LMD: The film (Parasite) has been such a huge success in South Korea. A lot of times when you have a film that holds a mirror up to society, society doesn’t like what it sees, but people are really loving this movie. What do you believe audiences are responding to?
SKh: Actually, I think the respect for Director Bong Joon-ho is really huge. There is always anticipation, excitement, for any new work coming from him. And to be brutally honest, I think the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival also helped a lot.
There was almost this national sense of pride that everyone sort of basked in because it was the first time that a Korean film won that prize. But of the two aspects, I think the former; the trust and excitement about the director was actually bigger.
After facing the rejection of 17 failed auditions a month, Park So-dam held to her dream, and is now one of South Korea’s most sought-after actresses.
Receiving worldwide acclaim for her role as the crafty, whipsmart baby sister of PARASITE’s family of scammers, Park spoke exclusively with LMD about working with Director Bong Joon-ho, facing failure, and calling acting legend Song Kang-ho, “Appa” {Dad}.
(PS: Be warned! – Ms. Park reveals a PARASITE spoiler at the end of the third question.)
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The Lady Miz Diva: Choi Wooshik told me when we interviewed for OKJA that Bong Joon-ho was the greatest Korean guy he ever met. That Bong was so open and cool and caring about his actors, and didn’t stand on formalities: So much so, that Wooshik said “I don’t think he’s really Korean.” What was your first experience like with Director Bong?
Park So-dam: For me, and any actor or actress in Korea, the name Bong Joon-ho, itself; the presence his name has for us in our profession is huge. And when I first met him, he is also huge in person {Laughs}. Wooshik refers to him as a “teddy bear,” in which case, I agree with him, because he has this grandiose energy and presence within him, but he still has this funny and comical and cute side of him as a person.
And to talk about how he is in a work setting, and on set; because I had met him many times before we started shooting, and in our normal conversation, I still found him very funny and a witty person, but on set sometimes he would even show us physically what he was looking for; whether was dancing, or moving.
But sometimes when I was talking to the other actors or actresses about how to portray this character, Director Bong would always come and tell me that “You are Ki-jung.” Nothing else, “You, as a person, are Ki-jung.”
Those words really meant a lot, and basically provided a strong base for me to just focus on the acting, itself. And from that, I was able to learn how amazing he is as a director, and also as a person.
LMD: Perfect segue. Who is Ki-jung? Please tell us how you first read the character of Ki-jung? What were the points of her in the script that made you able to understand and create her?
PSd: Ki-jung -- the facts are she’s the baby in the family, and she does sometimes come off as the most adventurous and progressive, but also very realistic out of the four Kim family members. But in reality, she’s very saddening, sometimes, and very heart-aching, because the amount of tests and exams, and the cuts that she didn’t make.
She seems like someone who’d never complain about it: Her only outlet was the little pouch that she hid on top of the toilet, with the cigarette case and the money. But she is definitely someone who would never talk to other people about her problems, and in that sense that’s why it was heartbreaking, because she felt that her only outlet was that cigarette box and nothing else.
But when Ki-jung starts going to the rich house, and takes on the role of Jessica, it was very cathartic as someone who was playing that role, because she was finally able to utilise every single skill that she had, and finally was able to use the tools that she’s been wanting to, but was never given the platform to do so.
LMD: Again, perfect segue. I was fascinated by Ki-jung because she is an amazing person: She is incredibly intelligent, talented, charming, and powerful the way she handles the Park mother and son, and their driver. She should be a CEO somewhere with all her brains, yet she is scamming WiFi and forging documents. I wondered why she lived like this? Also, why she seemed pretty okay about it?
Was that part of Director Bong’s commentary about how it’s hard for even very bright people to get work in Korea?
PSd: Really, it’s the reality that we live in, and the society that we live in, especially in Korea, but also anywhere in the world. Even my own brother and sisters, I’ve been on their side seeing them trying to look for a job. I myself had to prepare for the college entrance exams, and go through auditions in addition to building portfolios. It’s a lot.
It’s not just about having a talent. And yes, there are a lot of amazing talents out there with hopes and dreams to become amazing actors and actresses, but the reality isn’t that easy.
And myself, when I graduated from college six years ago, and I decided to become a full-time actress, I would take an average of seventeen auditions a month, and I would fail at all seventeen of them, month after month. I would go through slumps, and I would be depressed, and I would also think about, ‘Do I want this as a career? Is this my future?’
But I do think that Ki-jung is someone who went through that even longer than I have in my real life, and that allowed her to have been more solid background and backbone, and I think it will happen for her in the future…