Author Jenny Han is happy that she promotes Korean cuisine and culture

Young women in Hollywood young adult rom-coms have one thing in common: blue-eyed blonds. From classical films "Mean Girls” and "Clueless” to latest Netflix Original content “The Kissing Booth,” the rule was kept strictly. However, here is a rule-breaker titled "To All The Boys I've Loved Before” on Netflix, which is based on a novel of the same name written by Korean-American author Jenny Han. In the Netflix rom-com film, a Korean American girl named Lara writes love letters to boys on whom she has had a crush and keeps them in the closet but her letters happen to be sent by mistake to her secret crushes. The first season took Netflix by storm to allow the third season “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” to get ready to amuse its fans once again. 　

　

The third season shot some scenes in Seoul where Lara Jean makes a family trip to South Korea, a home country of her mother who passes away. It portrays the urban sceneries of Namsan Seoul Tower, Gwangjang Market, Han River and karaokes.

With the third and final season to be premiered on Feb. 12, author Jenny Han, Lana Condor starring Lara Jean and Noah Centineo starring Peter had a virtual interview on Friday.

“When we were shooting at Namsan Seoul Tower, I invited my parents, aunts and uncles to the shooting site. They were incredibly proud of me. It was one of the best experiences ever of my life because I could show them my life as an author,” said Han. “I introduced amazing Korean foods and other cultural elements to the crews, which was also a good experience.”

Lara Jean visits Namsan Tower's Love Locks for couples and gets her own locked up; and spends a fun time singing and dancing in a karaoke. She tastes noodle in Gwangjang Market with Korean signboards shown everywhere. Condor, a Vietnamese-American actress, said that it was her first time to visit South Korea.

“I am a big fan of Korean cosmetic products. I went shopping and bought some items. When I had Korean-style fried chicken in the baseball stadium, it came across as the tastiest food that I had ever tried before,” said Condor. 　

Regarding her achievement as an actress to break the mold of a young adult rom-com girl, she answered that after she played Lara, all film scripts and characters that she was asked to consider were completely different from those before she starred “To All The Boys I've Loved Before.”

“When I dreamed of becoming an actress, I imagined being an Asian American starring actress to change the mainstream media industry. Lara Jean helped me get closer to my dreams,” said Condor.

Asked why Lara Jean earned hug popularity, Han said that her story resonates with audiences in many ways.

“Everyone finds it easy to understand and feel sympathy toward Lara. As she is a warm-hearted and brave girl, the audiences may have related to her story,” said the author. “Given how things are going on in our time, it is not hard to understand why people are drawn to those with a warm heart.”


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com