By Lee Gyu-lee
Jang Da-ah is used to generating buzz – even before she launched her acting career, she was revealed to be the older sister of Jang Won-young, a member of K-pop group IVE.
“[Me being Won-young’s sister] was disclosed when I was first gaining attention. Regardless of my intention, I felt it was something that I could not avoid and accepted it,” the actress says.
“My dream of acting was so strong and certain, and I came to achieve that dream [with the series]. So I didn’t pay much attention to nor was swayed by any accompanying external factors.”
Adopted from a popular webtoon of the same name, Tving’s teen thriller series follows a newly transferred student, Sung Su-ji (Kim Ji-yeon), at Baekyeon Girls’ High School, where a class plays a brutal ranking game called the Pyramid Game, orchestrated by Jang’s character, Baek Ha-rin.
‘I’ve never had to develop a character to be hated’: The Glory’s Lim Ji-yeon
‘I’ve never had to develop a character to be hated’: The Glory’s Lim Ji-yeon
The class takes part in a popularity vote every month to rank each student from A to F, allowing those with higher grades to lord over those with F until the next vote.
After becoming the class target, Sung realises Baek, the class’ “princess”, is the creator and manipulator of the game and goes against her to destroy her nice-girl facade as well as the social hierarchy she controls.
The 10-part series, all episodes of which dropped on March 21, is directed by Park So-yeon, who previously led the 2023 romcom series The Heavenly Idol.
Jang says the series was a dream come true for her, as she has always wanted to portray such a multilayered character – the only thing that worried her was if she would be able to pull it off in her debut role.
“I wanted to reach the standards I set for myself. So I focused on achieving those standards rather than putting my mind to other things,” she says. “I wanted to portray a two-sided character like Baek. At the same time, this character has sweet and villainous traits. So I thought I could handle it well if I took the challenge, and it came to me like a gift right from the start.
“As it was my dream opportunity, I studied harder and took time to struggle to prepare myself.”
Her character, Baek, was made fun of for being an orphan and was adopted into a wealthy but indifferent conglomerate-owning family. Her upbringing turned her into a manipulative and psychotic person who enjoys bullying.
Although it was difficult to fully understand her darker aspects, Jang tried to find common ground with the character.
“There were more non-verbal cues than verbal ones to Baek. I personally enjoyed expressing the moments she was internally going through raging emotions … she’s firm and organised, which I thought was similar to me. I felt how she is not easily influenced and has all the plans in place in her mind is somewhat in sync with me,” she said.
“I feel this role has made me widen my spectrum. It wasn’t easy to portray Baek but the process was fascinating and I learned a lot through it.”
Jang has acting ambitions and views this debut project as merely the first step.
“Pyramid Game was the first experience for me in every aspect. The experiences I gained from this will surely serve as a foundation in whatever projects I take moving forward,” she said.
“I want to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to improve and fill in any gaps to become a skilled actor.”