Shin Ye-Eun Defies Expectations In ‘Secret Romantic Guesthouse’

Shin Ye-un plays Dan-oh, a resourceful nobleman’s daughter, in the historical k-drama Secret Romantic Guesthouse. Dan-oh faces difficult circumstances, but doesn’t let them defeat her. It’s a very different role from the one Shin played in The Glory, where her character was the younger version of the vicious bully played by Lim Ji-yeon. Shin admits to being shocked when she first received the script for The Glory, which went on to win Best Drama at the 2023 Baeksang Awards. Nevertheless, she did her best.

“In order to emphasize that school violence is a really big problem, I thought I had to express the perpetrator’s character well,” said Shin. “As much as I tried to do well, there were many difficulties. I was filming a scene where I had to bully the other actor, and when I saw that actor crying, all of a sudden I thought, ‘What am I doing right now?’ I felt that it’s really not easy to portray a character like this, and I was worried about whether this was really right. However, I thought that I have to portray my character well so that the things that this drama wanted to talk about could be shown well. I guess that is why I worked harder.”

Her character in Secret Romantic Guesthouse is a resourceful woman, who defies gender norms of the time and perseveres without being cruel to anyone. Dan-oh was a much easier character to relate to.

“Dan-oh and I are very similar in that we are both independent and have a great sense of responsibility,” said Shin. “I was interested in her at first in that she is a character I have many similarities with, and I was charmed by how Dan-oh remains bold and doesn’t fall down even amidst difficult situations. I got the thought that I wanted to highlight this character, who is sometimes lovable and sometimes charismatic, in my own style.”

When Dan-oh loses her family she opens a guesthouse and rents rooms to scholars who are taking the government test to become ranking officials. Through her guests Dan-oh gets involved in solving a missing person case. Shin can’t know for sure what she might have done if she lived during the Joseon Dynasty. Would she have defied the norms?

“I would like to say that I think I would have lived quietly because I tend to get scared easily,” said Shin. “But I also have a proactive disposition, so I think I might have been similar to Dan-oh. Like Dan-oh, I also of course have great love for my family, and I can’t stand injustice, so I feel as if I would have lived quite a progressive life within the boundaries of what I could do.”

The actress previously played lead roles in the dramas Revenge of Others and He Is Psychometric. Secret Romantic Guesthouse is her first historical drama. Acting in a historical drama can be a challenge for even the most accomplished actors and she did worry about doing her best.

“I had a lot of worries and fear before filming began,” said Shin. “In order to get rid of that fear, I continuously practiced until filming, recorded that, and listened to that every day. I found elements that were lacking while listening to my acting over again, and a lot of my fear dissipated as I improved my acting. From then on, the filming set gradually began to become more comfortable. When I look at my acting, I always see what is lacking first, but despite this, I can say that I did my best without any regrets. I want to try a historical drama again, and I am certain that I will be able to do better then.”

What Shin enjoys most about acting is becoming one with the character she plays.

“I enjoy that time,” she said. “I feel proud of myself for building up a character in the right direction when I see myself doing my character’s behaviors without having to think about it or try to immerse myself into the character. Also, I am attracted to being an actress as I can encounter various professions. I came across snowboarding, shooting, action scenes and more while filming recent projects. Being able to experience the fields that I would not normally come across easily is another source of pleasure.”

She credits her co-stars with helping her do her best in Secret Romantic Guesthouse. Those co-stars include actors Ryeo Un, Jung Gun-hoo and Kang Hoon.

“While filming this drama, I especially learned a lot about what it feels like to create the best scene through chemistry with co-stars rather than just falling into my own emotions,” she said. “I gained lots of courage whenever the senior actors and actresses complimented me for doing well. In addition, I grew more intimate with the other cast members of my age as we shared our worries, sympathized, and comforted each other. I am so happy that I made precious friends.”

But the best part of working on the historical drama was learning more about traditional Korean culture.

“The greatest happiness was being able to come across elements of our culture every day including hanok (traditional Korean houses), hanbok (traditional Korean attire), and hansik (traditional Korean food). Furthermore, while filming a historical drama, you get to spend a long time living in an area that is not Seoul. Since I got to lodge in a place near the set along with all the starring actors and staff members together, there was more time spent together. After filming ended, we ate together and shared our concerns and thoughts regarding acting, and we could become even closer. I think I will probably dwell on those happy memories for a long time.”

Secret Romantic Guesthouse airs on Viki.com.