Park So Dam is opening up about a difficult period in her life and the person she leaned on when she couldn’t bring herself to tell her family everything she was going through.
The actress returned to the big screen after three years with The Journey to Gyeongju, which opened August 26th. She stars as Young Ju, the second daughter in a family of four women who travel to Gyeongju on the birthday of their youngest daughter, who never returned from a school trip eight years earlier. Lee Jeong Eun, Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Yeon also star.
Park said that while she was going through health struggles, she couldn’t fully explain what she was experiencing to her family because her mother was already dealing with devastating news of her own: Park’s maternal grandmother had been told she had only six months to live.
She recalled watching her mother remain composed during her grandmother’s funeral.
“Even when they were placing my grandmother in the coffin, my mom wasn’t crying. She was just standing there,” Park said. “I told her, ‘Mom, I don’t know whether I should hold your hand or hug you.’ And she quietly took my hand.”
After the funeral, Park said her mother asked her, “When this is over, just take me somewhere far away.”
The two spent two weeks together on Jeju Island before her mother decided to return to Seoul, telling her, “We’ve been together too long. Let’s separate now. Stop taking care of me and go do what you want.”
Park stayed on Jeju alone for another two weeks.
During her recovery, she found herself confiding in her Parasite co-star Lee Jeong Eun.
“Focus on yourself,” Lee told her. “Don’t worry about what other people think. Do what you want to do.”
Park said the advice pushed her to try things she had never done before, including spending time alone on Jeju and traveling through Europe by herself.
“In a way, she helped me the most in finding myself,” she said.
Park also looked back on 2015 as a defining year in her career, when films including The Priests, Veteran, The Throne and The Silenced were all released. Recalling the year, the actress simply said, “I was lucky.”
She added that she entered the industry at a time when a number of filmmakers were developing projects with roles for new actresses. Park threw herself into auditions, sometimes going to as many as 19 in a single month.
Park then reflected on the uncertainty she felt after finishing The Journey to Gyeongju, saying she once broke down in tears in front of co-stars. After taking time to care for both her body and mind, however, she now describes herself as “100 percent” recharged.
“My life has to be on solid ground before the next job can come,” she said. “I think that’s where I am right now — building that foundation.”
>> Lee Jeong Eun, Kong Hyo Jin, Park So Dam and Lee Yeon Kidnap Killer in ‘The Journey to Gyeongju’
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