YoonA Shares Thoughts On Her New Film, Chemistry With Co-Star Park Jung Min, Girls' Generation's Recent TV Reunion, And More

Sep 09, 2021

Girls’ Generation’s YoonA recently sat for an interview about her upcoming film!

Set in the late 1980s, “Miracle” (literal title) is about a math prodigy named Jun Kyung (Park Jung Min) who lives in the countryside of North Gyeongsang Province and whose only goal in life is to bring a train stop to his village. YoonA co-stars as the bright and direct Ra Hee, who is also Jun Kyung’s friend and muse.

YoonA shared her thoughts after watching the film, commenting, “I watched the movie two days after Jung Min so I asked him first, ‘How was it?’ and he said he bawled. Honestly, I cried even when I read the script. I had high expectations thinking about how the emotions I felt from reading the script would translate when watched it as a video. I cried when I first saw the script, I cried when I saw the edited script, and I watched the movie twice and cried both times. I think the last scene with Jun Kyung and his older sister Bo Kyung [Lee Soo Kyung] gets me choked up every time.”

Since her last film “E.X.I.T” saw incredible success, surpassing 9 million moviegoers, YoonA was asked whether she felt any pressure when picking her next project. YoonA answered, “To be honest, I don’t think I really have those thoughts. Since no one knows what the results will be, I’m the type to set my own standard when I make my picks.”

YoonA continued, “I wanted to do ‘Miracle’ as soon as I saw it. I really decided on my appearance as soon as I received the script. No matter what came out of this, it would be a project I would have no regrets for. I’m really thankful that I have successful works like ‘E.X.I.T,’ but I believe ‘Miracle’ will be a great hit as well.”

Regarding her chemistry with co-star Park Jung Min, YoonA explained, “Jung Min approached me first, and I’m the type to approach others in a friendly manner, so we were able to get close right away. We also both had the same task of studying the dialect, so we became close immediately. He even shared with me a different reference video that he found on his own to study the dialect.”

She added, “Honestly, even though I filmed with Jung Min, it feels like we just played together. It’s to the point where I don’t even know how we acted. Rather than me acting as Ra Hee, I think it was the chemistry between Im YoonA and Park Jung Min that turned into Ra Hee and Jun Kyung. I had a really fun and happy time filming.”

In a previous interview, Park Jung Min had revealed how he was a big fan of YoonA, and she confirmed she had seen what he had said. She commented, “He said ‘YoonA is a star in my heart.'” She shared with a laugh, “So I sent him a text. I sent ‘A star in your heart?’ and he responded, ‘A star in my heart, Yoon-phrodite.'”

YoonA then shared, “He says he’s a big Girls’ Generation fan, but I don’t know if he’s a YoonA fan. When my members sent coffee trucks, he put their stickers on his phone and asked, ‘When are the Girls’ Generation members coming to hang out?'”

The two stars play high school students in the film despite both being in their early 30s in real life. YoonA was asked about any potential pressure regarding this, and she replied, “I honestly didn’t think much about the age situation. I just liked the project so much. This is my first time in a high school student role. What I honestly find regretful is that I thought we’d be wearing high school uniforms, but they say this generation didn’t wear uniforms. To be honest, I wanted to try wearing a uniform once. However, I’m still glad I was able to act as a high school student.”

While YoonA has been solidifying her acting career, so have many other female idols from the second and third generation, like Han Seung Yeon of KARA and Han Sun Hwa of Secret. YoonA commented, “From the Girls’ Generation members to other girl group members, when I see people I used to share the stage with act, it feels so good to see them, and I want to support them. I’m reminded of the memories of us meeting on stage, but now that we’re meeting as actresses, we get to talk through a different perspective. We were also young then, and since time has passed, we’ve now become more mature.”

Recently, Girls’ Generation reunited for the first time in a while for a group appearance on “You Quiz on the Block.” YoonA shared, “It felt different from when we get together on our own. Saying ‘Hello, this is Girls’ Generation’ in an official setting and being on a broadcast together reminded me of the past. Now, there are a lot of people who don’t know Girls’ Generation. There are a lot of people who don’t know that YoonA of ‘E.X.I.T’ and Taeyeon of ‘Amazing Saturday’ are from the same team.”

YoonA continued, “However, I think getting together like that was an opportunity to show our charms as Girls’ Generation, so I really enjoyed it. Even though we’re in our 14th year, I’m so thankful and glad that each member is promoting and can introduce themselves in various fields. We’re able to do this because we have people supporting us,” she added with a smile.