Kim Seon-ah, 30, who plays the lead in MBC drama hit "My Name is Kim Sam-soon" which regularly attracts viewer ratings around 40 percent, is on the verge of fainting on the shoot for the last episode in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.
Having slept only an hour a day for three straight weeks to meet the tight shooting schedule, she had to be taken to hospital three times. Hardly lifting her eyelid, she tells the Chosun Ilbo, "I've been living on Ringer's solution". But as the character, she makes her eyes shine. "It's the biggest moment in my life as an actress to see the compliments I get on my homepage".
Around midway through the show, someone suggested a plot line where Sam-soon loses weight as she falls in love. But Kim dug in her heels in discussion with Producer Kim Yoon-cheol. "If Sam-soon gets pretty after losing weight, she's not Sam-soon any more. And who would lose weight as fast that even if they fall in love?"
Kim appears to concur with press hype that has described the character as "chubby" and emphasized how unglamorous Sam-soon looks. "If I looked beautiful on TV, would viewers sympathize with me as much? I've actually been worried acting in the drama like this" -- she gained about 8?. "It was not pleasant for me as an actress. But I regard the fat around my stomach as a means to express the inner state of Sam-soon".
She describes the secret of the soap's success in one word, "sympathy". "Since many viewers identify with Sam-soon, they try to catch every single line and gesture. So when Sam-soon has problems in her relationship with Sam-sik, my fans on the web go nuts".
Asked if it is realistic for a character like Sam-soon to find love with a glamorous man like Jin-heon, she holds her breath for a moment. "If they share something, they could love each other. Though Sam-soon comes from a different background to Jin-heon, the story shows the simple truth that nothing can stop real love".
Asked how the drama will end, she rolls her eyes. "No way. I got the shooting script the day before yesterday, and I can't tell. Never, ever. It's top secret". A group of fans who spotted her on the street came up to her asking the same question, but they will just have to wait.
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