Park Eun-bin loves playing characters opposite of who she is. Photo: Netflix
South Korean actress Park Eun-bin debuted at the age of five and has been acting non-stop for more than two decades.
Some of her recent projects include two seasons of Hello, My Twenties! (2016, 2017), Stove League (2019), Do You Like Brahms? (2020), The King’s Affection (2021) and of course the recently-concluded Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which garnered her a lot of attention worldwide.
She also appeared in the much-anticipated 2022 film The Witch: Part 2. The Other One.
Undoubtedly for each project, she brings a remarkable level of commitment to her role. Hence the actress, who will turn 30 years old on Sept 4, has become an in-demand leading lady in the Korean entertainment industry
To fully portray the role a genius who is on the autism spectrum in Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Park met and had conversations with educators to learn more about autism before filming started.
She followed that up by reading up on the four diagnostic criteria for people with autism spectrum disorder as she didn’t want to create a stereotype or offend anyone with her portrayal.
At a recent press conference, Park explained: “I was very cautious and afraid that I might create prejudice. I kept wondering ‘Is it OK for me to act this and that?’ Then I found the answer that rather than thinking about acting, I needed to understand how I feel about it first. I added Eun-bin’s sincerity to Young-woo’s sincerity."
For Do You Like Brahms?, Park learned to play the violin for three months in order to effectively characterise a music major student at a prestigious university.
Of course, for The King’s Affection – where she portrays a woman who has to disguise herself as a man, and a crown prince at that – Park paid a lot of attention to the tone of her voice.
She also practised horseback riding and fight sequences to make her character more convincing.
“If the character is very different from me, sometimes it is a little easier because I get to separate myself from the character,” Park informed StarLifestyle, on playing roles that require her to be the opposite of who she is.
“But definitely it is a challenge.
“You know, living my life as Park Eun-bin is also important, but sometimes, life could be boring.
“However, if I meet these new characters, my life becomes more fun. So, I try to take joy in that as an actress.
“It could be difficult and it could be challenging to take on a role that’s so different from who I am, but I just think that it’s fun because then I get to see different sides of me through that character. I actually enjoy that process.”
Other than that perpetual desire to explore various things through acting, what gets her to say yes to a role, we ask her.
“I guess it really depends on when and what time in my life I am reading the script,” she answered.
“There are certain scripts that just kind of pull at my heartstrings somehow, and I tend to choose those.
“So, I guess it really depends on when I am reading the script and what I’m doing and thinking at that time.
“I usually think about what message I can convey to the audience through the project, and what takeaways I can get from the project myself when looking at scripts.
As for future projects, she said: “Going forward, I’m not sure what would be my next step, but I want to show viewers different facets of myself.”
Hello, My Twenties!, Stove League, Do You Like Brahms?, The King’s Affection (2021) and Extraordinary Attorney Woo are all available on Netflix.
