Lee Yoo-mi has spoken out in defence of her character Na-yeon in Netflix’s new zombie apocalypse series, All of Us Are Dead.
The Squid Game star plays a straight-talking high school student who, despite the life-threatening situation of a zombie virus, struggles to get along or even be nice to her classmates.
Many viewers thought the character came across as "mean", but in an interview with Cosmopolitan Korea, Yoo-mi explained she was unable to hate her divisive character.
"Na-yeon is someone who’s really faithful to the emotions she feels," she began in Korean, which has been translated by Soompi. "If you dwell on it again, there are aspects you come to understand about why Na-yeon acted that way."
Related: Netflix's All of Us are Dead season two release date, cast and more
Her co-star in the teen zombie drama, Yoo Chan-young, also pointed out that Na-yeon "doesn’t say anything that isn’t true".
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She might appear harsh, but Chan-young admitted: "In real life, you need someone like that."
"She has no choice but to be in a rush because she has to survive," Yoo-mi elaborated. "Her desire to live was just expressed in a different way."
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The 27-year-old actress was also proud of the reaction from fans, as she hoped it reflected on her skills as an actor to embody such an honest character.
"If she’s really mean, that means I acted well, right?" she said. "If I receive hate, I will think that I did as well as the amount of hate I receive. It’s fine if you send hate and it’s fine if you pity her."
The first season of All of Us Are Dead is all available to stream on Netflix.
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Jess is a freelance writer and editor with a passion for over-analysing everyone’s favourite movies and TV shows. As an English graduate from the University of York with an MA in Creative Writing, Jess worked as a magazine editor before turning freelance. Since then, Jess has written for outlets such as GQ, The Guardian, Inverse, Huff Post, Stylist, and Insider. She specialises in the representation of mental health, grief, and women in film. She’s also a major Marvel nerd and is writing a YA fantasy novel. LinkedIn
