Group WOOAH member Nana (Kwon Nayeon) portrayed early-20s growth through "The Future of the Future."
Nana sat for an interview for U+ Mobile TV's "The Future of the Future" (written and directed by Im Gong-sam) on the 23rd at OSEN headquarters in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.
"The Future of the Future" is a 6-episode hybrid situational romantic drama centered on protagonist Gong Mirae, who is clumsy in love but earnest in her heart, and it will conclude with episodes 5 and 6 released simultaneously on the 26th.
In the drama, Nana plays Gong Mirae, who represents the MZ generation. Having appeared in dramas such as "Noppakku Romance," "When I Fell for a Bully," "Mimicus," and "The World You Fell Into," and continuing both idol and acting activities, Nana portrays the passionate and emotionally honest Gong Mirae, who after being hurt by her first love sets a revenge plan in motion; with steady eye work and line delivery she increases viewers' immersion and leaves a strong impression with natural acting that ranges from subtle emotional lines to lovable charm in peaceful daily life.
About "The Future of the Future," Nana said, "It was fun, pure, and clearly fresh and cute, so there wasn't much difficulty interpreting and preparing for it. I remember preparing it very enjoyably, and because the keyword is first love and I'm the protagonist, I had to lead, so I focused a lot on how I interpret myself. So I tried not to 'pretend' and to be a simple, sincere person."
Nana, who has mainly shown high-teen genres and characters, said about taking on another high-teen project, "The charm of Mirae is being a 20-something youth. Without embellishment or affectation, everything is new so she stumbles around, and I found those parts cute. Even within high-teen works, each character's situation and personality differ, and I thought Gong Mirae was the same. This time I tried to focus more on delicacy, and I focused on her being a pure student attending university like many 20-somethings."
On the sync rate between Nana and Gong Mirae in "The Future of the Future," she said, "A similarity is that both Gong Mirae and I eat well; we solve worries or relieve stress through eating. A difference is that Mirae carries out revenge over what may seem trivial, whereas in daily life if I faced such things I'd just forget or hold it inside. I'm the type to think I can endure it myself and quietly suffer, so in that respect I'm different from Mirae, but maybe that's why I also want to emulate Mirae's bold side."
Gong Mirae, played by Nana, carries the thrill of first love but, after her romance is shattered by her boyfriend's infidelity, carries out revenge. Nana said, "Watching Mirae cling to her first love and be so hurt, if I were Mirae's friend I think I would have been so frustrated that my heart would have hurt instead. At the same time, I felt sympathy and thought it was cute because it's part of Mirae's growth process. The point that angered me most was, of course, that while dating Mirae her boyfriend cheated. Cheating itself was bad, but what annoyed me was how brazen he was even when confronted."
Nana shone in the title role by portraying a range of emotions from the thrill of first love to the pain of heartbreak and the exhilaration of revenge. She said, "Expressing the pain and anger was the most difficult. Immersing myself in those scenes was emotionally taxing. Because I had to convey it, it hurt me as well. On the other hand, when Gong Mirae was very bright I enjoyed acting a lot. Expressing the bright side felt comfortable because it was similar to my real personality."
[OSEN]