Actress Im Yoon-a shared her thoughts on playing a character with contrasting day and night traits in "Pretty Crazy."
Im Yoon-a met with reporters on the 7th at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul, for an interview about the movie "Pretty Crazy" (directed by Lee Sang-keun, provided and distributed by CJ ENM, produced by Oyu-nae-gang).
"Pretty Crazy" is a devilishly comedic film that depicts the struggles of a slacker, Baek-soo (Ahn Bo-hyun), who gets involved in a bizarre part-time job monitoring Seon-ji (Im Yoon-a), who wakes up as a devil every dawn. Starting with the unique premise of the encounter between a devil and a slacker, "Pretty Crazy" has received praise for its cinematic quality and is a project that director Lee Sang-keun considered as a debut work after achieving a blockbuster hit with 9.42 million viewers with "Exit." The director's pure and harmless direction is particularly noticeable.
The addictive devil character Seon-ji, played by Im Yoon-a, operates an ordinary bread shop during the day but unconsciously wakes up as a high-level devil at dawn. Im Yoon-a, who takes on the effectively dual role of day and night, is expected to provide audiences with refreshing laughs through her bold external transformation and upgraded comedic acting.
Im Yoon-a discussed the character building of Seon-ji, saying, "I thought both characters should show their differences. If the day Seon-ji is neat, then the night Seon-ji has a flamboyant and daring styling. I think they could be separated into pastel tones and vivid colors, and the tone of the dialogue seems to have been matched accordingly. Although it's said that the MBTI indicates I and E preferences, I think the day Seon-ji lacked some introverted aspects compared to the devil Seon-ji, but I don't believe she was too passive. I wanted to express her honestly without embellishing her feelings for Gil-gu in a tone that was generally comfortable to speak, without being overly lacking in confidence. I think the tempo is slower and has a prettier tone compared to the devil Seon-ji," she stated.
She added, "The devil Seon-ji is large in volume and has a fast tempo, and I tried to express it with bold and exaggerated energy. After discussing the laughter tone with the director, I established a good baseline regarding that tone. As I created the devil Seon-ji, it seems I ended up establishing the day Seon-ji with a tone that contrasts with that."
Although Im Yoon-a has shown her comedic side in films such as "Exit" and "Confidential Assignment," the Seon-ji character in "Pretty Crazy" showcases a more exaggerated and broken character compared to her previous roles, which was also a "challenge" for her. Im Yoon-a remarked, "At first, I felt a bit shy about playing the devil Seon-ji in front of the filming staff who were watching me, but once the camera started rolling, I could do it without hesitation. It felt like I could push the limits, and I discussed it with the director, so I didn't think much about being too broken."
Especially, Im Yoon-a conveyed that director Lee Sang-keun was very helpful in building the Seon-ji character. She stated, "Whenever I felt it was difficult to express Seon-ji's image, talking with the director felt like a solution was emerging. He would sometimes show me expressions, or display the illustrations or poses that appeared in the storyboard, which helped me envision clearly. Since I had previous experience with the breathing and vibe during "Exit," I could imagine how the director would approach certain points when reading the text, so I felt free to express myself."
What would it feel like to meet past Im Yoon-a on the current screen through "Pretty Crazy"? Im Yoon-a shared, "I also saw it from the audience's perspective. Before watching the film, I did revisit the script but ended up viewing it from the perspective of 'Oh, I shot that scene like that,' and 'I remember that.' It evoked memories of the filming period," adding, "If asked whether I could shoot it again, I could do that, but now that I have expressed it and watched the film, I feel like I have learned a lot. I think I might not show the same purity that came through during the previous filming. So, I believe both the day Seon-ji and the devil Seon-ji are characters embodying a child-like purity, but if done again, I think a different feeling of Seon-ji might emerge."
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