Best Love’s Lee Hee-jin joins Last Secretary
by javabeans
Lee Hee-jin is on a bit of a roll: Currently playing best friend Jenny on MBC’s Best Love, she’s lined up her follow-up drama, which will be Choi Kang-hee‘s office-romance drama Last Secretary.
That’ll be the third drama in one year for Lee Hee-jin — actually, just over half a year — since the former pop group singer (of late-’90s girl group Baby VOX) made her drama debut in November with the family-centric drama It’s Okay, Daddy’s Girl. I think she’s one of the more successful examples of stars making the idol-to-actor transition, and she was so solid in Daddy’s Girl that I was surprised to realize she was a total rookie — her Ae-ryung character (Moon Chae-won’s big sis) was warm, sensitive, and caring, and she had a calming, mature aura in it.
Then, she went completely in the other direction with Jenny in Best Love, playing a bubbly, chattery, and sometimes immature character that’s just about as diametrically opposite to Ae-ryung as you could get. That’s why I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine making another transition in Last Secretary, where she plays a senior secretary in a large corporation, a chic and well-educated woman who speaks five languages and carries herself with confidence.
She’s also a friend to the boss, in addition to being his competent right-hand woman. (Think Park Ji-yoon in Lie To Me.) In fact, the friend-who’s-also-secretary-to-the-boss character is apparently becoming enough of a trend to spawn yet another slang shortened-word term, the sa-chin-seo, which stands for 사장님 친구 비서 (비서계의 엄친아란 뜻), or boss’s friend and secretary. Aka, the eom-chin-ah/ddal (엄마 친구 아들/딸), or likable boy/girl next door, of the secretary world. Lordy, Korea, not everything needs a nonsensical nickname — you could just use full words once in a while. Just sayin’.
Currently, Choi Kang-hee is the only other cast member attached, and will play a secretary who is newly hired to the company, who falls for the boss hero. His character is yet to be cast, although there have been some rumors of Ji Sung being courted.
To be honest, I find Best Love’s Jenny to be vastly overacted, but I quite liked her in Daddy’s Girl and was pleasantly surprised with her acting there, so I think Lee will probably continue to do well in her acting career. At the rate she’s going, she’ll be busy for a while.
Last Secretary will air midweek on SBS, following City Hunter in August.
Via Osen
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1 Pat
June 16, 2011 at 1:14 PM
cool! i like her! looking forward to seeing more of her works!
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2 tearsfade
June 16, 2011 at 1:37 PM
kind of excited. i think she did pretty solid roles this year.
really interested how she's gonna portray a senior secretary. who speaks 5 languages?!?!
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3 Hanni R
June 16, 2011 at 1:48 PM
JB, I am wondering how you find her character Jenny to be overacted? I kind of agree but cannot seem to put my finger on how she could have been played differently?
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4 danna
June 16, 2011 at 1:51 PM
I've been hearing rumors that Jaejoong will be the Boss...but then again Jaejoong has been rumored for like three dramas this year so dunno what to believe..also with him and Cho Kang Hee it wil be another Noona-younger man romance, which frankly I'm getting a little tired off.....wouldn't mind seeing Ji Sung though...but since he just got done with Royal famil, I wonder if he''d be game for another drama this soon
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ujsid
June 16, 2011 at 3:28 PM
i dnt know bt ur post kinda made laugh..really jaejoong is rumored fr this role..i mean i love jaejoong with all my heart (big big big JYJ fan here!) bt i really cant imagine him as the boss of some big coperation! Bt well thats the magic of dramas..if they can make jandi look like a school girl in bbf thn anything is possible..if jaejoong is really cast fr this role thn it would be at the top of my watch list..if nt that bleh the story doesnt interest me..
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Tera
June 16, 2011 at 7:59 PM
i think Jaejoong will be fine
its not like he's a rookie at acting.
Maybe he'll bring some j-dorama style to a kdrama.
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shiningstar
June 16, 2011 at 10:03 PM
hmmm, didnt the rumours state that he will be the sub=lead? meaning not the boss, but perhaps some other character? oh wells, looking at the jyj situation, they can never confirm anything till the last minute
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ujsid
June 17, 2011 at 8:02 AM
oh no i nt calling him a rookie..i have seen his jap drama..the scene in which his superior hit him with a paper stack and he got a cut on his face i felt like like pulling the senior's hair out :@ sorry my inner fangirl got the best of me!
I m just saying its hard to imagine him playing the role of a boss like KJH in lie to me or perhaps binnie in secret garden..nt saying he cant do it..
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5 dokutokunaneko
June 16, 2011 at 2:03 PM
even if Jenny's overacted you can't help but like her. I think shes even a better actress than Yoo In Na, despite Yoo's experience. In a recent ep where Jenny faced off with seri, I thought it was so funny that every time the camera switched angle, from Seri to Jenny, the intensity in acting changed drastically. Seri was just...there, while Jenny was being (appropriately) tense and dramatic. Plus, I always thought Heejin was a legit singer during her babyvox days :)
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bd
June 16, 2011 at 7:54 PM
Pretty much agree with everything.
Lee Hee-jin has overdone it w/ the "cutesy" as Jenny, but still, she brings more to the table than Yoo Inna (who has made a dull character even duller).
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Kristal
June 16, 2011 at 8:29 PM
I keep hoping Yoo Inna's character will show some growth but alas nope. I guess she is going to be a childish brat up until the very end. I wouldn't have minded her scooping up the doc and mending his wounded heart if she had been just a tad bit less despicable towards Ae-jung.
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6 mel
June 16, 2011 at 2:25 PM
LOVED her as the self sacrificing older sister in It's Okay Daddy's Girl... thanks
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7 diorama
June 16, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Aw, Jenny is one of my favorite Best Love characters. I didn't think she was overacting that much - or maybe just her off-the-wall wackiness is less noticeable in a drama like Best Love. I agree though that she packs more punch than Yoo Inna in some scenes.
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8 Arhazivory
June 16, 2011 at 3:50 PM
Oh? I didn't know she was a rookie. =O I like her as Jenny.
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9 okitokki
June 16, 2011 at 5:40 PM
I've been enjoying City Hunter and have just now realized that it's going to end someday. Poo.
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mary
June 16, 2011 at 6:30 PM
Heehee. Completely random comment?
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10 Cam
June 16, 2011 at 6:13 PM
Woaahhh............O_o
Newbie?? ^__^ Ah, I didn't know that she has been involved in that drama "Daddy's Girl" when she acted that before.
How interesting =D
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11 Fabmari
June 16, 2011 at 6:24 PM
I like her as Jenny....she is totally overact but the overacting quite suits Best Love.
As Aejung best supporter, I wish she could do more -- either in anger department, cry department or caring department. She is too level-headed. But it is a just a small wish of mine to have someone to feverishly protect that selfless Aejung.
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12 mary
June 16, 2011 at 6:33 PM
She looks like Zhang Zhi Yi (?)
Anywho, she's from the same group as YEH, right? How come I imagine Hee Jin to be in the early 30s while YEH feels like she's around 26..?
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vegaspink
June 17, 2011 at 3:31 PM
Yoon Eun Hye was the maknae, youngest of the group. She's 27 now an LHJ is 31....
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13 faan
June 16, 2011 at 7:12 PM
Haven't seen any of the dramas she's in, but from the picture, it looks like she has the "hot" vibe going on...not too many of those in K-dramas, so it's a nice change.
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14 hmm
June 16, 2011 at 8:25 PM
She was totally my favorite member in Baby Vox. She had the voice of angel!!!!!
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15 Ace
June 16, 2011 at 9:32 PM
Just have to say before the City Hunter recaps....I LOVE CITY HUNTER!!!! The episodes this week are the BEST!
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16 SKS
June 16, 2011 at 10:04 PM
I think that Heejin is doing a lovely job, considering the drama's context. She's essentially playing a drama queen BFF, which works. Interestingly, a friend of mine said that she was HORRIBLE in "It's Okay, Daddy's Girl", so ... yeah. Anyway, out of the three other GBSN members, I find Jenny to be the most believable somehow. Bae Seulgi has been flatlining, and Yoo Inna has been blah as well, although in both cases, their characters are more subdued than the rest.....
She was also my favourite in Baby V.O.X. I thought she had the best studio voice -- although live performances were a different matter. :P
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17 Susa
June 16, 2011 at 10:32 PM
I think her face looks very un-natural and stiff. I have a hard time looking at her during her screen time. Have her "looks" changed over the years?
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ar_arguably romantic
June 17, 2011 at 12:23 AM
she looks the same to me, only older and a bit less stylish.
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18 ar_arguably romantic
June 17, 2011 at 12:22 AM
I love the boss’s friend and secretary trend! I never really noticed Lee Hee Jin much in Baby Vox (i think my fave had been Kan Mi Yeon) - I need to go back to my old Baby Vox videos and see her! I'm glad she is getting lots of projects! Whoever casted her for It's Okay Daddy's Girl, he/she had a good eye!
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vegaspink
June 17, 2011 at 3:35 PM
I liked her as a blonde during her Baby VOX days. She pulled it off....
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19 abby
June 18, 2011 at 9:01 AM
I'm sad at a times when I want to watch K-drama and there's nobody cares to sub is really frustrating.I GUESS IT 'S BECAUSE they don't like the actors or is the other way around. Like eg. Love by my side,You're so Pretty. Can you hear my heart those are only the few that I want to watch but the question is no sub at all and almost finish but can't understand fully the message... Hopefully someone w/good intention will do it. Thanks in advance whoever have the heart to do it for the sake of their fans.
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