Nam Joo Hyuk and Jung Yu Mi battle 'jellies' in fantasy series The School Nurse Files
By Bryan Tan
The latest in a series of Korean dramas on Netflix, The School Nurse Files (SNF) stars rising actor and model Nam Joo Hyuk and actress Jung Yu Mi.
SNF is a rather quirky supernatural six-episode drama that features “jellies”, cute and otherworldly critters that resemble gelatinous sea creatures.
Jung Yu Mi plays Ahn Eun Young, the ditzy and gutsy school nurse who has the ability to see these jellies. Armed with a flashing toy rainbow sword and BB gun, her mission is to save her high school from the jellies, whose presence usually presage larger and more malicious ones capable of doing harm.
Her unwitting sidekick is Nam Joo Hyuk, who plays the Chinese characters teacher Hong In Pyo, and has a strange aura about him, capable of restoring Eun Young’s powers as she fights the jellies.
The unusual pairing of a school nurse and a Chinese language teacher is extremely rare in the world of Korean dramas, so how can viewers expect the drama to pan out?
Yahoo Lifestyle SEA joined the SNF virtual press conference on Thursday (24 September) with actors Jung Yu Mi and Nam Joo Hyuk, along with director Lee Kyoung Mi and writer Chung Se Rang, to learn more about the series.
Jung Yu Mi was writer Chung Se Rang’s top pick to play the role of school nurse Ahn Eun Young, long before the award-winning novel was even slated to be adapted to film.
Nam Joo Hyuk’s quick wits and creativeness were praised by his co-star, and he gladly obliged the lucky viewers by flashing finger hearts. He felt the role challenged him as an actor, and expressed enthusiasm at having to work with director Lee Kyoung Mi.
For director Lee, it is her first time directing a series whose plot and story is not her own. She takes great pride at being presented with this new and refreshing challenge, and hopes not to disappoint fans with her interpretation, being fully aware of the novel’s fan base.
A breath of fresh air in the Korean drama world, SNF hopes to spread messages of fortitude and reinvigoration to viewers around the world. Director Lee hopes that viewers can lighten their emotional burdens through watching the series, and have their worries disappear through the colourful jellies that are cutely destroyed by a toy sword-swinging school nurse.
