South Korean singer and actress Han Seung-yeon, better known as Seungyeon, lead vocalist of former K-pop girl group KARA, talked about her latest drama, 'Age of Youth 2.' She also revealed why she prefers 'Harry Potter' to self-help books.
As noted by website Soompi, Han Seung-yeon recently posed for a photoshoot and interview with InStyle magazine. Here, she revealed she prefers reading books of the fantasy genre rather than self-help ones. She explained, "Instead of self-help books that lay out a path to life, I prefer novels that make me search the meaning through the story." As to the fantasy series of books that inspired her the most, her answer was, "Harry Potter."
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The series of seven books deal with the life of famous boy-wizard Harry Potter and his friends, in their quest to defeat the dark Lord Voldemort and his plans to wipe out those he considers unworthy of being wizards. Apart from the obvious parallels to Nazi Germany and the extraordinary fantasy-filled scenarios; 'Harry Potter' is also very much a tale of finding oneself.
There are some wonderful life lessons to be learnt from JK Rowling's tremendously popular series of books; later turned into equally successful films starring Daniel Radcliffe; as well as a recent theatrical production, 'The Cursed Child.' It is not at all surprising to find someone considering the 'Harry Potter' series to have helped them 'search the meaning' of life on their own.
Han Seung-yeon also shared a similarity between 'Harry Potter' and 'Age of Youth 2.' "Belle Epoch (the house that the lead characters share in the drama) is like a fantasy-like Hogwarts," she said. However, Hogwarts is not all bright and sparkling fantasy; there's plenty of darkness within its walls as the later books in the 'Harry Potter' series reveal. There are dark aspects to 'Age of Youth' as well.
In the first season of 'Age of Youth,' Han Seung-yeon's character was shown as a victim of dating violence. The scene became quite controversial for viewers. The scene affected the actress and she couldn't understand why it was needed at all. "I couldn't understand the scene while filming. The boyfriend was quite selfish, but I thought the violent acts diverted from the flow of the story," she said.
However, she revealed that the writer of 'Age of Youth,' Park Yeon-seon, cleared her doubts and told her, "Not all things that happen in life is foreshadowed. Sometimes, things happen without any preview or context because that's life."
The first episode of JTBC's 'Age of Youth 2' will air this August 25, at 11.00 pm KST on JTBC network. It will occupy the Friday-Saturday slot.
