Bae Suzy is inspiring in 'Start-Up'
If you want to feel good and get inspired, you should watch "Start Up."
In a recent interview, South Korean star Bae Suzy assured a lot of people, especially the youth, will find it encouraging.
"You're going to watch our characters grow and foster friendship with one another, and also learn lessons about life, about who they are. So for me, it really has a lot of story elements to anticipate. It is about love, but it's not just about love, it is also about having a vision about your life and working hard towards your dreams," she explained.
In the story, Bae Suzy is Seo Dal-mi, a woman dreaming of becoming Korea’s Steve Jobs. Dal-mi doesn’t have a fancy background but she’s passionate about her work.
Meanwhile, Nam Joo-hyuk’s character Nam Do-san is the founder of Samsan Tech. A "math genius" as a young boy, Do-san was once the pride of his family but became their shame with his business going nowhere.
He finds out that Dal-mi mistakenly remembers him as her first love, so he decides to work his way up in hopes of turning that misunderstanding into reality.
Also in the cast is Kim Seon-ho who portrays Han Ji-pyeong, a senior investment manager at a venture capital company. His astonishing investment skills and sharp tongue earn him the nickname, “the Gordon Ramsay of investments.”
On the other hand, Won In-jae, played by Kang Han-na, is a second-generation "chaebol" CEO who has everything people desire - good education, beauty and money. But her background seems to be working against her in the startup world, as she struggles to create success on her own and be acknowledged for her skills.
"Start Up" director Choong-hwan, who was also behind "Hotel del Luna," "While You Were Sleeping," and "Doctors," said that his latest drama series "has a lot to tell."
"It's really been very difficult not to spoil it but I'm going to be very careful," he said, chuckling.
"As you can see from the title 'Start-Up,' it is about encouraging people who want to grow up, go up, as they start out. All of these four characters -- they have their own stories, but it all begins with all four of them going through some kind of challenge. So, there is growth and romance but the drama deals with the start-up industry which is quite new to fill. I'm not very smart so, I didn't make anything that's too difficult for people to understand because I had to make something I can understand so I can assure you it's going to be very easy to follow," he shared.
Asked about his actors, he said: "When I work on a drama series, when the talent gets to the set, I try and create a space for the talent to do their thing. Because all of them are very hardworking actors and actresses, I feel that I want to create a space on set where they feel comfortable, and encouraged them to just express their art. I feel that we did that and they have, in fact, done better than what we expected of them."
He added, "I didn't have to give them any particular direction for them to express their characters, because I feel like they really embody their own characters extremely well, and I think I am lucky in that aspect."
"Start-Up," written by popular writer Park Hye-ryun ("Dream High," "I Can Hear Your Voice," "Pinocchio," and "While You Were Sleeping") and produced by Studio Dragon, premieres on Netflix, Oct. 17.