Kang Mina Levels Up Her Passion and Skills in ‘Girigo’ [Interview]

From an idol trainee to a member of a legendary girl group, and now a bold actress expanding her horizons, Kang Mina’s growth is still in full swing!

Actress Kang Mina has expanded her acting spectrum through the Netflix original series ‘Girigo’. ‘Girigo’ tells the story of high school students struggling to escape a curse from a wish-granting app of the same name. Kang Mina plays Im Na-ri, a wealthy student with idol-like looks who always draws attention at school and strongly denies Se-ah’s (Jeon So-young) claims about the true nature of ‘Girigo’.

She shared with a smile, “I saw an article this morning saying the show reached 4th place globally on Netflix. I still can’t believe it. At 4 AM after the release, my father messaged me saying he watched it and it was fun.”

‘Girigo’ was a role she landed through an audition. “At first, I felt Na-ri was a pitiful and heartbreaking character. It seemed like too much for an 18-year-old girl to handle. As I immersed myself in Na-ri while reading the script, I really wanted to do it,” she recalled. “I was so happy to hear I passed. There was a bit of a weird incident, though. On the day I first met the director, I cut my finger on a piece of paper and bled a lot. I thought, ‘I’m having some bad luck today,’ but then I found out I passed!”

She added, “I asked why I was chosen, but the director is a bit of a ‘tsundere’. He just said, ‘You were the best.’ That was all I got.”

Na-ri is an unpredictable and sassy character. How did Kang Mina interpret her? “The setting was that she grew up with busy parents and didn’t receive much affection. So, I thought of her as a friend who desperately wants to be loved. Geon-woo (Baek Sun-ho), Ha-jun (Hyun Woo-seok), and Hyung-wook (Lee Hyo-je) are all close to or like Se-ah. I think Na-ri lived with a constant wish that they would treat her that way too. But because of her pride, she couldn’t say ‘Please do that for me,’ so it came out as mean words after bottling it up.”

She also explained why Na-ri spent so much time with Hyung-wook despite seemingly hating him. “I also wondered why she wouldn’t just avoid him if she hated him that much. The director told me that it wasn’t hate, but rather a twisted form of affection, wanting him to wake up and live a normal life, which is why the mean words came out. If she truly hated him, she wouldn’t have spoken to him or hung out with him. Na-ri is a friend with strong jealousy and the unstable ego and emotions typical of that age. I don’t think she ever considered leaving that group.”

Regarding her efforts for the role, she mentioned, “I’ve never experienced sleep paralysis in real life.” In the show, as threads enter her eyes, her whole body stiffens, and she can only move her eyes and fingers slightly. “I worked really hard on the acting I could express with my eyes. I had no idea how the CG would look, so I actually bought a copy of the movie ‘The Substance’ and watched it repeatedly.”

When asked about the hardest scene, she picked the ending of episode 7. “The scene where I’m laughing and crying, where the body is Si-won (Choi Ju-eun) but the eyes are Na-ri, was a huge challenge. Also, since I’ve been a trainee since the 3rd year of middle school, I’ve never been to a club. The club scene was harder than I expected. On the other hand, the physical action parts weren’t too difficult since my previous work was ‘Twelve’.”

With many young actors in ‘Girigo’, her friendship with her colleagues shone through. “It’s a bit awkward to call myself the oldest sister, but I ended up in that role. I was the one gathering everyone to eat together. As an ‘I’ (introvert), this isn’t common for me. It was actually quite hard (laughs).”

She became close to Jeon So-young by chance. “At first, I just thought, ‘Can I approach her? I want to be friends.’ During the first week of filming, So-young was so exhausted one day that she said she’d skip dinner to rest. I was worried, so we talked. We spent three hours chatting in the dorms with mask packs on. We became very close after that. By the latter half, Se-ah and Na-ri have to have a power struggle, but we were so close it was hard to create that atmosphere. So-young consulted me about many of her worries. We’d chat over endless refills of coffee. We both tend to talk a lot once we get close.”

She also mentioned Hyun Woo-seok. “Woo-seok is secretly a funny character on set. He seems quiet, but he has a 4D personality and is very honest. He was the mood maker of the set.”

She also received support from colleagues outside the project. “I worked with senior Park Ji-hyun in my next project, ‘Tomorrow’s Work!’. ‘Girigo’ was released at 5 PM, and at 4:30, I got a text from Ji-hyun unnie saying, ‘Mina, I’m waiting for Girigo.’ After watching it, she laughed and said, ‘Why are you so good at being sassy? You’re really different!'”

When asked about Season 2, she replied, “If it happens, I’ll definitely appear.” She added, “Actually, Na-ri’s spirit is trapped in the curse space and her body is missing. I want to leave another strong impression as Na-ri. I haven’t discussed a sequel with the director yet. The actors just joke, ‘Are we going (to Season 2)?’ No one knows for sure. What’s certain is that more people need to watch it for Season 2 to happen,” she joked.

Kang Mina joined the project group I.O.I after placing 9th in Mnet’s ‘Produce 101’ in 2016. Although I.O.I recently announced a reunion for their 10th anniversary, she unfortunately could not join.

Regarding this, she showed her loyalty, saying, “The I.O.I girls are so busy. They have such tight schedules that I didn’t contact them separately,” but added, “We communicate through SNS comments and likes. Even without saying it, we know how much we support each other.”

She officially graduated from idol activities after her group Gugudan disbanded in 2020. Her acting career, which began with the drama ’20th Century Boy and Girl’ in 2017, has become a new chapter in her life.

Kang Mina shared, “I think my experience on stage helps me feel less nervous during filming.” She expressed her wish to try roles like Kim Go-eun in the movie ‘Tune in for Love’ or Moon Ga-young in the drama ‘The Interest of Love’, stating, “I prefer roles that are somewhat realistic.”

She added, “Doing this interview makes me realize once again how much I truly love acting and how much affection I have for my work. I feel proud when someone notices the details I’ve put in, and I love receiving praise.”

Finally, she concluded the interview by highlighting the key points of ‘Girigo’. “It’s a project I’m very fond of because I researched the details and put in a lot of time and energy. Those who like shamanism will find it interesting. Also, it would be great to keep an eye out for the new faces you might not have seen before. It’ll also be fun to try and figure out exactly when Na-ri was possessed by Si-won.”