[On the Record] "Acting is work, I am me" What Suzy Always Sticks To

Actor Suzy Interview

Netflix 'Iduna' Idol Duna Role
"Pure and Harmless Wonjun, Not Real in Reality"

Actress Suzy (29, real name Bae Suzy) debuted in 2010 as a member of the idol group Miss A. She gained significant attention with her adorable face and dazzling visuals that caught everyone's eye at a glance. She resembles Doona in the Netflix original series "Iduna!" (directed by Lee Jung-hyo). Doona, who was once a top K-pop idol, retires and finds comfort when she meets college student Wonjun (played by Yang Se-jong) at a share house. For Suzy, Doona became a source of comfort?a grateful presence that made her face her past self. Suzy said she both envied and felt sorry for Doona.

Recently, Suzy met at a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and said, "I thought a lot about my idol days" and "I recalled the emotions I felt while practicing." She added, "The original webtoon had a unique and intriguing atmosphere. I could empathize with Doona's pain. I thought I could express it concretely rather than vaguely."

Suzy [Photo by Netflix]

Although Suzy once worked as a member of an idol group, she now lives as an actress. She said she recalled a lot of her singing days through "Iduna." She said, "I really wanted to do well in the stage scenes. The songs Doona sings especially resonated with me. It felt like telling the story of Doona's past, and I got choked up. The lyrics stuck deeply in my heart. I struggled to hold back tears during practice and filming. I tried to sing without thinking about the lyrics, but tears kept coming."

Regarding the skinship scenes and smoking scenes with Yang Se-jong, Suzy said, "I kept imagining what Doona would do. Even during rehearsals, we talked about how Doona would act and how Wonjun would respond. I hoped it would be different from other kissing scenes." She added, "The cigarette used in the scene was the same as in the webtoon. The props team made it specifically for filming."

A romance between an idol singer and an ordinary college student. Suzy continued, "Wonjun himself is a fantasy character."

"Isn't a man like Wonjun, who looks at me as I am and embraces me, a fantasy in reality? Doona acts on her own will sometimes, but is there someone who stays by her side and warmly accepts her? Probably not. Someone who doesn't know me and didn't approach me intentionally. It's a sense of security that comes from innocence. There must have been a sense of caution, wondering if he would recognize me and approach me intentionally, but instinctively I realized he approached me with a pure heart and treated me well. Their misaligned conversations were fun too. That made the tension even stronger. That kind of romance was interesting."

'Iduna' stills [Photo by Netflix]

Is there really no man like Wonjun in reality? When asked if she had ever met such a man, Suzy answered, "It's difficult." She said, "Everyone has their own situation, so fully understanding one person is hard. Loving someone as they are might be difficult. Also, for me as a celebrity, having someone sincerely give their heart and approach me innocently is itself a fantasy."

Suzy said, "I wanted people to see Doona not as celebrity Lee Doona but as a human being." She said, "In the share house, Doona is endlessly sinking. That felt like the human Doona outside the camera. Since I usually have a bright image, I was often asked, 'Do you ever get annoyed?' Isn't that funny? People are human, so of course they can feel upset or annoyed. I empathized because it seemed people didn't want to accept that part."

"One of Doona's lines is, 'Half of the money I earned is for insults, and the other half is for my looks.' When she says painful things, she tries hard not to fall into self-pity and acts cool. Even when talking to Wonjun, she pretends to be unaffected. I, too, once had a world where this was everything to me, like Doona. But when work becomes everything, I wondered if I could handle it when work disappears. So I decided not to let work become my everything."

On the other hand, she confessed that she envied Doona. Suzy said, "Doona fully feels her hardships. I envied that itself. Doona seems like someone who expresses herself, while I feel like I avoid it. That difference made me envious."

"When I was busy, I didn't realize I was struggling at all. It was like 'You can't be tired.' While reading the script, I thought, 'Doona is better than me. She knows her own exhaustion and painful emotions.' Looking back, I think I didn't properly recognize my own situation. Maybe I was broken. Those difficult moments flashed by."

Suzy [Photo by Netflix]

Suzy's sanctuary is her home. She manages stress by switching her ON and OFF modes. She said, "After finishing work and going home, I don't carry the stress I had while working. I call it commuting in and out, and from the moment filming ends, I try to get away from it as much as possible. Work is work, and I am me. I try to separate them thoroughly."

"For the past 13 years, I have quietly done my job diligently. I want to keep walking steadily in the future. I want to act in roles I haven't tried before. I feel like scripts with characters who have complex emotions are coming my way, and meeting different genres is also interesting. My heart to always do my best remains unchanged. I will be working on a drama by writer Kim Eun-sook next, and I was glad to meet actor Kim Woo-bin again. It felt more comfortable. I am looking forward to it being fun."