Rookie actress Seo Soo Min is drawing attention for an unusually strong debut after appearing as So Ji Sub’s daughter in SBS’s Agent Kim Reactivated, a drama that ended its run with impressive ratings.

Seo Soo Min played Kim Min Ji, the only daughter of Kim Bu Jang, portrayed by So Ji Sub. Despite Agent Kim Reactivated being her first television drama, she gained attention for her natural acting and emotional chemistry with the veteran actor.

The 10-episode action drama started with a nationwide rating of 9.5% before quickly climbing. According to Nielsen Korea, it surpassed 15% with Episode 2, crossed 20% by Episode 4, and eventually reached a peak rating of 23.1%.

The result reportedly made Agent Kim Reactivated the highest-rated miniseries aired this year and the second-highest-rated SBS Friday-Saturday drama after The Penthouse 2, which reached 29.2%.

Seo Soo Min revealed that she had been a fan of the original Agent Kim Reactivated webtoon since middle school, making the casting especially meaningful for her.

She recalled receiving the good news after experiencing several audition rejections, saying, “I thought I had failed, so when I finally heard that I passed, I was so happy that I was almost in disbelief.”

For her portrayal of Min Ji, Seo Soo Min said she focused less on simply delivering lines and more on expressing the emotions she believed the character would genuinely feel.

“Instead of trying to ‘act out’ the lines, I tried to say them with the emotions I was actually feeling,” she explained. “I wanted to show the inner strength that Min Ji has in the original story.”

One of the most important parts of the role for Seo Soo Min was showing Min Ji’s love for her father.

She explained that she often thought about her relationship with her own father while preparing emotional scenes. During one particularly emotional sequence with So Ji Sub, she said she became so immersed that she struggled to stop crying between takes.

“The emotions were already coming up before filming started,” she recalled. “I couldn’t easily switch them on and off. I really felt like I had become Min Ji.”

Seo Soo Min also credited So Ji Sub with helping her feel comfortable during her first major acting experience.

She said, “I still can’t believe I appeared as So Ji Sub’s daughter. He treated me like a real daughter throughout filming, and that helped my acting a lot.”

Their chemistry became so comfortable that the two reportedly began referring to each other as “dad” and “daughter” on set.

Seo Soo Min also revealed that one line in the drama came from her own improvisation.

“‘Eat slowly. If you eat too quickly, Dad will have to leave sooner’ was my ad-lib,” she shared, explaining that So Ji Sub gave her the confidence to try ideas she had originally been hesitant to use.

Before her acting debut, Seo Soo Min had already attracted online attention through casual YouTube videos from her school days, which reportedly accumulated around 4 million views.

However, she said acting had been a dream since she was young and became a serious goal during high school after realizing how strongly performances could affect viewers.

Seo Soo Min said, “I want to become an actress who can broaden the way viewers see the world.”

After completing her first drama, the rookie actress admitted that the positive attention has also brought new pressure.

“I’m still a rookie, but I’m now an actress who has completed one project,” she said. “I think I have to prove myself in my next work. Whatever role comes next, I want to work hard and make it appealing.”

For Seo Soo Min, Agent Kim Reactivated has become more than simply her debut project.

She explained, “It isn’t just my first drama. It’s the project that made it possible for me to keep acting.”

With a 23.1% peak rating and her first major role opposite So Ji Sub, Seo Soo Min has started her acting career with an unusually strong first step.