Actress Han Sun-hwa has expanded her acting spectrum through the JTBC drama ‘Everyone is Fighting Their Own Worthlessness’ (hereinafter ‘Mo-Ja-Mu-Ssa’). While the public is familiar with her bright and cheerful image, she is showing a completely new side as top star Jang Mi-ran, a character living with a sense of deficiency and anxiety.
Jang Mi-ran lives under the strict control of her perfectionist mother, Oh Jung-hee (played by Bae Jong-ok). On the surface, she seems to follow her mother’s wishes, but inside, she harbors a deep desire to prove her own identity. Pushed to her limit by the failure of her movie ‘The Second Sister Without Arms’, the emotional aftermath of her acting, and her mother’s excessive interference, Jang Mi-ran begins to crumble.
The turning point for Jang Mi-ran comes through Hwang Dong-man (played by Koo Kyo-hwan). She feels a strange thrill after hearing Hwang Dong-man’s rough outburst toward movie director Park Kyung-se (played by Oh Jung-se). After becoming friends with the man who harshly criticized her movie, the suppressed emotions and cracks within Jang Mi-ran gradually surface. Han Sun-hwa delicately portrays the inner turmoil of a character starting to waver.
The wedding scene in episode 5 was particularly symbolic of Han Sun-hwa’s acting transformation. Jang Mi-ran pours out her emotions and her desire to escape from control and public scrutiny by singing Psy’s ‘Art’ as a celebratory song. Rather than an exaggerated sense of liberation, Han Sun-hwa added persuasion by expressing the burst of long-accumulated deficiency and longing.
In episode 6, Jang Mi-ran’s complex emotional lines continued. While her pride is hurt by Byeon Eun-ah’s (played by Go Youn-jung) blunt words, she is eventually shaken and persuaded. Han Sun-hwa expressed feelings of unpleasantness, bewilderment, and denial through her gaze and facial expressions. It is also notable that she is holding her own among actors with strong personalities such as Koo Kyo-hwan, Bae Jong-ok, and Go Youn-jung.
During her time with the group Secret, Han Sun-hwa left a strong impression on the public as a bright and clumsy character through variety shows. After transitioning to acting, she mainly took on bright and bubbly roles in works like ‘God’s Gift-14 Days’, ‘Self-Luminous Office’, and ‘Save Me 2’, which didn’t stray far from her existing image. While she showcased her strengths with her signature bright energy, there was a limit to her spectrum as an actress.
Having steadily built her filmography, she hit a turning point in her acting career with the 2021 Tving series ‘Work Later, Drink Now’. Playing the role of Han Ji-yeon, she was praised for meeting her life-defining character, showcasing a bright and lovely charm while also portraying inner deficiency as the so-called ‘4D quirky girl’. Now, viewers are reacting that she has once again updated her life-defining character through ‘Mo-Ja-Mu-Ssa’.
If ‘Work Later, Drink Now’ proved Han Sun-hwa’s potential, the currently airing ‘Mo-Ja-Mu-Ssa’ is expected to be the work that further expands her spectrum as an actress.
Following ‘Mo-Ja-Mu-Ssa’, Han Sun-hwa will continue her activities on the big screen. Her movie ‘Student Teaching’ is set to be released on the 13th. Han Sun-hwa previews another transformation as a student teacher with fresh yet realistic concerns. Attention is focused on how she will be evaluated this time, as she shows a different face in every project.
