In films as well as TV, there are villains viewers simply cannot hate. They may even fall in love with the poorly tempered characters, sympathizing with them.

Yura of Girl’s Day has become beloved for playing a villain in the recently wrapped TV drama “Radio Romance,” on KBS2. She played Jin Tae-ri, an actress struggling to gain fame – at any cost.

Many viewers fell for Yura’s character, as she portrays a sweet villain. The character is mischievous, yet delicate, selfish yet honest. Yura herself says she also fell in love with the character. She could not but help feel affection for the desperate actress in her constant search for attention.
 

“The production staff demanded a clumsy villain character,” the singer and actress said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. “Every time I received the script, I felt sad for Jin. I tried to defend the character, covering for her.”

When she saw online comments about her acting, Yura was sure she had made the right choices. “The comments read, ‘Yura’s role is a villainess, but there is something clumsy about the character.’ Yes! That was what I aimed for,” she said.

Yura, whose real name is Kim Ah-young, debuted with girl group Girl’s Day in 2010. Working in the highly competitive K-pop scene, she understands the character’s thirst for fame and popularity.

“I haven’t experienced her situation, but I definitely know what she feels like. Her wrong deeds, they are unrealistic but understandable, as she wants to be popular so much,” she said.

One of the most memorable scenes for Yura was when Jin reads malicious online comments about her as a segment for a radio show. Unable to control her anger, she swears on air, telling off the cyberbullies.

“I had to yell so much while playing the character my throat was sore,” Yura said, laughing.

She is no stranger from the issue of cyberattacks herself. “I couldn’t say that it was not thrilling, even if it was just acting.”

The 26-year-old finds both singing and acting fun, and says she could not pick one over the other.

“They are very different, having opposite characteristics. Being on stage is exciting, while acting requires concentration,” she said. “But as I had acting lessons, being on stage became much more comfortable. Those who perform on stage well can act well, and vice versa.”

All the bandmates of the K-pop act have gone on to enjoy acting careers across the small screen as well as the silver screen. Still, Yura hopes to return as a singer when the timing is right.

“We are looking for a good song. It’s about doing things absolutely right rather than being experimental. But it’s not easy to find a song that suits us well. When there is a nice track, we are always ready to be on stage,” she said.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)