In the drama “Love Rain”, Yoona went naturally from a 1970′s college student to a gardener living in the year 2012. She balanced it out between being composed and outgoing, easygoing and graceful, and mature and cheerful. Standing in front of a camera in a studio for the first time since the drama ended, she shows a variation of black (editor Ahn Dongsun, photographed by Kim Sangon).
On the way to interview Yoona, I was flooded with requests for her autograph. I headed to the studio carrying a recorder and autograph papers for the photographer’s brother-in-law, who wanted to come to the photoshoot, my assistant, whose boyfriend has Yoona as his iPhone lockscreen background, and to complete the mission given to me by my younger brother on “KakaoTalk”. While they say a person’s looks are just superficial, there are time when their looks are transparent and show that person as they are. When you meet a celebrity you’ve only seen on TV in person, the person’s image seen without any medium tells you a lot. I look at Yoona standing under the high lights. Her straight forehead, tranquil eyes, and the slim, long lines that make her body. (I don’t know if someone will be able to find any traces of Photoshop being used, but we did not make any revisions to make her legs longer or arms slimmer.) The first interview and photoshoot, being done months after the drama “Love Rain’ ended”. While many different emotions may be rising from within, such as being unfamiliar, feeling greedy, having fun, and feeling tired, a relaxing silence is encircling Yoona like a cloud. In one word, she was mature.
When asked how she felt about “Love Rain” not being able to gain a lot of attention in Korea, while gaining a lot of popularity being aired on Fuji TV in Japan, Yoona did not lose her sense of maturity.
“I wasn’t distressed over viewer ratings not being high from the start. Of course, it would have been nice if the ratings were high and caused a social boom. But the fact that it was director Yoon Sukho and writer Oh Sooyeon’s drama was something satisfying in itself, regardless of the ratings. I feel very thankful that it is getting much attention in Japan. I also think that gentle sensibility also suits the Japanese peoples’ emotions well. People of various ages come and ask for a handshake when I go to Japan while ‘Love Rain’ is currently airing, telling me that they’re watching the drama well. It’s amazing and I feel good.”