Actor Shin Ye Eun, having passed through the dazzling clarity of her 20s, stood before the public with the resilient face of a 30-something who willingly embraces even wounds and failures.
Actor Shin Ye Eun, who appeared like a comet through Playlist's 2018 web drama "A-Teen." Before that, while attending Sungkyunkwan University, she made her face known through the magazine 'Campus Tomorrow', and for her, 'failure' was an unfamiliar word. "When I started acting in my early 20s, I hadn't really experienced what you'd call a big failure. I always got the roles I wanted, I went to the school I wanted, and people around me were always saying, 'aw, aw, you're doing great,' and praising me. So even if someone said, 'you got this wrong,' I didn't get hurt much; rather, I passed it off thinking, 'it's okay, I'm good at other things.'"
But as the first digit of her age changed, it wasn't all smooth sailing in the deep sea called acting and the entertainment industry. "From my 20s into my 30s, I think I experienced failures, pain, and walls, and through that I've found ways to respond flexibly," Shin Ye Eun said, adding that she sometimes becomes sentimental listening to old songs, feeling the dreams and passion of her childhood. Recently, becoming overly sentimental and wistful, he said he met his early-20s self right before his eyes and could say, 'I envy you. You worked hard. You did well on the path you walked. I really like that purity and clarity,' embracing and affirming his own footsteps.
As time passed, both the person called Shin Ye Eun and the actor Shin Ye Eun had matured. The times of constant challenges, repeatedly crashing into various genres and characters, became excellent nourishment that sharpened her inner self, and she no longer fears the word challenge. "In the past I felt (fear before a challenge), but now I just think, 'let's trust myself, and let's trust the team working with me,'" she said.
Shin Ye Eun can do this because she has trust in those around her. "If I take on a challenge and my acting seems lacking, I honestly tell the director, 'please help me.' Because I've experienced that the people working with me are dependable, I think I'll be able to create things going forward rather than doing it alone," Shin Ye Eun said, and she also felt that experience through ENA's Monday-Tuesday drama 'Doctor on the Edge' (written by Kim Ji Soo, directed by Lee Myung Woo, planned by KT Studio Genie, produced by The Studio M, original work on KakaoPage 'Jonbeor Doctor' by writer Kim Tae Poong).
Yook Hari in 'Doctor on the Edge' very much resembled Shin Ye Eun's solidity. Claiming a 90% sync rate with the character, Shin Ye Eun said, "Hari may look like someone who needs protection and shouldn't be left alone, but in some ways she is strong and spirited. Then at a certain moment she's so delicate that she makes you want to take care of her; she has both strength and fragility. I felt a lot of empathy because I thought I also have many of those aspects."
About Hari's habit of intrusively helping others, she interpreted, "I think boundaries are things I can tear down if they don't harm anyone else, because they're made by myself," and "If someone helps her break out of the well and limits she was trapped in, Hari's heart, which wants to help others even at the cost of sacrificing herself, felt really beautiful to me." After intense emotional deliberation to complete Yook Hari, he said, "When this character found relief and healing from pain, I found myself healing along with her," conveying the work's consoling message.
Reemerging in attention through 'The Glory' and then moving through 'The Secret Romantic Greathouse', 'Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born', 'A Hundred Memories', and 'The Murky Stream' to 'Doctor on the Edge.' She has established herself as a leading actress receiving numerous accolades, yet her thirst and passion for acting remain the same as when she dreamed of debuting. Shin Ye Eun said, "If I became dull and adopted an attitude of 'whatever will be, will be,' that would be sad," adding, "I've always acted with excitement since middle school, and if that disappears I think I'd be very sad. It's a relief and even something to be grateful for that I still worry, despair, struggle, and feel nostalgic about the past because of this job."
Facing her 30s now, Shin Ye Eun's biggest concerns are 'being an adult' and 'the public's love.' "I wonder what it means to be an adult and how I can be more loved," Shin Ye Eun said, adding, "I want to think about trends the world watches and the points viewers like. In work I tend to be ambitious, so while I'm grateful for the love I'm given, I can't be satisfied."
In particular, Shin Ye Eun said, "Beyond choosing what I'm good at, I want to read world trends and choose roles that allow me to show my acting well to the public," and did not hide her bold desire, "If given the chance, I would like to challenge a villainous role that surpasses Park Yeon Jin from 'The Glory.'"
More than simply the title of pretty, clear youth star, actor Shin Ye Eun breaks her limits, using pain and growth as nourishment to move forward step by step. Even after successful endings, she never settles; she fiercely asks questions to become a better person and actor, which is all the more reason to look forward to her next chapter.
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