Nam Ji-hyun X Moon Sang-min: Perfect Chemistry

Actress Nam Ji-hyun has once again proven herself to be a reliable actress through the youth historical drama 'My Dearest'. The drama depicted the romance between Hong Eun-jo (Nam Ji-hyun), a thief with the status of an 'eollnyeo' born between a slave and a nobleman, and Prince Do-wol-daegun Lee Yeol (Moon Sang-min), a free-spirited prince. It received much love, recording a highest viewership rating of 7.7% and ranking 5th in TV drama buzzworthiness.

Nam Ji-hyun played the role of Hong Eun-jo, who lives as a royal physician by day and the righteous thief Gil-dong by night. She showcased her presence by portraying the role of her soul being swapped with Do-wol-daegun Lee Yeol. She stated that rather than feeling pressure about viewership ratings, "I only thought about the project. The script was good, the director cast well, and it was a project with good people gathered, so I wanted to make it well." She added that she believes viewership ratings are given by heaven and "​Personally, I am very satisfied. It's a project I have no regrets about."

Regarding 'My Dearest', she said, "It was a role that actors would all covet because it had a good story and allowed me to show various sides," and "​I thought I could show new aspects in this project, so I did a lot of script readings before filming and tried to capture the details." She had high expectations for her return to historical dramas and, comparing it to her previous work '100 Days My Prince', explained that 'My Dearest' "​seems to have a sense of weight because it contains macroscopic elements of saving and growing each other, and ultimately changing their world."

Nam Ji-hyun gave "a perfect score" for her chemistry with Moon Sang-min, saying, "​We had so much fun filming. There were many difficult scenes, but there were also many moments of laughter. In the latter half, I had to exert a lot of physical effort, and I received a lot of help from Moon Sang-min." The 5-year age difference was not a burden, and Moon Sang-min said that as a colleague, he could comfortably focus on the project, stating, "​He's very friendly, humorous, and has good intuition. He has great sense. He's quick-witted and reads the flow well."

For the soul-swapping scenes, she watched Moon Sang-min's previous works and studied his speech patterns and style. She revealed, "At first, I wondered if I should imitate him exactly, but I realized it would be difficult to portray it in just one way. The situations and the people I met were diverse, so I tried to incorporate characteristics, sometimes speaking similarly, sometimes sharing emotional lines, and doing it in various ways." She added, "​We talked a lot with each other. Since there was a soul swap, we discussed a lot about what the main emotional line should be. Lee Yeol had fixed behaviors, like carrying a fan or crossing his arms. So, when the souls swapped, we focused on details like making sure his right hand went on top when he put his hands behind his back."