Lee Han-byeol is 'Mask Girl' in latest Netflix series

Debuting with a role in a highly anticipated series on Netflix would be a dream come true for any aspiring actor, and that's precisely how actor Lee Han-byeol felt when she landed her role in "Mask Girl."

Lee Han-byeol plays the protagonist Mo-mi when she is an office worker who performs as an internet broadcasting personality in the first two episodes of the Netflix series ″Mask Girl″ [NETFLIX]

Debuting with a role in a highly anticipated series on Netflix would be a dream come true for any aspiring actor, and that's precisely how actor Lee Han-byeol felt when she landed her role in "Mask Girl."

"'Mask Girl’ is my very first lead role," Lee said during a group interview with local reporters at a cafe in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. “All other roles I've done so far were small ones I did as a film studies student. I prepared four months for the character of Mo-mi and finally got cast to play one of the three people playing her."

In “Mask Girl,” three actors play the protagonist Mo-mi, each for different stages of her life. Lee plays Mo-mi when she works as an office worker. Actor Nana plays her after she quits her job and goes through plastic surgery, while veteran actor Ko Hyun-jung plays Mo-mi when she is incarcerated in prison, trying to escape to save her daughter. “Mask Girl” topped the Netflix rankings and landed within the top 10 in 14 countries upon its release on Aug. 18.

Actor Lee Han-byeol [NETFLIX]

Mo-mi is a woman struggling with an inferiority complex due to her looks, which is not generally considered pretty by today's standards. Playing this character who is so "ugly" that she gets hated by everyone may have felt like a slap in the face for Lee as she starts her career, but Lee says it does not worry her at all.

“I was only thrilled to be offered a role," she said. "I have been receiving these questions a lot recently, but I think what is important is that I do my best with what is given to me — to appreciate the opportunity I was given and grow from all the things I learned while playing Mo-mi, and move on from there.”

Even though the character of Mo-mi could be seen as a monster to some, Lee considers her character to be a hopeful one.

“Mo-mi has her own dreams, which were stomped down by society, but she finds a way to release herself and also finds hope,” Lee said. “She may make choices that could seem unordinary and destructive, but I wanted to portray her as a person who makes such choices because she's been hurt."

Lee Han-byeol, right, plays Mo-mi in ″Mask Girl,″ alongside Ahn Jae-hong, left, who plays Oh-nam in a supporting role [NETFLIX]

Seeing her own character being played by different actors — Nana and Ko — was also an experience that opened up Lee’s horizons and gave her many lessons.

“Watching Mo-mi being played by other veteran actors also made me see how one character could be interpreted in many different ways,” Lee said. “Director Kim Young-hoon also gave us directions in a way that would highlight the different characteristics of each actor playing Mo-mi. That resulted in a fictional character with very many layers.”

Lee also expressed awe and admiration at the performance of Ahn Jae-hong, who played supporting character Joo Oh-nam, Mo-mi’s colleague and avid fan of her broadcasting persona Mask Girl, who gets involved in a series of horrendous events with her. Ahn’s performance as Oh-nam has gained praise from viewers for its uncanny realism and discomfort.

Actor Lee Han-byeol [NETFLIX]

“The scene where Ahn says ‘I love you’ in Japanese to Mo-mi on screen was improvised by Ahn,” Lee said. “I was there on set when he acted that scene, and it was simply amazing. It was a jaw-dropping moment for everyone on set. Ahn was also a great colleague to me, checking up on me as we were filming and asking me how I was doing.”

While “Mask Girl” does deal with lookism in large part, Lee feels that the central theme and message of the series has to do with how individuals all live with both pain and hope simultaneously, and then proceed to hurt others while giving hope to others at the same time.

A scene from ″Mask Girl″ [NETFLIX]

“For Mo-mi, that pain happens to be about her looks, but it could be anything,” Lee said. “We all live with some kind of pain and also hope, and ‘Mask Girl’ is about the choices that we make in regard to that and how we form relationships with others through those choices.”

Lee hopes to have many more opportunities in the future as an actor, particularly wanting to act in a role that shows detailed emotional developments.

“I want to be in a film like ‘Microhabitat’ [2017] — a work that shows the emotions of the characters in a very thorough way and builds up a narrative,” Lee said. “'Mask Girl’ has opened up opportunities for me, and I am very thankful for that.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]