Actress Lee Yeon Hee’s performance as a minor character in the new drama “Gu Family Book” has been receiving praise for her vivid and emotional performance.
In Tuesday night’s broadcast of Episode 2 (9th April), the tragic love story of Gu Wol Ryun (Choi Jin Hyuk) and Yoon Seo Hwa (Lee Yeon Hee) was told.
Seo Hwa awakens in Wol Ryun’s cave after being rescued from government officials. Because she is in disgrace as the daughter of a traitor, Seo Hwa immediately tries to leave, not wishing to implicate he saviour. Wol Ryun promises to keep her safe and the two gradually fall in love and share a few months of happily-married life, believing Wol Ryun that her brother and maid were both safe at the gisaeng house.
The happy days comes to an end, though, when the government’s official hunter Dam Pyung Joon Jo Sung Ha) tries to take Seo Hwa away. In order to protect her, Wol Ryun transforms into his gumiho form and kills several of the officers, shocking Seo Hwa and causing her to fear him. She also misunderstands his intentions for not informing her of her brother and maid’s deaths, thinking that it was due to his own selfish desire to own her. In revenge she guides the officers to Wol Ryun’s secret garden. Glaring at him she asks icily, “All this time I believed you to be sincere, why did you deceive me?”, leaving audiences feeling heartbroken at their tragic misunderstanding.
Seo Hwa cries after she discovers Wol Ryun had been suffering to 90 days and had only ten days remaining until he became human. Afraid that their child will be a monster, she tries to kill her child after it is born. But, hearing the baby’s cries and seeing his innocent face, she is overcome with regret as she makes the realisation, “You were never a monster after all”.
Lee Yeon Hee’s performance in this tragedy has been applauded as a marked improvement on her previous works. In the two short episodes she not only vibrantly portrayed the happiness and satisfaction as a newly-wedded wife, but also the hurt of believing she had been deceived. Her performance in the scene where she gives birth and attempts to murder her baby was particularly noted by viewers for her mix of fear and maternal attachment.
The first two episodes of “Gu Family Book” were propped up by Lee Yeon Hee’s acting, building the foundations for the legend of Choi Kang Chi (to be portrayed by Lee Seung Gi) to take place.
By: Kwak Hyun Soo
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