Jang Gyuri Opens Up About Playing Music’s Biggest Cheerleader in “Four Hands, Two Sonatas”

Some characters carry the plot forward with big dramatic moments. Others quietly hold the emotional center together. Ahead of her upcoming drama’s premiere, Jang Gyuri has revealed exactly how she’s approaching the latter role.

“Four Hands, Two Sonatas” follows the friendship, love, rivalry, and growth of Kang Pio (Song Kang) and Choi Jeong Yo (Lee Jun Young), two students who meet at an arts high school and trace their journey from adolescence to adulthood as professional pianists — with “Four Hands” referring to the piano technique of two people playing a single instrument together.

Four Hands, Two Sonatas Details

A Character Who Lives and Breathes Music

Jang Gyuri plays Hong Jae In, a violist gifted with perfect pitch, able to distinguish individual notes purely by ear. For Jang Gyuri, the story’s musical backbone was the biggest draw. She explained that she was drawn to how the drama portrays youthful growth, love, and friendship with music placed at its center.

Music isn’t just Hong Jae In’s talent — it’s her entire upbringing. Jang Gyuri shared that because Hong Jae In grew up with a mother running an artist management company, music became woven into her life from an early age, making it feel less like a special skill and more like an inseparable part of who she is.

That sensitivity to sound is exactly what makes her one of the first to spot greatness in others. Jang Gyuri noted that since music serves as both Hong Jae In’s dream and her source of comfort, she likely felt more joy and excitement than anyone else upon discovering the extraordinary talents of her fellow students.

Preparing to Play a Musician

Getting the technical side right mattered — but Jang Gyuri prioritized something deeper. She revealed that alongside practicing the viola extensively, she focused even more on building her sensitivity toward music itself, immersing herself in classical performances and recordings during preparation.

That process led to an unexpected realization about her craft. Jang Gyuri observed that because classical music has no lyrics, it can shift endlessly depending on a performer’s state of mind — a quality she found strikingly similar to acting, where the same script can produce an entirely different result depending on the actor’s emotional state in the moment.

The Heart Behind the Character

Beyond the technical artistry, Jang Gyuri wanted Hong Jae In to feel like a genuine emotional anchor. She described her character as a warm, people-loving presence who knows how to sincerely support the people she cares about — someone who quietly stays close during hard times and offers a sense of reassurance, never losing that warmth even as she matures through life’s experiences.

Stories built around classical music and coming-of-age friendship tap into a long tradition in film and television — the emotional intensity of musical performance has powered narratives since the earliest days of the music film genre, where sound and character growth are deeply intertwined.

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