Han Ye Ri Talks About "Minari" Being Nominated For 6 Oscars On KBS's "Nine O'Clock News"

On March 20, actress Han Ye Ri appeared on KBS’s “News 9” to talk about her film “Minari” being nominated at the Academy Awards.

“Minari” is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and stars Steven Yeun, Han Ye Ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh Jung, and Will Patton. Based on the director’s real-life experiences, the movie centers on a family of South Korean immigrants who try to start a new life in rural America in the 1980s.

“Minari” has been nominated for six categories at the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Steven Yeun), Best Supporting Actress (Youn Yuh Jung), Best Director (Lee Isaac Chung), Best Original Screenplay (Lee Isaac Chung), and Best Original Score (Emile Mosseri).

Han Ye Ri said, “Since the film has received six nominations, I’m really looking forward to the results. Meanwhile, it’s still hard to believe and each day is nerve-racking.”

The news anchor mentioned that the film centered on the Korean immigrant experience. Han Ye Ri said, “I play a role that represents a certain immigrant perspective, but I have no personal experience as an immigrant. That’s why I focused on accepting the situation around me as it was. The character who is active and tries to make things happen is Jacob [Steven Yeun]. Monica [her character] just accepts what happens as a result of that, so I focused on acting like that.”

She continued, “A lot of people expressed their sympathies for the characters, but I think that she and Jacob arrived in America with the same dream. But as they raised their kids, they constantly ran up against the ‘walls’ of reality. I don’t think that they had trouble communicating at first. Even when there’s a lot of communication, there are different choices for how to go forward. I think that the two just chose different methods to support their family. I believe that the two still loved each other a lot within those choices. They had different opinions and different ideas about how to support their family. I don’t know. I think that they continued to live happily while arguing about these things.”

Han Ye Ri participated in singing the theme song, and the score has also been nominated for an Oscar. She said, “I really had no idea that was going to happen. I first heard the song while watching the movie and the end credits came up. The director didn’t want someone who was an obviously good singer, but instead to show the feelings of Monica and David, and for the people listening to recall the lullabies of their childhood. As I heard the song, I understood why he’d gone in that direction. The music director, Emile Mosseri, created a great song and he’s been nominated for Best Original Score, so I hope he gets good results.”

Asked how she felt about “Minari,” she replied candidly, “I’m not sure. Right now there are so many things happening that I’m not sure what is what. I think that after a lot of time passes and I look back on it, I’ll remember it as a really enjoyable time in my life. It feels like I’ve turned over a chapter of my life and ended the last chapter well, so now I’m focused on the next chapter.”

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