Park Bo-young Reflects on 20 Years in the Industry and Her Journey of Growth

Actress Park Bo-young shares her thoughts on reaching her 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry.

Recently, at the BH Entertainment headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul, we met with Park Bo-young, who stars in the tvN drama 'Our Unwritten Seoul.'

The tvN weekend drama 'Our Unwritten Seoul' is a romantic growth story about twin sisters who swap lives to find true love and meaning. Park Bo-young plays four roles: the twin sisters Yoo Mi-ji and Yoo Mi-rae, as well as Yoo Mi-rae pretending to be Yoo Mi-ji and vice versa.

Park Bo-young is known for her consistent communication with fans through a paid interaction app. She shared, "I'm also a fan of certain things, but actors don't have many ways to communicate. So, when there's a channel for interaction, I try to be active." She added, "Some of my fans write incredibly well. There's one fan whose letters are so well-written that they became famous among other fans. I even cried reading one of their letters."

She also discussed the difference between her tone on the app and her real personality. Park Bo-young said, "In reality, I don't use phrases like 'It's the first broadcast today, what should I do?' But since fans are so supportive, I do it on the app. If no one watches the work, it's pointless. So, viewers are very precious to me. I briefly ask family or friends for support, saying things like 'Please show a lot of interest.' I'm not completely without aegyo (cuteness), but I don't have much either," she laughed.

Park Bo-young noted the difference between her media image and her real personality, saying, "Many people find there's a gap between my image and reality. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to strong-willed characters."

Now in her 19th year as an actress, Park Bo-young reflected on her journey. "I never imagined I'd be doing this for 20 years. When I debuted in a teen drama, I often thought, 'Maybe this isn't the right path for me,' especially after getting scolded by the director every day."

Park Bo-young mentioned, "Sometimes it felt like the universe was telling me not to do this work. There were times when external circumstances made it impossible to work. I'm not overly generous with myself. While working on 'Morning Comes to the Psychiatric Ward,' I learned to praise myself a bit, and I've improved a lot."

"Still, being able to continue working on projects makes me think, 'I'm not doing too badly.' It's a blessing to do what I love and am good at. I don't know how long people will be interested in me, so I want to receive as much love as possible while I can. The 20 years have been long, but looking back, the growth process wasn't bad. There's still a long way to go."

Reported by Kim Se-ah, Ten Asia haesmik@tenasia.co.kr