"Overwhelming but ultimately rewarding" — Chae Soo-bin shares experiences while filming 'When The Phone Rings'

On January 17, 2025, Chae Soo-bin shared her experience filming the hit Netflix series When The Phone Rings with the South Korean media outlet MHN Sports. The interview was held at the Starship Entertainment building in Gangnam, Seoul, South Korea. The female actress explained how she prepared for her character, who used sign language.

Chae Soo-bin confessed that she did not want to forget the signs during the filming. Hence, she learned sign language diligently and carefully. She adapted to the new language like a choreography. She went on to describe the difficulties encountered during the process and mentioned, as translated by Kbizoom:

"I had to adapt to differences between news-style sign language and international sign language, which was overwhelming but ultimately rewarding."

For those unversed, Chae Soo-bin played the character of a sign language interpreter, Hong Hee-joo/Na Hee-joo. It was portrayed that due to an unfortunate accident, she lost her voice.

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Chae Soo-bin talked about the popularity of When The Phone Rings

According to Nielsen Korea, the romance and thriller drama When The Phone Rings concluded with a nationwide viewership rating of 8.6% on January 4, 2025. During the conversation, the female actress talked about the popularity of the series and how viewers have been reacting to it. She added:

"The actors also talked among themselves about why the drama did well. When I looked around, the married woman fell in love with Baek Sa-eon. Even the embarrassing lines seemed to touch women's hearts, and I think this kind of innocent love resonated."

When the Phone Rings actress further explained that she felt good receiving a positive response from international fans on social media platforms. She was glad to see the comments on her Instagram from the overseas fans. The actress went on to explain a memorable reaction from a viewer and added:

"I once saw a composite video of a scene of cheering in the background of the scene where Baek Sa-eon and Hong Hee-joo reunited in episode 12. After seeing this, I felt that many people loved Sa-eon as Hee-joo, and I was so proud and found it cute."

Chae Soo-bin stated that learning sign language was not a difficult process. However, the principles of learning why the movements were executed in a certain way were challenging. She thought it was a beautiful language and desired to learn it even before she filmed When The Phone Rings.

The female actress mentioned feeling proud when she saw some children imitating sign language. It made her realize that through the show, the people were getting more interested in it.

When the Phone Rings actress further confessed that she was not close with actor Yoo Yeon-seok before the series. Even though they were from the agency King Kong by Starship, she barely talked with them before the drama. Regarding her casting with the actor, she mentioned:

"At first, I had to say that we weren't close. Even though we were in the same company, we barely had any chance to see each other except for when we filmed a commercial in the early days of our debut and when we filmed for The Game Caterers. But not being close actually helped. Sa-eon and Hee-joo, had to gradually become closer while still being distant, but in reality, we started awkwardly and naturally became close."

Rookie Cops actress concluded the interview by revealing the details about her future goals. She mentioned that she wanted to act in a different genre, not centered around romance. The actress confessed that she had done a lot of romance projects till now, and hence, she did not have many varied choices.

The female actress wants to challenge herself with a different kind of work, such as a full-on thriller and a realistic tale. Chae Soo-bin confessed that she wanted to become a strong actress who could express everything well and not waver.

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When the Phone Rings premiered from November 22, 2024, to January 4, 2025. It featured 12 episodes and stars Yoo Yeon-seok and Chae Soo-bin in the lead. The series is available to stream on Netflix in selected locations.