On November 11, a written interview was released featuring Yook Sung-jae, who plays sunshine intern Han Sun-woo in SBS's upcoming Wednesday-Thursday drama "Nine to Six" (written by Choi Ji-oh, directed by Lee Hyeong-min and Oh Song-hee).
"Nine to Six" is an "on-and-off work-love balance" romance about a rational woman who has lived her life proving herself through work, who meets a sweet, emotional man and rewrites the standards of work, love, and happiness.
Regarding his motivation for joining the drama, Yook Sung-jae shared, "Unlike the genres I've done so far, I wanted to do a project that is realistic and relatable."
Rating his synchronization with the character at 50%, he explained, "Sun-woo is a character who directly expresses thoughts that I would probably only keep inside, and he does so without making it feel burdensome. Sun-woo has an 'F' (feeling) disposition and a warmth that are quite different from me." He added about his efforts to become the sunshine male lead, "Before heading into filming, I met up with emotional and sweet friends, chatting with them and observing them. Thinking, 'So that's how my friends talk, and that's how they can think,' I was able to better understand friends with an 'F' personality type while also immersing myself in the character of Sun-woo."
Taking on an office worker role for the first time since his debut, Yook Sung-jae drew laughter as he quipped, "In my previous works, I was teleporting or walking through midair, but because Sun-woo keeps his feet firmly on the ground and walks around, it felt a bit fresh. There is a scene in the drama where I ride a motorcycle, and that was even more thrilling than walking on air."
He also raised expectations for the romance with Park Minyoung, who plays legal team deputy general manager Kang Yi-ji, saying, "We start off on bad terms, but our chemistry builds as the episodes progress. The more we filmed on set, the better our teamwork became with senior actor Park Minyoung, and even just reading together during rehearsals allowed us to picture each other's acting in our heads, which made acting together very comfortable."
Lastly, Yook Sung-jae reflected, "'From when did Sun-woo begin to have feelings for Yi-ji?' Every viewer might interpret that differently. Keeping that question in mind as you watch is key." He concluded, "The drama tells the story of people solving the realistic hardships and worries of office life together rather than on their own. I hope it can reach many people as a source of comfort and relatability."
"Nine to Six" will premiere on Wednesday, November 25, at 9:00 PM.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)