Rising Korean Actress Chae Seo An Talks 'My Royal Nemesis' and Career Path

Korean actress Chae Seo An has added another title to a fast-growing résumé. After turning heads in When Life Gives You Tangerines and Perfect Crown," she now joins My Royal Nemesis with a role that finally puts her own character, Mo Tae-hee, at the center of viewers' attention. In her earlier projects she was often remembered through tags like "Hak's wife" or "IU's sister-in-law." This time, the character itself is what fans are talking about.

Chae sat down for an interview at the TenAsia office in Seoul's Jungnim neighborhood. With three back-to-back hits behind her, she is being called one of the next faces to watch in Korean drama. She does not quite see it that way.

"People keep telling me I've been in big projects one after another, but it doesn't feel real yet," she said. "I wasn't thinking about hits. I was thinking about doing my part well. The fact that the work has been loved, and that I get to sit here and talk about it, is something I'm grateful for."

Interviews are still new to her. She came across as shy at first, then lit up the moment the conversation turned to acting. Acting, though, was not her original plan. She first studied advertising and public relations in college.

"I happened to see classmates rehearsing a play on campus," she said. "Watching them made me want to try acting too. I was 22 at the time." She added, "My parents were against it, but I prepared hard for the entrance exams and got into a theater and film program. That's how I started on this path."

The early years were not easy. In past interviews after the release of When Life Gives You Tangerines," Chae said she had worked at a CCTV company and at factories to support herself right up until the show went out.

"Back then, just getting through each day felt heavy," she said. "So I did physical work to fill the time. I tried to think positively as much as I could and keep myself going."

Last year she joined the Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines as Hak's wife. The part was small but striking, and she says it opened the door to My Royal Nemesis."

"I heard the director and writer saw When Life Gives You Tangerines and asked to meet me," she said. "They kept saying they wanted me for Mo Tae-hee, and that's how I got the role."

She spoke about Mo Tae-hee with clear affection.

"I felt this was a character I had never shown before," she said. "I thought I could reveal a new side of myself through her." To prepare, she leaned into the details. "Because the character is from a wealthy family, I spent time walking around department stores," she explained. "Mo Tae-hee looks gentle on the outside but is full of ambition underneath. I paid attention to her walk, her expressions, even her tone of voice."

In My Royal Nemesis," Chae forms a love triangle with Lim Ji-yeon and Heo Nam-jun and carries part of the show's mid-to-late storyline. Shooting the scenes opposite Im was its own challenge.

"She has played so many intense characters that I would get nervous going into our scenes together," Chae recalled. "Instead of pushing harder, I tried to pull back and show Mo Tae-hee's coldness through restraint."

She also had praise for her co-star Heo Nam-jun. "He's an actor with real focus," she said. "He catches every small detail and responds to it. Mo Tae-hee tends to dump her emotions on Cha Se-gye in one direction, so the rhythm isn't easy. He took every line and made it feel natural. I'm thankful for that."

As she keeps expanding her range, Chae says she has her eye on crime thrillers next.

"I was really struck by the Netflix series The Frog,'" she said. "I want to play a character that lets me release that kind of explosive energy. I'm confident I can do it." Asked which actor she would most like to work with, she named Son Ye-jin. "I cried a lot watching A Moment to Remember in high school," she said. "I want to be the kind of actor who can carry emotion just through a look, the way she does."

Asked how she wants to be remembered, she smiled at a comment she keeps coming back to.

"My favorite reply online is, 'Wait, that actress was Hak's wife?'" she said. "I want viewers not to recognize me from project to project. I want to be the kind of actor who always shows a new face."