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 Lead actress of 'All of Us Are Dead' focuses on complex emotions about loss, survival
Actress Park Ji-hu played the role of On-jo in the Netflix's new zombie horror series "All of Us Are Dead." Courtesy of Netflix
By Lee Gyu-lee
Park Ji-hu of Netflix's latest hit enjoyed filming with peer actors
By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Park Ji-hu, who won accolades and best actress prizes in Korea and abroad with the lead role in the 2018 indie film "House of Hummingbird,” has garnered further global spotlight with her latest role in Netflix's new zombie apocalypse series “All of Us Are Dead.”
“I've always been a fan of zombie apocalypse films and series and the fact that the series is a Netflix original made me want to take part in the project,” Park told The Korea Times, Tuesday, adding that it prompted her to audition for the platform's latest hit. “The plot of K-zombies meeting K-high school students came very intriguingly to me.”
The 12-part apocalyptic series follows a group of high school students who fight against zombies for survival after their school became the ground-zero of the virus outbreak.
The series, which was released on Jan. 28, has been soaring on the platform's chart, topping Netflix's global top 10 charts for TV shows for 11 consecutive days, according to streaming analytics firm Flixpatrol.
Park plays On-jo, one of the survivors at the school, who is an outgoing, down-to-earth high school student. Amid the outbreak, she uses survival skills she learned from her firefighter dad to make it out alive with a group of students including Soo-hyuk (Lomon), the boy she has a crush on, and her long-time friend Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young), who secretly has feelings for her.
A scene from the series “All of Us Are Dead" / Courtesy of Netflix
The actress, who was also in high school during the series' production, said the character resembled her actual personality in many ways and reflected her own school life.
“When I first read the script, I read through all 12 episodes in one sitting. I was so immersed that I was tearing up in the emotional scenes even though I was just simply reading the script,” she said.
“I could empathize a lot with the story, saying 'I would've done the same thing.' My personality is similar to On-jo's; like we are both easy-going and sometimes clumsy. I would've also taken care of friends and survived together without letting anyone sacrifice themselves, and tried to confront the zombies.”
While the series involves a lot of action, the actress expressed that her biggest concern was to portray the complex emotions felt by On-jo as she loses her friends and dad during the struggle for survival.
“For On-jo, she loses a friend or family in every episode. But despite the devastating moments, she still has to run and tries to avoid zombies. And it was difficult how I could portray those emotions in such situations,” she said.
Actors Yoon Chan-young, left, and Park Ji-hu pose during the production of "All of Us Are Dead." Courtesy of Netflix
Adding that she worked out those difficulties through discussions with the series' director Lee Jae-kyoo and fellow cast members, she added that she had such a blast working with the group of actors around her age.
“We got along very well because we were about the same age. (During the production) I was getting ready to apply to college, so the co-stars would give me advice on the admission,” she said. “And there were actors with much more acting experiences (than I), so they would share their experiences with improv.”
She said that the favorite response she saw from viewers was about the series' fast-paced plot and the depth of the subplots.
“I liked the comment that said viewers could 'marathon watch the whole 12 episodes thanks to the story that developed as fast as a bullet and with in-depth subplots of characters.' It's like it spoke my mind,” she said.
The actress is expecting the rest of the year to be busy, taking on two projects ― disaster-thriller film “Concrete Utopia” and the tvN series “Little Women.”
Park expressed her eagerness to take on various roles, saying, “I'm open to any character if I'm given the opportunity.”
“I would also like to take a stab at a romance series,” she said. “I really appreciate the support I've gotten from many people since 'House of Hummingbird.' I hope to put my best into my acting to not let those people down.”