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| Actress Park Bo-young poses during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, on Nov. 13. / Yonhap |
Young actress plays cub reporter in ‘You Call It Passion'
By Baek Byung-yeul
Park Bo-young is a very smart actress.
Ever since she rose to stardom with the 2008 hit comedy "Scandal Makers," playing a teenage mother, she seems to know what she can do best ― taking on roles that best suit her baby-faced looks.
However, she has attempted to change her youthful image this year, becoming a woman possessed by a lustful ghost in tvN drama "Oh My Ghostess," and a selfish jobless woman in the black comedy film "Collective Invention."
Next, the 25-year-old actress will star as a cub reporter in the upcoming film "You Call It Passion." The movie is about a young female college graduate who finally succeeds in finding a job after a seemingly endless search but encounters a lot of obstacles as an entertainment news reporter.
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Park said she wanted to act in more films that she can sympathize with people of her age group.
"I shot this film before Oh My Ghostess, and at that time my acting roles seemed to be limited to fragile girls," Park said at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul, Tuesday. "But as soon as I found out that my new role would be a rookie employee, I decided to show a character that people of my age can empathize with."
In "You Call It Passion," Park plays Do Ra-hee (which can sound like "ttorai," or geek in Korean slang), who experiences roller-coaster-like on-the-job training to become an entertainment reporter at a newspaper company in Seoul. Through the eyes of her character, the comedy reveals the harsh reality of the country's journalism industry which struggles to survive due to an ad revenue downturn.
Park said she drew upon her experience as a rookie actress from a decade ago while shooting the film.
"When I was shooting You Call It Passion, I was reminded of the days when I just started acting. At that time, I did not get paid much and I just focused on appearing in as many scenes as possible.
"As I don't have any experience working in an office, I reminded myself of my own experiences in my early acting years," she said.
Speaking about her co-actor Jung Jae-young, starring as her persistent desk editor, Park said she had mixed feelings at first.
"I was cast for the film before Jung," she said, "but when I heard that he would be joining the movie as my boss, I was so excited because it is a rare opportunity to work together with such a great actor. As time went by, however, I became nervous, worrying about how I could fit into the film along with him. But, since the first time we met before shooting, Jung always tried to relax me, saying ‘don't try to shoulder it all on your own.' That really helped me move on."
She also gave high marks for Jung's improvisational skills.
"Jung told me to shout out the word ‘passion' three times in the scene where we first meet as a cub reporter and a desk editor," she said. "That was not written in the script, so I was absolutely at a loss. But as director Jeong Gi-hun didn't say ‘cut,' I followed along with Jung's motions."
This was only one of countless examples of Jung's ad-libbing, said Park. "He really tried a lot to create a really rich narrative with his ad-libs," she said.
Park said she learned a lot from actor Oh Dal-su, who features as the managing editor of the newspaper company in the film.
"I also had a talk with Oh. I mainly asked how he can read between the lines as if he is the actual managing editor. He gave me a slew of tips I still have in my memo," she said.
"You Call It Passion" will hit screens nationwide on Nov. 25.
