“I like definitive characters and don’t like anything in the middle,” actress Seo once revealed on Soompi, referring to her previous roles as Lim Sang-mi in 2017 religious cult drama Save Me and her debut as Noh Soo-young in TV sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3. Both are strong female characters with extreme personalities: “One character is very playful and the other is very depressing,” she added.

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Seo’s acting technique involves immersing herself into her character’s persona to play her well. “I think I’m the type of person who lives my life by matching the character [I’m playing],” she said.

In 2018, Seo took on the role of Ha Jae-yi in Lawless Lawyer, playing a tough-minded defendant who aggressively went after evildoers to bring them down and restore justice. Her performance was so impressive that she was appointed the title of honorary police officer by Korea’s national police agency.

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Standout star

In her current drama, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Seo portrays another dominant female character: the drop dead gorgeous Ko Moon-young, a bestselling children’s fairy tale writer who has an antisocial personality disorder. Commanding presence in every scene with her uniquely sexy voice and too-chic-for-words outfits, Seo made a strong impression on viewers and trended on social media.

As for her bass-like, evil-sounding voice, Seo once admitted that she once thought of it as a weakness. “I debuted when I was younger so I had a young face, but a mature voice. It concerned me because that comment would haunt me every time,” she is quoted saying on Koreaboo.

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Beautiful psycho

Digging deep into her complex character, Seo describes Moon-young’s antisocial persona as “extremely unique”, explaining the reason behind her flamboyant outfits: “It’s not so much about being fashionable. Rather, she is someone who’s extremely well expressive through what she wears,” the actress explained on HallyuSG. “It is something she puts on to defend herself.”

Seo added: “Her sense of obsession is like a sword, where it hurts both herself and the people around her. I felt like she had more stories to tell.” With 10 more episodes to go, fans await how the actress will further reveal Moon-young’s pain, masked by her intimidating appearance and stunning self-confidence, on It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.

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