Actress Hong Hwa-yeon (27) has made her first terrestrial lead debut with ‘Treasure Island’. She received praise for her solid acting skills, delicately portraying the multifaceted aspects of the character Yeo Eun-nam, who embodies both strength and humanity.
The SBS Friday-Saturday drama ‘Treasure Island’ (written by Lee Myung-hee, directed by Jin Chang-kyu), which ended on the 14th, depicts the life-and-death revenge battle of Seo Dong-joo (played by Park Hyung-sik), who hacks into a political slush fund of 2 trillion won, risking everything to fight against the absolute evil Yeom Jang-seon (played by Heo Jun-ho) who killed him.
In a recent interview with Maeil Business Star Today, Hong Hwa-yeon expressed, “I acted in a new character in a new genre, and throughout the filming, I received a lot of affection from my seniors, creating good memories. I think I will have a long-lasting feeling since I received so much love during the broadcast. I feel sad that I have to say goodbye to ‘Treasure Island’, but I think I can send it off with a smile.”
Starting with a viewership rating of 6.1% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide) for its first episode, ‘Treasure Island’ achieved a remarkable feat of surpassing 10% in viewership ratings within just four episodes, thanks to its storytelling that vividly depicts human desires, captivating direction, and the overwhelming performances of the actors.
Hong Hwa-yeon stated, “Since it was my first terrestrial drama, I had no sense of the ratings and filmed without any greed. I was just happy that the first broadcast ratings were better than I expected, and I felt really good as the ratings continued to rise day by day,” smiling brightly.
Hong Hwa-yeon was cast as the female lead in this project after overcoming a competition rate of 100 to 1.
She recalled, “I went through four rounds of auditions. Of course, I showed my acting, but the director was very curious about how I thought about the character Yeo Eun-nam. At that time, since I didn’t know the overall content of the work, there was bound to be a difference in how the director and I viewed Yeo Eun-nam. We narrowed the gap in our understanding of the character through our conversations.”
After hearing the casting news, she said it was more surprising than good.
“Since it was my first time as a female lead, I thought it would be a big challenge for the production team to entrust that role to me. After I was actually cast, I heard that the writer tilted their head when they saw my photo. So, I tried to show a strong image as much as possible, and after the meeting, I heard that the writer said, ‘I think this friend is right for Eun-nam.’ That made me really happy. (smiles)”
When asked if many people recognized her after the show gained popularity, Hong Hwa-yeon replied, “Maybe because I’m short, there aren’t many people who recognize me on the street more than I expected.”
She continued, “However, the number of my SNS followers has really increased a lot. Before appearing in ‘Treasure Island’, I had about 40,000 followers, but now it has grown to 270,000. I’m grateful for the comments like ‘Eun-nam is so pretty and charming that I searched for her’ in foreign languages,” expressing her happiness. (Continued in Interview ②)
[Lee Da-gyeom, Star Today Reporter]
