interest in portraying Yang Jeong-sook, who is solely faithful to her own desires, breaking away from her previous roles where she considered or embraced the opposing character. Im Soo-jung stated, “The biggest charm of Yang Jeong-sook is that she is a character who has lived only for her true self,” and added, “I wanted to act as such a character at least once.” She also mentioned, “I thought I had to capture real emotions in every scene. I didn’t want to act with lies,” revealing that she made a lot of effort to portray the multifaceted nature of Yang Jeong-sook, who is full of desire yet has vulnerabilities.

The Disney+ series 〈Low Life〉 began releasing episodes 1, 2, and 3 on July 16, and concluded with episodes 10 and 11 on August 13.