Jang Gyuri Talks About Challenges Of Playing A Cheerleader In New Drama "Cheer Up"

Sep 23, 2022

SBS’s upcoming drama “Cheer Up” has shared a new glimpse of Jang Gyuri in character!

“Cheer Up” is a new campus mystery rom-com about a college cheer squad whose glory days are long gone and is now on the verge of falling apart.

Han Ji Hyun will star as Do Hae Yi, a rookie member of Yonhee University’s cheer squad Theia, who has a cheerful personality despite facing difficult circumstances at home. Bae In Hyuk will play Theia’s oft-misunderstood captain Park Jung Woo, who is a romantic at heart, while Kim Hyun Jin will play fellow rookie Jin Seon Ho, a rich and handsome student who has always walked the elite path in life.

Jang Gyuri will play the role of the cool and feisty Theia vice-captain Tae Cho Hee, who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. As someone whose main focus is achieving results, Tae Cho Hee serves to balance the overly principled tendencies of Theia captain Park Jung Woo, who believes firmly in doing everything by the book.

The newly released stills capture the different sides of Tae Cho Hee, who is clearly happiest when she’s cheering on stage. In contrast to the sunny energy she radiates during their performances, Tae Cho Hee’s gaze turns sharp and discerning when it’s time for her to teach the rookie members.

Describing her character in the story, Jang Gyuri remarked, “In the drama, when Tae Cho Hee thinks that someone is on her side, she takes care of them in her own way. I think you’ll enjoy the drama [more] if you focus on that aspect of Cho Hee while watching.”

She went on to add, “Tae Cho Hee’s biggest charm is the way she boldly and coolly says what she’s thinking.”

As for how she prepared for her role, Jang Gyuri shared, “[Tae Cho Hee] is an entirely different character from the ones I’ve played up until now. Because she’s a character who’s good at styling herself, I tried on a wide variety of new clothes and hairstyles.”

Jang Gyuri also revealed that it was a challenge for her to get used to the new style of dancing she needed to learn for the drama.

“Even though I’ve danced for a pretty long time, the dancing of a college cheer squad is completely different [from the kind of dancing I’ve done up until now], so it was hard to express it well,” she explained, “but it was fun and new.”