[Kim Ji-yeon’s Jewel Box] Yun Sang-jung, a Defining Face for Gen Z

Does an actor grow by meeting the right director, landing the right project and learning alongside more seasoned performers? There was a time when television dramas and films were almost the only stages for actors to develop. But in the 2020s, as platforms diversified and content pacing splintered, some performers first became known not on the big screen but on a phone display. YouTube, OTT services, short-form content and even brief Instagram Reels have long been gateways for discovering actors. That means new actors sometimes build their experience not in dramas that run dozens of minutes but in stories that last only a few minutes. As director Lee Jun-ik, who met audiences with the short drama 〈A Father's Home-cooked Meal〉, said at a GV, "short dramas are the most egalitarian format — anarchic, where leads, supporting actors and newcomers all get a one-shot" — the rise of new media is upending the traditional formula for actor development.

Few actors better represent that path than Yun Sang-jung. She became the defining face of the once-ubiquitous web series 〈Short Scripts〉. From 2018 through 2023, Yun Sang-jung appeared in various episodes of the YouTube web series 〈Short Scripts〉 as the character Ina. She even appeared in one installment that recorded the series' highest view count — about 8.6 million views — making her a face digital natives have likely come across at least once.

Yun Sang-jung became a familiar presence in everyday life. 〈Short Scripts〉 is, in a sense, the contemporary counterpart to 〈Love Under the Jujube Tree〉. If 〈Love Under the Jujube Tree〉 examined its era through the setting of a village, 〈Short Scripts〉 moves that stage to YouTube. That makes 〈Short Scripts〉 a vivid record of how people live now. Any episode you play out of 〈Short Scripts〉 unfolds routines that could belong to people living nearby. Ina, the role Yun Sang-jung played, is an ordinary college student — fixating on a boyfriend's seemingly trivial gesture, pretending not to be hurt, yet betraying her feelings in her expressions. Her trademark is the look of eyes set serious while the mouth manages a slight smile.

The massive success of the YouTube 〈Short Scripts〉 content helped spark a broader "everyday-relatable drama" craze across the new-media ecosystem. But acting in web serials or sketch-comedy content like 〈Short Scripts〉 is by no means easier than working in legacy media. In a digital environment where swiping has become so easy, web series are a brutal proving ground for newcomers. With episode runtimes of only five to ten minutes, actors don't have enough time to let viewers fully grasp and empathize with a character. A web-series performer must convey who this person is with a few lines, a few expressions and reaction shots alone. Moreover, the more everyday the subject matter, the more quickly any inflated acting is exposed. For that reason, web series may actually be a very good training ground for new actors. On that stage, Yun Sang-jung carved out a clear place for herself with candid, lifelike performances.

Yun Sang-jung is, quite literally, an actor who has survived the "jungle" of YouTube. The ability to create believable characters is the greatest asset of an actor who grew up on web series. The skills she honed in web drama translate well to legacy media. 〈Our Beloved Summer〉, 〈Business Proposal〉, 〈Study Group〉 and, most recently, a special appearance in 〈Brave New World〉 — the instincts she built on YouTube allow her to quickly make a character intuitive to audiences, turning brief appearances into memorable, scene-stealing moments.

In the film 〈Intern〉, which opens on September 16, Yun Sang-jung plays Yoon-hee, an intern who started at the same time as Gi-ho (Choi Min-sik) and brings energy to the story. Yoon-hee is the kind of modern office worker who finds the unfamiliar older colleague, Mr. Gi-ho, fascinating and hard to ignore, yet feels a little hesitant about getting close. True to her frank and transparent nature, when she's curious she asks questions without hesitation, and she gradually learns bits of wisdom from Mr. Gi-ho that you won't find on any spreadsheet.

What's interesting is how Yun Sang-jung's career path resembles the life trajectory of the Gen Z viewers who grew up watching her. Those who watched her web dramas on their phones between classes as teenagers have grown into young adults entering the workforce. The actor who portrayed "modern dating" in 〈Short Scripts〉 has moved on at a similar pace, playing "modern students" and "modern office workers" in multiple projects. Maybe the people who dated while watching 〈Short Scripts〉 are now in the office, navigating work and becoming interns like Yoon-hee in 〈Intern〉. That gives her an unusual resonance with her generation.