Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
INTERVIEW Bae Doo-na tells of pressures portraying delicate character in 'The Silent Sea'
Actress Bae Doo-na plays astrobiologist and ethologist Song Ji-an in the Netflix series, “The Silent Sea.” Courtesy of Netflix
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
Netflix's new Korean original series, “The Silent Sea,” had been a much-anticipated drama even before its release, partly because of the star-studded cast and partly because of actor Jung Woo-sung's new role as an executive producer.
As expected, the space series landed in third place on the streaming site's official weekly top 10 charts for non-English series, after premiering on Dec. 24.
“Nowadays, a lot of series have eye-catching, striking elements, but 'The Silent Sea' didn't follow that equation. This series is like a whirlwind swirling amid the tranquility,” the series' lead actress Bae Doo-na said during an interview with The Korea Times, Thursday. “The reason I decided to join the series is that I felt the strength of following the characters' emotion in such a tense moment.”
The subtle sci-fi series, set in a dystopian future where resources on Earth have been depleted, revolves around a group of astronauts ― played by Bae, Gong Yoo, Lee Joon, and Kim Sun-young ― going on a 24-hour mission to an abandoned research facility on the moon.
While carrying out their mission to retrieve samples before permanently closing down the facility, the space explorers encounter an unexpected turn of events and a secret that has been kept hidden.
The series is based on its director Choi Hang-yong's 2014 short film of the same name.
A scene from the series / Courtesy of Netflix
Bae plays the astrobiologist and ethologist Song Ji-an. She takes part in the mission to discover the mysterious death of her sister, who was a researcher at the facility five years ago.
The actress said she was drawn to how the series portrays the characters' emotions.
“When I watched the short film, I thought the director took a very smart approach in making a sci-fi flick. I was awed not by its technicality, but how it followed people's emotions,” she said. “I've taken part in Hollywood's futuristic flicks like 'Cloud Atlas' so I wondered if it would be possible to make a sci-fi film with a limited budget. But I saw that director Choi could make it happen.”
Despite the limitations the series had with turnaround time and budget, the actress noted that she is satisfied with the outcome.
Bae expressed that she also felt pressure in portraying her delicate character.
“The most difficult part was that Song's role is to lead the audiences through the series. Song starts as a secluded person, but as the story develops, it unfolds from her perspective. So it felt overwhelming to portray her emotions delicately,” she said.
Adding that she enjoyed the experience of working in spacesuits, Bae said she also had a blast working with the co-stars.
“I liked it because (wearing a spacesuit) was a new experience… The good thing about being an actor is that I get to live different lives, which I'm thankful for,” she said. “At first, it was hard since the suit weighs a lot, but it eventually became fun. It could've been so much harder, but the actors had such good chemistry around the set, so we had a blissful time.”
Bae, who has about 24 years of acting experience, expressed that she is still ambitious and wants to challenge herself with different roles.
“I don't put limits in genres or have a set of roles that I prefer to play,” she said. “It can either be a lead role or a supporting role. And I can take part in low-budget or independent projects or in a blockbuster. I aim to get my hands on anything that I want to do.”