K-drama Cold Blooded Intern role was made for Ra Mi-ran: ‘we are both doing what we can’ as working mums, says the Korean actress

The actress shared that the director, knowing she was hesitant about accepting, was the one who convinced her to take the role and to lead the story.

Cold Blooded Intern: Ra Mi-ran, Uhm Ji-won in workplace comedy K-drama

“Director Han told me that he was making this story a few years ago and told me that I would be a good fit,” Ra says. “I’ve never had a normal social life so I was worried if I would be appropriate. There were relatable elements but it was a bit overwhelming. I didn’t feel I could lead it.”

Once Ra took the role on, however, she found it resonated deeply with her own experiences as a working mum.

“My job is acting, and in here, [Go] goes to the office to work at a company. But they actually have the same context, in the sense that we are both doing what we can do in our position.

“It’s really unsettling because I worried a lot about whether I could return to the stage and if anyone would give me roles again or if I could continue acting. I was buried in these worries for two years … and it’s natural to have such concerns.

“Of course, I left voluntarily, but at some point, whether I could return to work was in someone else’s hands. And that wasn’t easy.”

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Go, who finally lands an internship after a handful of rejections, struggles to fit in at work – she is a middle-aged intern to her former mentee-turned-manager and has to re-familiarise herself with work which she used to be good at.

Despite everything being against her, she remains optimistic and wants to prove to herself that she can rebuild her career.

The role was not just a chance to explore complex emotions on-screen but also served as a mirror to Ra’s own experiences. The actress can remember well her own struggles in her return to work.

“I would find myself worrying. When I started working again, I felt a huge weight on my shoulders. I made my comeback with the film Lady Vengeance. And because it was my first time working on a film since my debut, I was unfamiliar with its working environment.

“So I was very conscious of everything going on in my surroundings,” she says.

“At least Go has experience and stays enthusiastic without being [hung] up on the idea that she took a break. But before that, she walks on eggshells and shows that she has a hard time believing in herself, struggling because she wasn’t confident that she could make it.”

Ra shares that taking on the character had a positive influence on her. “Go is bright-spirited and hopeful. I used to tell everyone that I’m a very optimistic person. But there came a moment when I felt I lost confidence. This character is the type of person who would stand right back up after a fall.

“So while playing her, I came to develop a mindset of ‘Let’s just do it’,” she says.

“After this series, I worked on the drama series The Good Bad Mother, and I could do it with a clear head. It’s like I adopted an attitude of ‘What would be so difficult?’ or ‘How old is my character as the mum?’ from Go’s mindset.”

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The actress says she hopes this series can offer comfort to those in a similar situation to Go.

“I just felt pity for Go and thought she was impressive for [not being] discouraged and surviving. So I wanted to [offer] a sense of support for those who are going through similar circumstances. I hoped they would also get encouragement from the series,” she says.

“The message is simply telling people that ‘Even this person is staying enthusiastic and striving to overcome challenges, so don’t give up.’”