Lee Se Young, star of The Red Sleeve and The Story of Park's Marriage Contract, says playing Rashta in Disney+'s The Remarried Empress was the first time she gave up trying to fully understand her character.
On November 7, she appeared in a video on her agency Fantagio's YouTube channel to talk about the role. She said her trust in director Jo Soo Won, whom she worked with on Doctor John, was one reason she signed on. Hearing that Ju Ji Hoon, Lee Jong Suk and Shin Min Ah were joining made her want it even more. "When I heard the three of them were in it, I thought there was no reason for me not to play Rashta," she said.
She saw the unfamiliar fantasy world as a chance to act more freely. Since Rashta's way of speaking and clothes had to come from imagination, and since Rashta is a runaway slave, she felt there were fewer limits on how to portray her.
Lee Se Young described Rashta as "a pure, bright girl who wants to live hard and is desperate to survive," but added that in the end, she sees her as "pure evil." "For the first time, I thought I couldn't fully understand what my character does," she said. "So I didn't try to understand her. I just accepted her as she is, and that made me feel a little more at ease."
She also thought a lot about Rashta's bond with Empress Navier (Shin Min Ah). After reading a webtoon comment asking what would have happened if Rashta had met Navier first instead of Emperor Sovieshu, she played the role believing Rashta may have truly wanted to be like Navier, or even loved her. She put that feeling into the scene where Rashta asks Navier if she can call her "unnie."
On set, her co-stars greeted her with "Our Rashta is here!" She said Shin Min Ah especially doted on her. During filming abroad, the two once stayed up talking until morning and nearly missed their flight.
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