Actress Jeon Hye-jin, who returned to the small screen after two years, is captivating audiences with her enduring acting skills.
The Genie TV original and ENA Monday-Tuesday drama 'Riding Life', which premiered on the 3rd, depicts the life of a passionate working mom, Jeong Eun (played by Jeon Hye-jin), who is preparing for her daughter's '7-year-old exam' and entrusts her mother, Jia (played by Jo Min-soo), with her daughter's riding lessons, showcasing the struggles of three generations of women in the competitive neighborhood of Daechi-dong. The term '7-year-old exam' and the concept of riding lessons have sparked discussions about early childhood education.
In the ENA drama 'Nam Nam', which aired in 2023, Jeon Hye-jin played the quirky single mother Kim Eun-mi, but in this new work, she portrays a realistic working mom, aiming to redefine her life character.
Jeon Hye-jin takes on the role of Lee Jeong-eun, a passionate working mom who wants to excel in both work and parenting. Although she is a respected beauty marketer in the competitive beauty industry, she finds herself passed over for promotions in favor of less capable colleagues after getting married and having a child.
Through Lee Jeong-eun, Jeon Hye-jin vividly depicts the struggles faced by working moms in real life. Despite working, she strives to enroll her child in the prestigious 'Myeongseong Elementary School'. She makes early morning runs to bookstores to buy study materials and goes to her child's riding lessons during work hours due to a sudden absence of the sitter, showing her dedication to her child.
While she loves her family, it is Jeong-eun's responsibility to fully care for her child in place of her husband, who is immature, oblivious, and not attentive. Jeon Hye-jin effectively portrays Jeong-eun's dilemma of whether to quit her job and give up her career or seek help from her mother, Jia, with emotional depth and plausibility.
Jeon Hye-jin presents Jeong-eun with a multi-dimensional portrayal, sometimes as a friendly neighborly aunt, at other times as a flustered new mom caught between work and parenting, and occasionally as a daughter who speaks harshly to her mother, breathing life into the character as someone 'grounded in reality' rather than just a fictional figure. This approach encourages viewers to understand and empathize with Jeong-eun, leading to deep immersion in the story.
In just the second episode of 'Riding Life', Jeon Hye-jin has captured attention with her reliable performance that shows no signs of the two-year hiatus. With her enhanced acting skills, she is leading 'Riding Life', and viewers are eager to see what more she will reveal as the story progresses.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
