Korean actors on A Girl at My Door

After its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Film Business Asia sat down with BAE Du-na 배두나 | 裵斗娜, KIM Sae-ron 김새론 | 金賽綸 and SONG Sae-byeok 송새벽 | 宋詩曦 (pictured left to right), the stars of July JUNG 정주리's A Girl at My Door 도희야 to discuss what drew them to the intense drama, the atmosphere on the set and working with a first-time director.

What attracted you to your respective characters?
Song: Who would ever be attracted to my character?! The script was clear and easy to understand. I was joking about my character just now, but the script was very well-written, so I decided to join the film.

Kim: Perhaps the main reason is when I first read the script and saw the character Do-hui, I just felt instantly that this is something I must do. I should be this character.

Bae: There are several reasons that I decided to do this movie. First of all, the script was very well-written. It's very spacious and imaginative. So I was attracted to the script and the director. Also, my character Yeong-nam is a difficult character, very challenging. So I felt very fond of working on such a challenging character. I also fell in love with the Do-hui character. I could understand the loneliness of each character. It's been a while since I took on a realistic character, but I really enjoyed working on this film.

There are some very difficult scenes in the film, such as the abuse scenes. How did you approach them on the set?
Song: It was a very difficult matter for me. When I first read the script, I wondered how I could do such scenes. I was curious and worried about how it would be portrayed in the film. But one day, I spoke to Sae-ron, and she told me not to worry and just play my character. The mood on the set was also very caring, so that too helped me a lot.

Kim: For the scenes in which I get beaten up, I wasn't worried at all. I felt that I could do it, and I didn't find them that difficult.

Bae: She's very professional.

Kim: Do-hui seems very fragile, but she is also sometimes very mysterious and scary inside. That was the difficult thing for me to act.

Bae: Luckily, I didn't have that many difficult scenes. We just tried to help each other a lot on set, especially Sae-ron because she's underage and we have to protect her.

As experienced actors, how does it feel to work with this first-time director?
Song: The script was very clear, and I could really imagine its look. When I saw the film for the first time, it was very similar to the original script. When I first met the director, she was a very quiet and shy person. I was surprised because the script had so many rough scenes. But when she's at work, she's a very passionate person. So I'm looking forward to her next film.

Bae: I've worked with a few first-time directors, such as BONG Joon-ho 봉준호 | 奉俊昊 when I did Barking Dogs Never Bite 플란다스의 개 (2000). Actually, I quite enjoy working with first-time directors because they don't order you about or tell you what you should do. They're very collaborative. They enjoy studying the possibilities of the film with you. So I really like that. Actually, July may be a first-time director, but she has very strong opinions inside her. She's very clever, and she's a talented writer, so it wasn't so difficult to work with her. She seems very calm, but she has a storm in her mind. I think the film represents her very well. It seems very calm, but it has a strong personality.

Kim Sae-ron, you've already acted in three very strong film roles at a young age. What other characters would you like to play?
Kim: If acting is like school, then acting difficult roles is like studying maths. If you don't master maths, then you can't move on to the next grade. I don't think I've mastered difficult roles yet. So I don't think I can set any limits about what kind of characters I want to play yet. But maybe I would like to play a happy, bright character since it's so different from what I've played before.

Bae Du-na. You've worked in South Korea, Japan and Hollywood. What is unique about the film sets in the countries you've worked in?
Bae: There are some differences between the three countries. The Hollywood system is quite comfortable and convenient. Everything is very systematic, so it's very easy to work in, like 9-to-5 work. It's very efficient and timely. In the South Korean industry, the film sets are quite opposite. But I really love working on Korean films. There's always a lot of passion and intensity on the set, and a lot of creative power comes from that intensity. I think Japanese film sets are somewhere in between the two.

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