Korean actress Oh Se Young has spoken about her lead role in What a Boss Wants, a romance drama based on a web novel of the same name. She plays a struggling job seeker who leads a hidden double life as an indie singer, and the series premieres on 11 November 2026 at 10.20pm KST.
Actor Sung Hoon co-stars as Kwon Do Hyuk, a chaebol boss who has no sense of taste and is searching for the woman whose voice he heard on an album. Oh plays Lee Eun Chae, who becomes the one unpredictable element in his carefully ordered life. Eun Chae dreams of becoming a singer and stays cheerful despite money problems. While her family believes she has a job, she performs in secret as Soo, lead vocalist of the indie band India Red, and hopes one day to hear someone sing along to her songs. The drama is adapted from a web novel, a source that has supplied many recent Korean romance series.
Oh said the script excited her from the first reading and that the range of qualities in Eun Chae made the role a challenge she wanted to take on. She described the character as innocent and easily moved, someone willing to make unconventional choices. She also sees herself in Eun Chae, saying the two share a romantic outlook and a habit of being open about their feelings.
The preparation was hands-on. Oh said the team held many meetings and tests to design Soo’s look, because the transformation between the two sides of the character mattered. She rehearsed with the members of India Red, even on days off, studied the gestures and stage presence of indie vocalists and practised singing at karaoke rooms to get comfortable with performing. The aim was for the stage scenes to look convincing rather than staged.
Oh also spoke about working with Sung Hoon, saying the pair talked often before filming began and that his attentive, playful approach on set helped them build natural chemistry. She summed up the shoot simply: “We filmed with lots of love.” She added that the set was always full of laughter, which she believes will come through on screen. Viewers who know her from The Judge Returns will see her in a lighter role when the drama launches next month, with music placed at the centre of her character.
