Creating another memorable character in Doona! – Suzy shares stories about her latest work.
In Doona!, you can dive into the unexpected romance between Lee Doona, a reclusive former K-POP idol, and Lee Won-jun, a grounded university student whose life revolves around tangible realities.
At its core, Doona! is about exploration, allure, and healing. As Doona, an idol retreating from the limelight, and Won-jun, engrossed in life’s practicalities, converge in a shared house, the series captures their evolving understanding of one another. Director Lee describes their journey as “two individuals from disparate worlds immersing in each other’s realms.”
PRESS CONFERENCE: “Doona!” Vouches For Heartfelt Romance Series That Viewers Can Enjoy
Suzy, who reached a turning point in her acting career with Anna last year, showed off a new side of her acting gift by playing the titular role in Doona! The series has garnered positive feedback and is recognized on Netflix Global list as well as TV-OTT integrated analysis done by Good Data Corporation.
In a media interview, Bae Suzy relays her thoughts and creative process to her character. Responding to how she was able to capture the different faces of Doona, the actress agreed that there are many different sides of Doona, and the director captured them beautifully.
On Playing a Titular Role
Suzy reckons the attractiveness of the character made her choose the series.
“The name of the character is right from the title, and although there are no major events or narratives, I thought it was a drama that expressed the character Lee Doo-na. I thought it was attractive, so I chose this work. It was also intentional that such reviews were received.”
Assessing how she can bring the character to life, Suzy asserted empathizing with her character well because of her idol roots.
“When I first saw the webtoon, I was attracted to Lee Doona’s strange vibe. It was something I had not shown before. I thought I understood her sentiments a little more than other people. There are also the hardships of being an idol. In some ways, I resonate with the loneliness she feels.”
Speaking about how the series brought back memories of her idol days, Suzy picked the episode where they were eating black bean noodles at a restaurant as a sad reality. Doona remarked how people talk a lot when Wonjun read the malicious comments.
“Doona casually talks about it as if it was something that is normal to happen. In that part, I feel a little sad. Rather than saying I actually experienced it, I think it’s a situation that everyone knows about.”
Empathizing with her character, Suzy admitted not thinking twice about choosing Doona as she really wanted to play the character.
“I received the script along with ‘Anna’. I was curious. Just because it was next to ‘Anna’. From the time I chose ‘Anna’, I was thinking Doona! When I chose this work, I was very concerned about Doona’s situation and things like that. I felt sorry for the situation Doona was in.“
Immersing Into The World of Doona
When asked how she brought Doona to life, Suzy revealed her key goal and how she handled the challenging image of Doona as a smoker.
“She has a strong attitude towards people, but when she meets someone, she is wary and cold towards people who seem to recognize him. I wanted to express that side well. Doona’s smoking is a trademark that expresses her loneliness. I acted to make her look lonely. I wanted her to look lonely.”
Aside from smoking, Suzy revisits her idol roots in Doona! as she plays the role of an idol group member. She shared focusing on the stage since they didn’t have a lot of practice time, she asked the director about the performances
“I felt strange right from the time I was practicing. It’s been a while since we practiced as a group and got together. I was in a situation where I had to film. So, all I could think about was the stage.”
Talking about Doona’s revealing outfits, Suzy confessed to choosing the outfits and quipped about the spontaneous diet she had.
“In order to express Doona’s bold character, I chose those outfits. While wearing those outfits, I naturally started not eating well. (Laughs) I didn’t go on a hard diet and just ate as usual. I exercised whenever I had time.”
Having a strong image as the “nation’s first love” – Suzy clarifies not wanting to break away from it.
“There was no fear or caution about it. I only worried about expressing the character better.”
Acting Goals, Yang Se Jong and Miss A
Talking about her growth as an actress, Suzy conveys tapping into herself to express the emotions of her character.
“I was constantly doing my best, and I always tried to immerse myself in the character. I think I said this during Anna, but I think I started to focus on myself a little more. I was able to focus on my emotions because of the situation on set. I tried to focus on the emotions without worrying about trivial things.”
Disclosing her fondness for acting, Suzy mentioned her upcoming film, Wonderland, as a venue to see the joy of acting.
“I thought acting was fun while working with director Kim Tae-yong on Wonderland. I improvised a lot on set. Even though there was a script, I acted again and talked to each other according to the situation on set. It was fun to improvise, and I kept feeling alive on set.“
Collaborating with Yang Se Jong, Suzy took pride in how well they communicated to express their characters well.
“Doona unilaterally shows her emotions and Wonjun accepts them. I tried to throw out as much as I could, and Wonjun accepted it at the right time. We talked a lot during rehearsals. When we started filming, if I acted at a different tempo, we communicated about it.”
Playing Doona in her late 20’s, Suzy acknowledged the difficulty.
“I thought I wasn’t thinking about my age, but since the role of Doona is in her early 20s, it didn’t bother me. I practiced my speaking style to look younger, but I tried not to think about it. Of course, acting in my late 20s for an early 20s character can be difficult for me but I thought that doing Doona at this time was good timing and meaningful in many ways.”
On that note, she aspires to work on roles she has not played yet and will show a new side of her. Considering villain roles is also attractive to her.
Paying homage to her idol identity, Suzy said warm words about the meaning of Miss A to her.
“It’s like a Dream Sweet to Doona. We’ve been together for 7 years, and it seems like all of my youth was there. It’s the beginning of my life in the entertainment industry and I had a lot of unforgettable moments.“
All episodes of Doona! are streaming on Netflix!
Source: JTBC News
Photos: Netflix
