Born in 1975, PARK Sung-yeon has been obsessed with acting and theater since her teenage years. She was bitten by the acting bug just after starting middle school, upon watching a stage production of YI Mun-yeol’s novel <Our Twisted Hero> (a satirical metaphor of Korea’s society set in an elementary classroom), which encouraged her to join a children’s theater troupe. She later went to an arts high school and enlisted to a drama and film college. There, a fellow ...
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Born in 1975, PARK Sung-yeon has been obsessed with acting and theater since her teenage years. She was bitten by the acting bug just after starting middle school, upon watching a stage production of YI Mun-yeol’s novel <Our Twisted Hero> (a satirical metaphor of Korea’s society set in an elementary classroom), which encouraged her to join a children’s theater troupe. She later went to an arts high school and enlisted to a drama and film college. There, a fellow student, JO Bum-gu (who would later be known for directing <The Divine Move>), invited her to play in his short films, but she initially refused as she wanted nothing to do with cinema. After much persuasion, she agreed and thus made her first screen appearance in <Rainy Season> (1996). Her first credit in a feature film came just a few years later, in LEE Chang-dong’s <Peppermint Candy> (1999), but she would remain focused on her stage career and only appear a couple of times on the big screen during the following decade. She made more frequent appearances since 2010, with supporting roles in the indie drama <Re-encounter> (2010) and the thriller <The Client> (2011). Playing the role of an unnamed cashier in the social drama <Cart> (2014) broke through her reserve regarding films as she realized the amount of effort and dedication it takes from everyone involved. After that, she landed more substantial roles in the critically acclaimed period mystery film <The Silenced> (2014) and NA Hong-jin’s Cannes-invited thriller <THE WAILING> (2016). Her short appearance as sign language interpreter in the crime action film <Believer> (2017) was also particularly lauded. When Director KIM Do-young, who had previously played against her on stage, reached out to her to and asked her if she wanted to play in a film adaptation of the novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, PARK accepted without condition, before even knowing which role it was. That role would be that of Manager KIM, a successful business woman who is one of the title character’s friends. Released in Fall 2019, <KIM JI-YOUNG, BORN 1982> became a surprise hit and brought PARK to wider recognition.
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