Actress Kim Go-eun represented the face of youth.
The Netflix series 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon' (written by Song Hye-jin, directed by Jo Young-min), released on the 12th, depicts the intertwined lives of two friends, Eun-jung and Sang-yeon, who love, admire, envy, and hate each other throughout their lives.
In the series, Kim Go-eun plays the role of Ryu Eun-jung, vividly portraying the moments where excitement and anxiety intersect in her 20s.
In her 20s, Eun-jung reunites with Sang-yeon (played by Park Ji-hyun) on a college campus, revealing subtle emotional cracks. After a fleeting moment of joy and excitement, jealousy and anxiety soon overlap, causing a change in her expression. The fragments of memories evoked by letters and photos, along with her hesitant attitude in relationships, reflect the instability of youth, resonating with viewers. Furthermore, Eun-jung's 20s are not just a single period; the moments of reunion and hesitation serve as an emotional foundation that supports her life into her 30s and 40s, becoming a starting point that permeates the entire work.
Kim Go-eun expressed the uncertain moments of Eun-jung in her 20s with a delicate gaze, subtle gestures, and hesitant speech. In the reunion scene with her friend Sang-yeon, she intricately connected the process of her expression changing from joy and excitement to jealousy and anxiety, allowing viewers to follow Eun-jung's inner world.
In scenes recalling the past through letters and photos, she effectively utilized the space of her gaze and the tension of her body to vividly portray the moments where memory and emotion intersect. Even the smallest details, such as subtle hand gestures, the habit of biting her lips, and the wavering of her gaze, were infused with the character's confusion and delicate emotions.
Not only capturing the anxieties of youth, but she also laid the groundwork for the emotional flow that would continue into Eun-jung's 30s and 40s. She expressed the clumsiness and incompleteness of youth, going beyond a strong and perfect image. In this way, Kim Go-eun's portrayal of Eun-jung in her 20s became a crucial starting point that connects all moments of the work, bringing to life the wavering moments of being twenty through the actress's face and opening the long flow of the piece.
Kim Go-eun's 'Eun-jung and Sang-yeon' is available in full on Netflix.
[Yang So-young, Star Today Reporter]
