How Tangerines is a Love Letter to Life: IU Talks Tragedy, Joy, and Resilience

IU has called When Life Gives You Tangerines the most important work of her career—and for good reason. In her moving conversation on B tv’s 폭싹 속았수다, she reflected on how the drama, which spans decades of one woman’s life, became not only a story of love and loss but a heartfelt tribute to living.

The series doesn’t shy away from life’s harsh realities. In fact, IU emphasized how it constantly juxtaposes joy and sorrow. “You finally bought a boat and bought a house… But in the very next scene Dong Myeong dies,” she said. “Ae Sun is overjoyed that her poetry collection has been published—but her husband passes away.”

That emotional whiplash was deeply affecting. “Even in my real life, I started crying more often,” IU admitted. “But in the end, what stays with me most is how good it all felt.”

For her, the most resonant line from the entire show was simple but powerful: “If you keep living, it will pass.” She believed that one line encapsulated the entire story’s spirit.

As Lee Dong Jin observed, Tangerines isn’t about grand triumphs—it’s about surviving, enduring, and finding beauty in ordinary moments. IU agreed, describing her character Ae Sun as someone who doesn’t deny pain but moves through it with strength. “She just takes it all in and overcomes it,” IU said. “That made her feel even stronger.”

Whether she was portraying grief, laughter, or mundane routines, IU’s performance echoed the drama’s central message: life is hard, but it is also deeply precious.