[INTERVIEW] Now a 'Castaway Diva,' Park Eun-bin takes on another extraordinary role

Television

Published: 07 Dec. 2023, 08:29 Updated: 13 Dec. 2023, 18:53

[INTERVIEW] Now a 'Castaway Diva,' Park Eun-bin takes on another extraordinary role

Actor Park Eun-bin [NAMOO ACTORS]

From an attorney with autism to a wannabe singer who was cast away for 15 years after trying to escape from an abusive father, actor Park Eun-bin's filmography is anything but ordinary.

The actor's exceptional jump in characters from "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" to the recently wrapped-up tvN drama series "Castaway Diva" came just two months apart, but that doesn't mean it came easy. The humongous success of "Woo" inevitably affected her choice and gave her all the more reason to choose "Castaway Diva."

“I rather felt like I needed to choose my next project with a light heart,” Park said during an interview with reporters at her agency Namoo Actors’ office in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Monday.

“The attention that I received last year after ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ was unlike anything that I have experienced so far in my career. Instead of letting that affect my choices, I thought of going back to page one and approaching my options candidly.”

“Castaway Diva” shows the story of Seo Mok-ha, played by Park, who gets stranded on a remote island by herself for 15 years after trying to escape from her abusive father. She's the socially awkward, pitied talk of the town, but she still doesn't want to give up on her dream of becoming a singer.

A scene from ″Castaway Diva″ featuring Park [TVN]

The quirky comedy ended its two-month run on Dec. 3 with an 11-percent viewership rating thanks to its heart-warming message of never letting go of your dreams. The show also sat on the Top 10 list of Netflix's Global TV shows for four straight weeks.

For the role of Mok-ha, Park spent between seven to 10 hours daily practicing singing, when she wasn’t filming.

“I didn’t have much confidence at first that I could sing well and perform in character as Mok-ha,” Park said. “But I thought that I absolutely needed to do the singing myself, because in the drama Mok-ha starts off singing on behalf of another character, so if I had someone singing for me in turn it wouldn’t be convincing to the viewers.”

Practicing so much and zoning into the role of a singer left Park wondering if she was working as an actor or preparing to debut as a singer, but she eventually made peace with the idea of both.

“I actually felt at times like I was becoming a singer and not doing my job as an actor, but I realized that acting the part of Mok-ha to the fullest was to express her as a singer,” Park said. “I am not 100 percent satisfied with the resulting performance, but I know that I did my best, so I have no regrets.”

As Mok-ha is characterized as a native of Jeolla Province, where people have a thick accent and use a dialect, Park had yet another task — learning to speak in the Jeolla accent all throughout “Castaway Diva.”

“Compared to the singing I had to do, learning the accent wasn’t too hard,” Park said with a laugh. “It was my first time acting with an accent, and I had a lot of help from those around me who came from the Jeolla region. I think that Mok-ha speaking in an accent allowed the sentiment that the character had to shine through.”

On the setting of “Castaway Diva,” where Mok-ha is stranded on a remote island by herself, Park said that the background setting was itself a kind of metaphor for the hollowness that so many modern people have in their hearts.

A scene from "Castaway Diva" [TVN]

“I think we all have a place within us that is kind of like a remote island where no one can be found,” Park said. “We want to talk to someone, but all we hear is silence and we are very alone. Our lives are much affected by how we spend time by ourselves on that island within us, and I think the story of Mok-ha, who overcomes that experience and rises above, shows the process of that.”

Park received the Grand Prize in the television category at last year’s Baeksang Arts Awards for her role in “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” and that award was a turning point for her career, the actor said.

“I never acted in works for the purpose of receiving awards, but once I received such a huge award I could let go of the pressure that I didn’t even know I had and enjoy what I do even more,” she said.

“People seem to see me as an actor who always challenges herself because of the roles I have taken recently — playing someone with autism in ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo,’ a woman disguised as a man in ‘The King’s Affection’ [2021] and now a singer as Mok-ha. I do want to keep trying new things, but I don’t want to become some sort of icon who always dares to do difficult roles. I hope viewers are comfortable with the choices I make.”

To learn more about Park Eun-bin. visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]