InterviewPark Bo-young's mantra: 'Yesterday is over. Today is unknown. Let's go!'

Actor Park Bo-young / Courtesy of BH Entertainment

"Yesterday is over. Tomorrow is yet to come. Today is yet unknown. Let's go!"

Actor Park Bo-young said she frequently repeated these very words to herself while filming tvN's "Our Unwritten Seoul." These were the words her character, Mi-ji, would say to encourage herself to start her day after an injury had shattered her dream of becoming a track athlete, leading her to isolate herself in her room.

"I was so scared, wondering what gave me the courage to think I could pull this off with confidence. What if it just looks like 'Park Bo-young 1' and 'Park Bo-young 2,' or what if there's no real difference? I just wanted to run away the night before the first shoot," Park said during an interview with The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Thursday.

In the drama, identical twins Mi-rae and Mi-ji decide to swap lives after Mi-rae, a character with top academic achievements and a successful career in a public enterprise, becomes an outcast at her company for exposing internal corruption. Slowly, they discover each other's hidden pain and learn to see the world from a different perspective.

Four characters in one

The 35-year-old actor essentially took on four roles in one, going beyond a typical dual performance, as she had to play Mi-rae, Mi-ji, Mi-ji pretending to be Mi-rae, and Mi-rae pretending to be Mi-ji.

This dual — or quadruple — role was far more challenging than the one she played in "Oh My Ghost" a decade ago. Back then, she had a reference point from the actor playing the seductress ghost. But for this project, she had to invent everything from scratch.

"These characters really needed to feel like two completely separate people, so I relied entirely on my imagination. We did use stand-ins; someone would play Mi-ji when I was Mi-rae, and then switch when I was Mi-ji, which helped with lines. We even tried hard to find stand-ins with similar body types, but there were always small differences in things like sitting height or eye level. Eventually, I just marked my own eye level on a stand and acted by myself, looking at that spot," she said.

"Before, I never really acted with such precise calculations. I'd just focus on my scene partner. But with this drama, I had to figure out everything — how far forward or back to stand, or if I should sit crookedly. That was incredibly difficult. So, scenes with movement were even harder because I had to calculate every little detail, right down to when I'd deliver each line."

Park Bo-young is seen in scenes from tvN drama "Our Unwrittten Seoul," in which she plays identical twins Mi-rae and Mi-ji. Courtesy of CJ ENM

Finding solace, strength

Describing her own personality as 60 percent Mi-ji's bright energy and 40 percent Mi-rae's calm, darker vibe, the actor stated that the exchange between Mi-ji and her grandmother in Episode 4 resonated deeply with her, making it her favorite scene.

She recounted how Mi-ji, feeling like trash after staying cooped up at home, is comforted by her grandmother's words: "If a deer runs away from a lion, does that make it trash? If a hermit crab hides in fear of being eaten, is it a coward? They are all just trying to survive. No matter how pathetic or messy it looks, anything you do to survive is brave."

The actor noted, "There were times when I also wondered what I could become, or when I failed and just wanted to give up everything, thinking I wouldn't amount to anything. I think I was really waiting to hear words like that. That's why I cried so much when I read that script."

Park felt so strongly about the scene that she pushed herself to deliver it perfectly after reading it, even requesting a reshoot when the final edit didn’t meet her expectations.

The actor added she really didn't want to miss out on this drama.

"It was the only script that made me feel like I absolutely had to have it, even if it had originally been offered to another actor ... I think this drama did a great job of bringing together characters who all have handicaps, or some kind of deficiency, and it was portrayed really well without any sense of aversion," she said.

"And it's rare to find a message that's so warm, telling people who are working hard and living their lives that even if it doesn't look good on the surface, it's okay, they're working hard, and they're not the only ones going through it, others are too. I felt it was a very precious message."

In recent years, Park has gravitated toward projects that explore emotional complexity and healing, including the disaster film "Concrete Utopia" (2023) and the mental health-themed drama "Daily Dose of Sunshine" (2023).

Looking ahead, Park hopes to be a "versatile actor who can offer a wealth of experiences."

"Whether it's warmth, entertainment, raw emotion or profound messages — whatever it is, I want to be someone who can truly convey those feelings," she said.