Jang Na-ra takes on different role of attendant to VIPs

SINGER, record producer and actress Jang Na-ra is a familiar face in the entertainment scene in both China and her home country of South Korea.

She has played many roles in her 18 years in the industry, but her latest South Korean drama, VIP, has forced her out of her comfort zone to portray a character unlike anyone she has played before, set in a world that the public rarely gets to see.

Her character, Na Jung-Sun, is a member of a team that deals with VIP customers of a department store, and who is also married to another member of the same team.

“She’s very different from me,” explains Na-ra in an interview transcript provided by ONE HD (Astro channel 393), which airs VIP at 8.10pm every Tuesday and Wednesday.

She says the way Jung-Sun talks and her demeanour are very different from other characters she has played before.

“Also, her personality is very different from me, so the role has both its difficulties and charm.”

For one, Na-ra says, Jung-Sun is never intimidated. “Even when she has to bow her head or bend her knees, she doesn’t bring that into her personal life.

“There are times when I get stressed out and intimidated, but when it comes to work, I don’t get intimidated that much.”

Na-ra also describes Jung-Sun as charming. “She’s competent, good at her work and has a nice personality – a girl that everyone likes. As the drama progresses, I feel like her character is really strong.”

So what made Na-ra pick the role?

The artiste points to VIP director Lee Jung-rim, adding she always thinks of the people she will be working with first, more than anything.

“We talked a lot before the project, and I felt he was a director with [great ideas],” she says.

“Then I read the script and grew very interested. It’s a painful story, but in the end, there’s definitely healing and growth. It felt like something worth challenging as an actor”.

Playing her husband in the series is Lee Sang-yoon.

“We have great chemistry together,” recalls Na-ra. “He really put in a lot of effort in making that happen. We also discussed a lot about what we thought of our characters and the scenes, so it was easy working with him.”

Asked if she could ever imagine herself as a career woman instead of an actress, she says: “No, it’s difficult to imagine another life. I would definitely be doing my best no matter what it is, but I don’t have the desire to sacrifice things for success.”

As for her audience, Nara hopes that the drama would provide an opportunity for them to think about a lot of things.

Every character in the drama has his/her own secret and world that the person wants to protect, she says.

“As those things start to intertwine, the characters are sometimes pricked by them like thorns, but they also embrace them.”

She added that VIP is also like an onion, with layers waiting to be peeled off to reveal its hidden parts.

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