Actress Park Bo-young has perfectly completed her first challenge of playing two roles in the tvN weekend drama 'The Unknown Seoul'. She portrayed twin sisters who look identical but are completely different inside, and she delicately expressed their interactions, earning praise for her 'one-person four roles' performance and achieving high viewership ratings.
In an interview held on the 26th at the BH Entertainment headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul, to commemorate the end of 'The Unknown Seoul', Park Bo-young said, "Playing two roles was very challenging, but I was really happy to receive so much love and support, more than I expected," and added, "It was a work that I was satisfied with in every way."
In 'The Unknown Seoul', Park Bo-young plays twin sisters Yu Mi-rae and Yu Mi-ji. She had a lot of concerns before taking on the unique situation of playing two roles, stating, "The filming was tougher than I expected."
“I usually adjust my acting immediately by watching the other person's performance. But this time, since the other person was me, it was quite difficult to calculate everything. It wasn't easy to figure out the timing for lines and the speed of movement to arrive at a certain point.”
Although she filmed while matching details with a stand-in actor, Park Bo-young revealed that it wasn't easy, saying, “It was my first experience with these things, but I think it was an opportunity for a lot of growth,” showcasing her characteristic positive mindset.
'The Unknown Seoul' is considered a key player in reviving the somewhat stagnant weekend dramas on tvN, alongside its predecessor 'Someday, a Wise Resident's Life'.
Did Park Bo-young expect to receive so much love from viewers? She said, “I was confident about the drama,” and added, “I thought that if I did well, this work would remain a good drama for people,” indicating that she had faith in the project even before it started.
In the drama, the older sister Mi-rae is a cynical and rarely smiling dark character, while Mi-ji has a cheerful personality, earning her the nickname 'You Candy'. Which character does Park Bo-young feel closer to?
“I think I have both sides. When I’m in a work environment, I’m closer to Mi-ji, and when I meet friends, I also have aspects of Mi-rae. In terms of percentage, I feel like Mi-ji is about 60% and Mi-rae is about 40%.”
Park Bo-young, who found neither character easy to portray, explained, “Still, since Mi-ji expresses everything outwardly, it was relatively easier, while Mi-rae required a lot of restraint, so I had to suppress my expressions and tone, which made it a bit more difficult.”
Especially when she first discussed the project with the director, she was told not to make Mi-rae and Mi-ji look too different from each other. Park Bo-young shared several hidden behind-the-scenes stories, saying, “So we decided to create details that only we would recognize.”
“Mi-ji has a ponytail with a little bit sticking out, while Mi-rae ties her hair neatly. And Mi-rae fills in her eye mucosa and slightly pulls out the tail. (Laughs) Mi-ji is a friend who doesn’t wear much makeup, so I gave her the detail of only slightly pulling out the tail. The makeup team worked hard on that.”
The 'Seoul' mentioned in the title of the work holds different meanings and experiences for the characters. For Park Bo-young, who is from Chungcheong-do, 'Seoul' had a similar significance.
“So I understood Mi-ji's feelings in the script well. When I first took the subway in Seoul, it was so fascinating. For me, Seoul felt like an 'unknown world', but what I actually felt while working was that 'living in Seoul is not easy'. So I think I enjoyed reading the script more.”
While there were many spaces in her hometown where she could walk and reflect, Park Bo-young found it difficult to find quiet places in Seoul. She mentioned a spot in Hangang Park that she visits whenever she needs to clear her emotions, saying, “Now I can go there without using a navigation app.”
“I remember crying a lot there when I was really struggling. But these days, I’ve been thinking, ‘I should go there to clear my mind,’ but then I wonder, ‘Isn’t it not as hard as it was back then?’ So I tell myself, ‘Let’s not come back here again at this level. I need to be stronger.’”(Continued in [Interview Part 2])
[Kim Mi-ji, Star Today Reporter]
