Park Eun-bin 'had a blast' playing chaotic hero in Netflix’s ‘The WONDERfools’

A scene from “The WONDERfools” / Courtesy of Netflix

From an autistic lawyer in “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” to a genius surgeon and serial killer in “Hyper Knife,” Park Eun-bin consistently inhabits her characters, whether protagonist or antagonist.

This time, she returns to Netflix as a spirited young woman swept up in the turn-of-the-millennium mood.

In Netflix’s superhero comedy adventure “The WONDERfools,” Park plays Eun Cha-ni, a jobless 27-year-old known around her neighborhood as a walking disaster. After unexpectedly gaining the power of teleportation, Cha-ni, together with a group of unlikely comrades gifted with superhuman strength, adhesive secretions and telekinetic abilities, sets out to protect peace in her neighborhood.

The uncanny pull of ‘The WONDERfools’

“Uncanny” was the word Park used when asked to describe her first impression of “The WONDERfools.”

She first read the draft script on a flight to the United States, where she was headed to attend the Critics Choice Awards and the Grammys following the global success of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” The script had been handed to her by director Yoo In-sik.

Sitting in a cafe in Seoul’s Jongno District, Park recalled being stunned by the drama’s unpredictable twists and distinctive sense of comedy. When Cha-ni suddenly dropped dead in the first episode, Park said she was left bewildered: “So what happens now?”

“I felt an immediate pull of curiosity,” she said.

Park Eun-bin, second from left, monitors a scene on the set of Netflix’s “The WONDERfools.” Courtesy of Netflix

Cha-ni is a terminally ill woman with congenital heart disease who has never left her small neighborhood. Living with the constant fear of sudden death, she has grown blunt, unruly and almost entirely without a filter.

Then, as if fulfilling the fear that has shadowed her life, Cha-ni unexpectedly dies — only to be resurrected with a stronger body and a supernatural ability. Park said she wanted her performance to show Cha-ni finally breaking free from her fear of death and running freely through a world that had suddenly become much larger than before.

"And I had such a blast playing her, thanks to Cha-ni’s bulldozer-like personality and her ‘don’t overthink it, just do it’ mentality," she added.

Cha-ni’s distinctive look and high-energy acting style were the result of Park Eun-bin’s close observation and study of the character. For instance, while researching images of Korea in 1999, the year in which the drama is set, Park noticed that orange appeared again and again as a defining color of the era.

“To turn that into a color Cha-ni would love, I dyed my hair orange with dark roots showing and wore free-spirited clothes,” she said.

Admittedly, the drama was not easy to perform, as a single scene could shift rapidly from comedy to thriller to action. But Park said she tried to maintain a heightened vocal tension throughout.

“I felt that if Cha-ni’s energy dropped even slightly, the whole show would become much darker,” she said. “So no matter how complicated the plot became, I tried to make sure she stayed true to her troublemaker spirit.”

Park Eun-bin / Courtesy of Netflix

From child actor to trusted screen performer

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Park’s debut. After a career that began when she was a child actor and continued without pause, she has become one of Korea’s most trusted screen performers, known for both her consistency and her willingness to take bold risks.

“I feel I’m at a good point in my life as an actor, where I can really try the things I want to do,” she said. “I’m grateful that so many unexpected and varied roles have come my way.”

In July, Park will take on another transformation in tvN’s drama “Spooky in Love,” playing a chaebol heiress who can see ghosts.

“I believe I can fully devote myself to a character only when my own well-being is protected,” Park said. “I want to keep growing into a good adult, happily exchanging influence with the many characters I meet along the way.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.