Actress Lee Se-young has yet to let go of her role Seong Deok-im and the series “The Red Sleeve”.
Lee Se-young recently met with Wiki Tree through a video interview to commemorate the end of the MBC drama “The Red Sleeve” and talked about various things.
At the beginning of the interview, Lee Se-young said, “I’m happy and delighted to be able to receive so much love. I’m kinda sad as well, but I’m happy that the viewers were with me,” she said.
“The Red Sleeve” is a historical drama depicting the sorrowful royal romance of an emperor to whom the country came before love and a court lady who wanted to protect the life she chose. Later, the series was loved for how it reinterpreted the romantic story of Lee San (Lee Joon-ho) and Seong Deok-im (Lee Se-young), which were King Jeongjo and Royal Consort Eui-bin‘s names, with modern sensibility.
“The Red Sleeve,” started with 5.7% after its first broadcast before surpassing double digits ratings in 4 weeks and ended with 17.4% on the last episode. It is the first time in four years that an MBC drama has exceeded a rating of 15% since “The Emperor: Owner of the Mask,” which ended in 2017.
Lee Se-young sometimes shed tears while answering questions from reporters, especially when the ending of “The Red Sleeve” was mentioned. Lee Se-young, who was talking about Seong Deok-im and Lee San’s last words to her, eventually wiped away her tears, saying, “They are pitiful.”
“At the end, King Jeongjo fell asleep and met Deok-im in his dream, and I thought King Jeongjo was at a crossroads between life and death in his dream. King Jeongjo would be in the palace when he woke up from his dream, and if he couldn’t wake up and just be with Deok-im, he would die. Since he opened the door but stayed in the yard with Deok-im without walking out, I thought King Jeongjo had passed away. To me, I see this as ‘this person can finally meet his woman as ordinary lovers, which he couldn’t do when he was alive.’”
Lee Se-young, who shed tears several times throughout the interview, was asked if she originally cried a lot or if “The Red Sleeve” was a work that stimulated the lachrymal glands. Here, Lee Se-young‘s special affection for “The Red Sleeve” was revealed.
“I don’t usually cry. I cry only when I see the work, but I’m so immersed in this work and the character that I cry whenever I talk about this character. I think it’ll be like that even if time goes by. ‘The Red Sleeve’ actually stimulates the lachrymal glands a lot. It’s so heartbreaking and desperate. Both the original story and the drama.”
The filming and the drama have come to an end, but Lee Se-young has yet to leave “The Red Sleeve“. Even though the actress was talking with a smile, at some point, she became so emotional that her eyes turned red and tears often dripped down from her big eyes.
Lee Se-young said, “This breakup is unlikely to happen overnight. I think it’ll remain in my heart. However, if there’s a meeting, there will be a parting too. I’m trying to forget her (Deok-im) quickly, but I don’t know when it will be. Now I’m just going to let her go naturally.”
After completing “The Red Sleeve“, Lee Se-young is currently taking a break and considering her next project.
