Won Ji An on romancing Park Seo Jun: ‘He put me at ease…’
Won Ji An and Park Seo Jun had several conversations to ground the characters and their on-screen relationship.
After the ruthless and intense worlds of Squid Game and DP, Won Ji An steps onto an emotional rollercoaster in Prime Video’s romantic drama Surely Tomorrow.
She plays Seo Ji Woo, who comes face to face with her first love (Park Seo Jun), a journalist investigating an affair scandal involving her current husband.
Navigating love and heartbreak across timelines is an immediate draw — and an opportunity for Won Ji An to showcase her artistic repertoire.
“Throughout my career, I have done projects where I had to play characters who had to leave an intense impression in a relatively short period of time. So much so I actually doubted myself in the beginning of this project, thinking, ‘Will I be able to carry this narrative that stretches across such a long period of time, and which focuses on the character dynamics and relationships of these two main characters?’ I wanted to take on that challenge and prove to myself that I had it in me.”
The 26-year-old made her television debut in the gritty DP in 2021, followed by her first lead role in the fantasy rom-com Heartbeat in 2023. But it was her turn as Player No. 380 in Squid Game Season 2 and 3 that catapulted her into the spotlight.
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As she gets down to creating her own brand of filmography, Won Ji An likens herself to a sheet of blank paper. “I’m reminded of something a director I worked with in the past had said to me. He had said as an actor, I remind him of a blank piece of paper. And when I heard that, I was really overwhelmed thinking about the weight of the statement. And in real life, I think I’m quite weak and flimsy like a piece of paper too. That’s me joking but yes, I would go with paper, since it describes me best.”
Surely Tomorrow, her first foray into the romantic genre, also marks her first on-screen collaboration with Park Seo Jun. She admits being initially nervous about working with him, but calls the experience deeply enriching. Calling him a considerate co-star, she says, “There have been so many take-aways but more than anything else, I was just so thankful. There is always a quotient of nervousness before you meet your co-star, but, despite that, Seo-jun made me feel so much at ease. He was very, very considerate and put me at ease. If I had to choose just one thing that I learned from him, it would be how to look at the bigger picture and have a wider perspective.”
With their onscreen chemistry already creating buzz, Won Ji An says she and Park Seo Jun had several conversations to ground the characters and their relationship. “Since we’re working on the same story, we’d often talk about particular scenes or particular ways to portray them. Also my character, who beneath her glamorous facade is a wounded soul, gets a lot of comfort from Park Seo Jun’s character Kyeong-do in her most trying times. And I think that’s probably all I can tell you without sharing too many details,” she says as she signs off.
Surely Tomorrow premieres on Prime Video on December 6.
