"The Penthouse" Star Kim Hyun Soo Dishes On Her On-Screen Romance With Kim Young Dae, Which Scene Made Her Cry In Real Life, & More

Sep 11, 2021

After the conclusion of her hit drama “The Penthouse,” Kim Hyun Soo sat down for a round of interviews to dish on her character and her experience during filming!

Spoilers

The actress starred in all three seasons of “The Penthouse” as Oh Yoon Hee (S.E.S.’s Eugene)’s outspoken daughter Bae Ro Na, and she shared that she had learned a lot from her character’s perseverance.

“In Season 1, [Bae Ro Na’s] mom discouraged her from pursuing her dream, and her classmates ostracized her and bullied her,” said Kim Hyun Soo. “But she still refused to give up on her dream and moved forward while believing in her own ability. I want to learn from that aspect of [the character]. I thought to myself that I, too, need to believe in myself and move forward as an actress. I thought that there was a lot I needed to learn from Ro Na.”

Kim Hyun Soo also talked about her romantic arc with Kim Young Dae’s character Joo Seok Hoon, which earned the on-screen couple a lot of fans.

“This was my first time portraying this kind of romance in my acting career, so I was worried about it,” confessed the actress. “But many people cheered me on and liked [our characters’ love story], and they even sent a coffee truck to the filming set, which made me really thankful. I had a lot of fun and felt comfortable filming with [Kim Young Dae].”

“Although our romance didn’t get a lot of screen time, I’m so grateful that people rooted for us and looked forward to [our scenes together],” she continued. “I felt great during filming, and I filmed our scenes with a grateful heart. I thought a lot about how I could convey [my character’s] feelings of yearning.”

Kim Hyun Soo mentioned that the experience had made her eager to take on a true romance drama in the future. “I did find it regretful that because our drama wasn’t a romance drama, we weren’t able to show much of [our love story],” she explained. “I’d like to be able to portray a cute, ordinary love story in the future.”

As for her experience working with “The Penthouse” writer Kim Soon Ok, who famously spends a lot of time communicating with the stars of her dramas, Kim Hyun Soo revealed a key piece of advice the writer gave her ahead of Season 2.

“When we started Season 2, I thought about toning down the way Ro Na talked back to and rebelled so much against her mom,” she said, “but writer [Kim Soon Ok] advised me, ‘Be tough in your scenes with your mom, just like you were in Season 1.'”

When asked which of the drama’s many plot twists she’d found most shocking, Kim Hyun Soo replied, “Every episode was shocking, but when I received the script saying that Bae Ro Na was dead in Season 2, I was shocked and felt upset and sad.” However, she went on to share, “After the script reading, writer [Kim Soon Ok] told me, ‘Ro Na won’t die,’ which made me relieved.”

Kim Hyun Soo also recalled, “When Ro Na briefly died in Season 2, I felt grateful and proud as an actress that many people were sad about her death and said, ‘Bring Ro Na back to life.'”

The actress added, “In Season 3, I was shocked when I saw that Oh Yoon Hee would die, and I cried a lot in real life while acting that out. That scene was emotionally very difficult for me.”

As for which of the drama’s many cameos she considered the most memorable, Kim Hyun Soo responded, “In the final episode, BewhY makes a special appearance in the scene where Ro Na and Seok Hoon go to a pasta restaurant, and that was the most memorable [cameo] for me. He was so good at acting. Maybe it’s because he’s a rapper, but his enunciation was so good, and filming was a lot of fun.”

Finally, Kim Hyun Soo revealed that she’d shed tears at her last shoot for “The Penthouse 3.”

“While filming ‘The Penthouse’ over a long period of time, I’ve really grown so fond of both the drama and my character,” she said. “I thought I would feel relieved when filming ended, but when that day came, I found myself crying.”

Kim Hyun Soo added, “I think it’s a drama that will have meaning for me for a long time. The fact that many viewers tuned in gave me strength, and I had a lot of fun acting.”