Lee Yeon transforms from 'IU's secretary' to hot-tempered wrestler in 'The Journey to Gyeong-ju'

Actress Lee Yeon has unveiled a completely different side of herself in the film 'The Journey to Gyeong-ju'. While she played a skilled secretary by IU's side in the MBC drama 'Perfect Crown', she now transforms into a troublemaker with a background in professional wrestling—someone whose fists move faster than her words—acting as a key scene-stealer who refreshes the film's rhythm.

'The Journey to Gyeong-ju', releasing on the 26th, is a family revenge drama depicting the story of four women who embark on a 'killer' trip after waiting eight years for their youngest daughter, Gyeong-ju, who never returned from a school trip. While centering on the heavy narrative of revenge, the work regulates emotional pacing by interlacing the love-hate relationships within the family with comedic situations.

Dong-ju, the third daughter played by Lee Yeon, is a character who constantly struggles to be loved by her family. As a former professional wrestler, she possesses excellent athletic skills, but her actions precede her thoughts. Due to her hot-tempered nature, where she tends to throw punches first rather than solving situations logically, she attracts various small and large incidents.

Dong-ju's primary function goes beyond being a simple comic character. She serves as an emotional buffer that relieves the tension of the serious revenge drama at appropriate moments and allows the audience to view the relationship between the four women from a more multi-dimensional perspective.

In fact, many of the comedic scenes in the movie revolve around Dong-ju. From scenes where she causes a ruckus in a holding cell while appealing her unfairness, to situations where she encounters a fan who recognizes her in an eccentric way, the temperature of the film changes whenever Dong-ju appears. The appearance of a fan who keeps a photo card of Dong-ju, a professional wrestler, carefully in their wallet is a representative example of turning the character's background into humor.

However, the reason Dong-ju is not consumed merely as a 'clueless third daughter' is that a deficiency of wanting to be loved by her family lies beneath the surface. Having grown up in the position of the third child, Dong-ju feels she did not receive enough attention from her mother, Oksil (Lee Jung-eun), and harbors feelings of being alienated within the family. Her rough and impulsive actions are, in the end, another form of her desire to be recognized.

Lee Yeon expresses this complex psychology not through exaggerated melodrama, but through the gap between delicate facial expressions, speech, and actions. This is why, at the moment the character who induced laughter reveals her resentment toward her mother, the audience accepts Dong-ju not as a simple comedic figure, but as a person starved for love.

The process of building the character was also no easy feat. To express Dong-ju's free-spirited personality and appearance, Lee Yeon personally went to Japan to create a shaggy cut hairstyle. In particular, to add persuasiveness to the setting of being a former professional wrestler, she trained at a Paju action school for over two months to learn actual professional wrestling techniques and action movements.

The action is not merely a device to provide visual spectacle, but also a means of acting to reveal Dong-ju's personality. As a character whose body reacts faster than her thoughts, Lee Yeon's physical movements themselves are connected to the character's psychology. The reason Dong-ju's violent actions appear both ridiculous and somewhat heartbreaking is that the character's actions and inner self are constructed in a consistent manner.

Co-star Park So Dam evaluated Lee Yeon, saying, "She has the energy to feel and express everything sincerely," and added, "Even just during the script reading, she came as if she had become one with Dong-ju."

Director Kim Mi-jo also praised her, stating, "She showed such perfect synchronization that it is difficult to imagine Dong-ju as anyone other than Lee Yeon," and noted, "Despite the physical exhaustion due to the many action scenes, she participated enthusiastically without a single complaint."

The reason Lee Yeon's transformation is even more striking is the gap with her most recent work. She appeared as Do Hye-jeong, the chief secretary to Seong Hee-ju (IU), in the MBC drama 'Perfect Crown' which ended this past May. If she was a 'socially masterful' secretary who skillfully handled the demands of a demanding boss, Dong-ju in 'The Journey to Gyeong-ju' is a person whose fists precede her social skills.

Ultimately, 'The Journey to Gyeong-ju' holds more meaning for Lee Yeon than just a follow-up project. It is a process of expanding her expressive range as an actress by not just stably handling a character in one work, but by continuously building diametrically opposed characters.

While the Dong-ju shown by Lee Yeon is a character responsible for laughs, those laughs are built upon a universal desire to be loved by one's family. Uncovering the deficiency hidden behind rough actions and clumsy emotional expressions is Lee Yeon's true acting achievement. Attention is now turning to how much the actress, once imprinted as 'IU's secretary,' will expand her range as the 'third daughter who leads with her fists.'