10 interesting facts about It's Okay To Not Be Okay actress Seo Yea-ji

In case you haven’t heard, South Korean drama It’s Okay To Not Be Okay has been all the rage these days, and we can see why.

Besides the captivating and heartwarming storyline and heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun, the show also stars Seo Yea-ji.

Keep scrolling as we tell you more about her — some facts about this elegant beauty could surprise you.

1. She became an actress by chance 

Born on June 4, 1990 (a Gemini!), Yea-ji was relatively unknown internationally before It’s Okay To Not Be Okay aired. Many even thought she was a newbie. In fact, she has been in showbiz for seven years.

Some productions you can catch her in include Moorim School: Saga of the Brave (2016), Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016), Save Me (2017), and Lawless Lawyer (2018).

Her debut story began when she was discovered after she returned to Korea from Spain where she was studying to get orthodontic surgery. Yea-ji’s initial ambition was to be a news anchor.

She was not mentally prepared to be an actress and coupled with her family’s wish for her to complete her studies, she returned to Spain and only became an actress in Korea after graduation.

2. She finds it difficult to gain weight 

Yea-ji is 169cm tall, weighs 43kg, and has a waist size of 22 inches.

She once revealed that she finds it difficult to gain weight. Her mother and sister also have a similar slender build. She doesn’t skip meals to lose weight and had even gained two kilograms for the role.

3. She's noted for her elegance 

Popular variety show host Yoo Jae-suk once praised Yea-ji for possessing an unconventional beauty. Her cool, noble temperament exudes a unique charm on-screen, and her polished movements can be attributed to her dance training.

When she was younger, she learned ballet, while her current favourite exercise is yoga. Over time, it is no wonder that she has trained her disposition to be graceful and elegant.

4. She has many hidden talents 

Yea-ji has a wide variety of hobbies and interests. She once revealed on a show that she has eight different professional certifications ranging from teaching English to children, origami to balloon art. Her most notable achievement is actually being certified in sex education.

She clarified that this certification wasn’t because she was interested in sex; she took it to educate herself and protect herself.

Her origami hobby helps her to relieve stress. She has loved the art form since young, and when she is feeling stressed, she would fold her troubles and worries into roses. 

5. She speaks fluent Spanish 

Yea-ji studied in Spain for three years and graduated from Complutense University of Madrid’s Journalism faculty. In 2013, she debuted in the sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3, and had a scene with a Spanish actor where she showed off her mastery of the language.

The reason why she took up Spanish had to do with her low vocality. She said in an interview that she used to hate her voice as it is low and lacked femininity. The bass quality, however, was perfectly suited for the European language.

6. She is a bare-faced beauty

In the show, we see her sporting light, natural make-up. In reality, she rarely wears it. She takes a minimalist approach to skincare, unlike the 10-step Korean skincare routine we’ve all heard of.

She focuses on removing make-up and hydration while ensuring that the skin isn’t excessively cleansed. There are four major steps to her routine: cleansing, the use of toner, serum, and moisturiser.

Outside of work, she uses as little make-up as possible, believing that it harms and suffocates the skin.

In addition, her jet black locks are also a result of meticulous care. Yea-ji insists on not dyeing her hair for years and gets a trim every three weeks to ensure it looks smooth and lustrous.

7. She has history with Kim Soo-hyun

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It’s Okay To Not Be Okay isn’t the first partnership between Yea-ji and Soo-hyun. The two had collaborated on a pudding dessert commercial in 2015, when she played a shy girl-next-door.

8. She has worked with other famous male artistes

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Besides Soo-hyun, Yea-ji has also worked with many notable male celebrities, including Lee Joon-gi (Lawless Lawyer), Ok Taecyeon (Save Me), Park Seo-joon (Hwarang), and Kim Jae-wook (Another Way).

She also starred as the female lead in Big Bang’s Let’s Not Fall In Love music video and had many sweet moments with G-Dragon.

After working together on Lawless Lawyer with Joon-gi, she started gaining some fame internationally.

Joon-gi said he had a great impression of her and that while he was initially worried about working with her, he eventually discovered that she is a lively and deep person.

9. She had troubles filming her first intimate scene 

In 2017, she starred opposite Kim Jae-wook in the movie Another Way. The film follows the two characters as they are about to commit suicide. Here, she faced the challenge of her first large-scale sex scene.

Filming for the scene took over 11 hours, and eventually a small drink calmed her nerves and she was able to overcome her mental block to finish the scene.

10. She's a warm-hearted person

While we see her as a steely cold person in the drama, she’s actually a warm-hearted woman who loves to laugh. In her debut production Potato Star 2013QR3, Yea-ji and Go Kyung-pyo played bickering siblings and there were many hilarious quarrel scenes that showed off her comedic side.

She also got close to veteran actor Lee Soon-jae, who played her grandfather in the same production.

He revealed in the variety show Grandpas Over Flowers that after learning he was heading to Spain for a vacation, Yea-ji wrote a 10-page long guide to the Spanish language to prepare him in case of emergency. This moved him deeply.

This article was first published in ICON Magazine.