Actor Lee Sun-bin shared her feelings about acting with an almost completely makeup-free face.

Attending the press screening and press conference for the film "Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng" held at CGV Yongsan in Seoul on the afternoon of October 19, Lee Sun-bin recalled what she felt when checking her appearance on the monitor on set: "To be honest, this was my first time appearing in a project in such an unguarded state. When I first saw the monitor, even I couldn't hide my shock."

Lee Sun-bin added, "Still, I felt that brought my character to life very well. Rather than Lee Sun-bin, I wanted to portray Teacher Maeng Bo-ram, someone you wouldn't recognize if she walked past you. So I wore makeup darker than my natural skin tone and styled my hair with no effort to look stylish at all. But in fact, that face is still my face. I didn't try to look rustic, but it was fun being able to show a new side of myself. It felt great to let go of having to look pretty or worrying about visuals and just show Maeng Bo-ram as she is."

In the film, Lee Sun-bin plays Maeng Bo-ram, a young Korean language teacher brimming with passion. Maeng Bo-ram is a Korean language teacher instructing students in a small provincial town who unexpectedly finds herself entering the heavily guarded CSAT exam-writing headquarters due to an administrative error.

Bringing realism to Maeng Bo-ram, whose ordinariness is her individuality and whose passion is her charm, Lee Sun-bin explained, "I would be truly grateful if people see similarities between me and the character Maeng Bo-ram. I was very nervous in the early stages of filming. It was my first time taking on a character who is bubbly, cute, and the epitome of innocence going to this extent." She continued, "Since the genre is a comedy, I tried hard to tailor the comedy to match the tone of the teachers."

Sharing that the cast stayed together in Muju during filming just like real CSAT question-writing committee members, Lee Sun-bin smiled and said, "It was so easy to get ready and head straight to the set. It had the advantage of eliminating wasted time. Filming alongside senior actors, it was so delightful and joyful that looking back, I only remember laughing."

"Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng" is a mission comedy about Maeng Bo-ram, a Korean language teacher from a small provincial town who unexpectedly joins the question-writing headquarters—sealed off for 40 days for the "CSAT question writing," a Level 2 national secret—and scrambles to craft "flawless questions" free of typos and disputes. The film hits theaters on October 28. 

(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)