Han So-hee talks about remaking ‘The Intern’ — and when she’d choose family over career

Han So-hee, sitting before reporters with striking platinum-white hair bleached to the roots, looks every bit the young fashion startup CEO she plays in “The Intern,” the Korean remake of the 2015 Hollywood workplace comedy. 

But in real life, Han says she doesn’t think of herself as “Gen MZ” — a shorthand that combines millennials and Gen Z and is commonly used to describe younger generations — even if, at 32, she falls firmly into the millennial category.

“When I was in my early 20s, I didn’t even know what I liked or what I wanted to do. But when I talk to people in their early 20s now, they seem to already have a clear sense of direction and are very deliberate about pursuing it,” the actor said in a roundtable interview in central Seoul on Tuesday. 

She sees that confidence in how younger people express themselves, including through fashion, while she says her own tastes have grown more conservative with age.

“I used to love really punk looks — ripped-up clothes and things like that — but now I feel there are certain clothes that suit your age, and certain clothes that suit you as a person,” Han said. 

In “The Intern,” Han takes on the role of ambitious executive Seon-woo opposite longtime actor Choi Min-sik’s Ki-ho, a publishing industry veteran who joins her company as a senior intern.

In some ways, Han says she contrasts with Seon-woo. There’s the hair — Seon-woo sports a jet-black look — and the generational divide: the CEO initially struggles to connect with older people, while Han says she has always felt comfortable around them, perhaps because she was raised by her grandmother.

The executive also has “more backbone” than she does, Han says, and is “more assertive and forward-moving, whereas I think I’m still a little immature.”

Still, Han says there are parts of Seon-woo she relates to, describing them both as “anxious perfectionists” who are never quite satisfied with themselves.

“There’s this instability that comes from wanting to do well, from your heart getting ahead of you and this pressure to succeed that can push you right to the edge,” she said.

“More than anything, both Seon-woo and I really value the people around us. It’s great to work with people who are capable and efficient, of course, but we also place a lot of importance on affection and human connection.”

In Nancy Meyers’ 2015 original, Anne Hathaway played the startup CEO opposite Robert De Niro as her senior intern. Both are household names in Korea, where “The Intern” was also a box office hit, drawing around 3.6 million admissions. The Korean remake will hit theaters on Sept. 16.

Han said taking on such a familiar role came with some pressure, but she tried to make the character her own rather than replicate Hathaway’s performance. That included incorporating distinctly Korean elements, such as shifts between honorific and informal speech to signal workplace hierarchy and changing relationships.

“Working from an original is like taking a test with the answer sheet sitting next to you,” Han said. “The original is the original. You follow the broad arc, but the question is how you interpret it in your own way rather than simply copying it.”

The Korean remake, directed by Kim Do-young, closely follows the original’s basic storyline. Seon-woo struggles to balance career and family while leading her company, and leans on Ki-ho’s wisdom as she navigates the pressures of being a young entrepreneur.

But Han says the story still has something to say 11 years later, particularly in the relationship between generations.

“We live in a society where we depend on one another, so we need good people around us — I don’t think that changes, no matter how much time passes […] For some people, that means needing an adult like Ki-ho. For others, it might be dependable colleagues,” she said. 

Through her time with Ki-ho, Seon-woo is able to “move forward as a more complete person,” making her own decisions both in running the company and in her troubled marriage, Han said.

The actor, meanwhile, said that in her own life, she would prioritize family over her career — at least for a while. 

“I’d like to get married before I turn 40,” she said. “I don’t really have any fantasies about marriage itself, but I do want to have children.”

“If I do have a child, I think I’d stop working until they start elementary school. Before then, I’d want to take some time off, make as many good memories as possible and give them lots of memories with their mom.”

As for a future partner, Han had at least one requirement.

“Someone stable — and handsome,” she said with a laugh.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]