Nana Takes On First Sageuk Role in Netflix's "The Scandal"

Netflix has released the first character stills for its upcoming period drama "The Scandal", starring Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and Nana. The series marks Nana's first sageuk, or historical drama, role since her debut.

Set in the Joseon era, "The Scandal" follows Lady Jo (Son Ye-jin), a woman whose talents stretch far beyond the narrow life allowed to women of her time, and Jo Won (Ji Chang-wook), Joseon's most notorious playboy. The two enter into a dangerous romantic wager that pulls in a third figure, Hui-yeon (Nana), whose story becomes tangled in the bet.

Nana plays Hui-yeon, a young widow who lost her husband before their wedding ceremony even took place. Bound by expectations that she preserve her chastity, she cannot freely choose the shape of her own life. Resigned to that fate, she meets Jo Won when he steps into her world, and without realizing it, she becomes the target of the bet between him and Lady Jo. How Hui-yeon changes as she becomes entangled with the pair is set to be one of the drama's central hooks. In her first period role, Nana is expected to show a side very different from her previous work.

The released stills also show Lady Jo, Jo Won and Hui-yeon writing and reading letters. How the three characters build and shift their relationships through those letters is expected to be one of the drama's key points.

Son Ye-jin and Ji Chang-wook's looks also stand out. Son Ye-jin takes on Lady Jo, the woman who proposes the secret wager. Ji Chang-wook transforms into Jo Won, the era's most infamous womanizer.

Director Jung Ji-woo spoke about the three leads. "All three characters carry a wide gap between the self they show and the self they hide," he said. "The psychological push and pull between them, as they are exposed or catch glimpses of each other, is what will make this a spectacle to watch."

"The Scandal" premieres September 18 on Netflix.