Actor Lee Chung-ah spoke about playing Hwang Hyun-jin in ENA's Monday–Tuesday drama Honor: Their Court (hereafter Honor). We met on the 12th at a café in Cheongdam‑dong in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Her candid, thoughtful answers made an hourlong interview feel much shorter, and her commitment to the series was immediately evident.
Honor is a mystery thriller about three women lawyers who confront a decades‑old scandal after it explodes into the public eye. Lee plays Hwang Hyun‑jin, the action‑oriented attorney at L&J (Listen and Join), a firm that represents female crime victims, and she shares the screen with Lee Na‑young and Jung Eun‑chae as longtime friends.
The series finale, which aired on the 11th, scored a career‑high 4.9% in the Seoul metropolitan area and 4.7% nationwide. Lee said she was delighted by the response. “I was happy that so many people told me they were watching,” she said, smiling. Friends had begged her to spoil the ending, but she ignored the requests. She added that both the audience reaction and the ratings made her very pleased.
Honor examines sexual exploitation enabled by online platforms, corruption among the powerful, and the covert cartels that protect them. The scenes where the three lawyers band together to seek justice are cathartic, but the parallels to real‑world problems leave a lingering unease.
Lee reflected carefully on the series’ impact. “If viewers begin to pay attention to similar issues, that’s meaningful,” she said. She believes the show’s strength lies in prompting audiences to ask themselves, “What would I have done in that situation?”
On screen, Hwang Hyun‑jin is the most impulsive of the trio—driven by emotion and quick to act. The character’s background as a seasoned martial artist required numerous action scenes. Lee said she wasn’t daunted by the physical demands. “I did a lot of sports as a kid,” she explained. “I didn’t grow tall, so I trained in taekwondo, kendo, hapkido and swimming. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t too hard. In my 20s I often played characters who used martial arts, and while filming this time I thought, ‘My skills haven’t gone rusty.’”
She also said the role taught her a great deal. “Hyun‑jin isn’t afraid to make mistakes, and she won’t be cowardly,” Lee said. “I admired her. Watching someone bravely show vulnerability made me realize how endearing that can be.”
Lee Chung‑ah debuted in the 2002 film The Little Match Girl: Rebirth and has since appeared in series including SBS’s VIP, A 1,000 KRW (0.75 USD) Lawyer, MBC’s Lovers and JTBC’s Hyde. Known for intense roles, she used Honor to explore a different type of character.
Asked why she chose Honor, Lee said she wanted to portray someone closer to everyday life. “Genre‑wise it was similar to some of my past work, but the character offered a different variation,” she said. “It was one of the most readable scripts I’ve encountered, and I felt the story had real strength.”
When asked about future roles, Lee said she’s keeping an open mind. “Acting isn’t a job where you can do everything just because you want to,” she said. “Lately I’ve been more open to possibilities. I’d like to try new genres, and even within familiar ones, I’d take on roles that reflect the times or let me deliver a strong performance.”
Jung Se‑yoon, TenAsia reporter yoon@tenasia.co.kr
