[Interview] Lee Jung-eun, who brought the character to life in 'My Daughter is a Zombie': "'My Daughter is a Zombie' is a story about finding a way to coexist with living beings... I infused my experience of raising a stray dog for 20 years into it"

There are countless iconic faces to list. It may seem like a natural talent, but Lee Jung-eun did not hide the fact that she "works very hard" throughout the interview. The actress Lee Jung-eun, who meticulously creates characters with the conviction gained from finding evidence and building trust, infused insights about life into Bamsun in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉.

〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 is a comedic drama about a doting father who enters secret training to protect his daughter, who has become the last remaining zombie in the world. Lee Jung-eun plays the role of Bamsun, the mother of Jeong-hwan (Cho Jungseok) and the grandmother of Sua (Choi Yuri), who has turned into a zombie. The Bamsun that Lee Jung-eun has created in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 has so much more to say than just being praised for its "unprecedented synchronization rate" with the original webtoon. On the 24th, Cineplay met with actress Lee Jung-eun in a location in Jongno-gu, Seoul to discuss the film.

The synchronization rate between the original webtoon's Bamsun and actress Lee Jung-eun in the film 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 is a hot topic. If you have any thoughts on your own appearance after watching 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉, please share.

To be honest, I thought it would have been nice if a slightly smaller grandmother had come out for the role of Bamsun. No matter how much I try to shrink my body, there are limits. I was thinking of a small-framed grandmother you might see in the countryside. But our visual team did a great job with the makeup and styling.

Bamsun in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 has a surprisingly cute side, right? Do you think so too? (laughs)

I think I was somewhat okay. But when I have my hair down, my face looks round like this. The works where my face appeared bright like a full moon were 〈Parasite〉 and 〈Mr. Sunshine〉. When I was filming 〈Our Blues〉, I never heard anyone say I was cute; instead, they said, "Why does that woman get so angry? She gets angry in three stages." But hearing that I look cute with a hairstyle like Bamsun made me think that as I get older, I should wear my hair like this, and then my face can look cute like a full moon.

As you mentioned, Bamsun really seems like a grandmother you could see in the countryside. However, Bamsun is set up as a hip character, the core insider of Eunbong-ri. I'm curious about how you prepared for the character when you first took it on.

When I was doing the musical 'Laundry', the director seemed to find it interesting that I took on roles that transcended age. (Lee Jung-eun played both the main grandmother and the mother of Ujeong in 'Laundry'). So, after filming 〈A Bloody Lucky Day〉, director Pil Gam-seong offered me 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉. He also provided references from a documentary about rapper grandmothers in Chilgok. So, I saw the "grounded hipness". I realized that these mothers make rap and dance. Even though they have such stories, they live joyfully, and that became the background for creating my character.

You took on the role of Bamsun, the mother of Jeong-hwan played by Cho Jungseok, despite being of a different age group. It seems like you often take on roles that are much older than you. Did you feel any pressure?

I'm in my mid-50s now. In a way, both Na Moon-hee and Kim Soo-mi played many roles like this at my age. I think there’s a reason why these roles are coming to me now. And although Bamsun is of a different age than me, she is a grandmother who can express hipness, so it’s possible that real grandmothers might not be able to do it. So, I thought I should take on the role if the work is good.

〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 is a comedy film, but zombies appear quite realistically. What do you think sets 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 apart from other zombie films?

The fact that zombies can be trained. I don't think there are any movies where zombies are trained. The father's discovery that zombies have a part of their memory is also surprising. In the original, the father's profession was a translator, but by becoming a caretaker, he introduces a character who realizes that animals, like humans, have feelings and memories, and seeing the potential of his daughter who has turned into a zombie is the most unique aspect that hasn't been seen in zombie films. Zombie films have been prevalent in the U.S., and zombies have always been portrayed as beings that harm people. However, 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 has the charm of making us think about why we considered this frightening and whether there is really only evil in them.

This is your second collaboration with director Pil Gam-seong after 〈A Bloody Lucky Day〉. Director Pil Gam-seong made a rather unexpected choice with comedy. I'm curious about how you felt when you were first offered the role.

Director Pil Gam-seong is 'Pil Gam-seong'. (laughs) He makes genre films incredibly well. 〈Hostage〉 was really intense. So, while 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 is a comedy, I was looking forward to how he would handle the zombies, as well as the tension and tightness. Also, since he incorporated comedy into horror, I think he still maintains the genre's characteristics. And the director usually speaks in a fun way. He seems to have a natural sense of comedy. So, I think he edited only the natural moments on the set of 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 to bring them to life.

So ultimately, among the edited scenes, were there many fun situations that came out from the filming of 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉?

The actors' desires keep popping out. (laughs) But, as we do it, it goes beyond the work. The director managed that well. The first video call scene where Bamsun appears was filmed with the director holding the phone. The hand movements were ad-libbed, but I insisted that they be kept. In fact, teasing Kyung-ho's Jeong-bae was the most fun. I didn't expect the line, "Thor? Aren't you a bit crazy?" to make it into the movie. We shot it from a distance, and it was just for our fun, but I was surprised when it was used.

Cho Jungseok mentioned in an interview, "Jung-eun is a genius. If the director doesn't say cut, she will keep ad-libbing." Did you really ad-lib continuously on set?

The truly scary moments are when the director doesn't say 'cut'. How far will it go? But if I give up, it feels like I've lost. So, I just endure until the director says cut. It's not that I can do rich ad-libs, but I have to stay until the cut with Jungseok. I think Jungseok appreciated that, and the genius is him. I think Jungseok is really good at comedy that breaks through seriousness. For example, when he imitates a zombie with his daughter, it gives the impression that he would do that, and it feels really believable.

The scene in the movie where Bamsun sings and dances to 'I Am The Best' (a song by 2NE1) is also unmissable. What was it like to shoot that scene?

It was heavily edited in the movie. During the shoot, the actual mothers in their 70s also danced a bit. They danced together. It felt good to see them dancing young dances together. They seemed to enjoy it a lot, but it's a shame that it didn't make it into the film due to time constraints.

Did you practice the choreography in advance?

I practiced with the teacher a month and a half before, and the teacher guided us on set. I didn't expect there would be such a comedic scene, and I think the director's choice to include that dance was excellent. And it appears in conjunction with the amusement park scene. In fact, at first, I recorded my version of 'I Am The Best'.

The chemistry between granddaughter Sua and grandmother Bamsun is a major point of laughter in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉. How was your interaction with actress Choi Yuri, who played granddaughter Sua?

Yuri is a very unique actress. During breaks, she observes insects hanging on branches. She is literary, reads novels, and writes. She seems to have a different sensibility than her peers. She seems a bit artistic. And she expresses gratitude to any staff member on set very well. You can't underestimate her just because she's a teenager. So, I can't help but have respect for her. She has a very unique point that you can't treat carelessly. And I think her reactions really brought my performance to life, and our chemistry turned out really well. Although our film deals with a 'daughter who has turned into a zombie', I felt that it contains our generation's perspective on teenagers.

The hidden card of 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉, Aeyongi's performance cannot be overlooked. How was your performance with the cheese tabby cat?

When I look into Aeyongi's eyes, it seems like she knows something. So, very instinctive acting comes out. I wish I could act like that too. I've raised dogs for about 20 years, so honestly, sometimes I prefer acting with animals. (laughs)

You have acted in various regional dialects. This time, Bamsun uses the Jeolla dialect. You mentioned that you research not only the differences in dialects but also the speech patterns of different age groups. How did you approach Bamsun's dialect this time?

When I was recording the dialect, I met five teachers. In the past, I didn't talk about this because I felt awkward, but I worked hard. The people who provided the dialect references are all very good actors, so I asked them to record ad-libs that fit the situation. Fortunately, it seems that the comedy hit rate was good.

You have mentioned that understanding the heart is more important than the technical aspects of acting. When you went to Gwangju to learn the dialect for 〈Taxi Driver〉, you felt it was important to understand their hearts first, and you said, "You need to know about living as a person." Why do you think that?

I think dialect is the most basic element that gives a sense of realism, so I practice hard, but there are times when I feel I can't reach it. But now I can forgive myself for not reaching it, whereas when I was in the middle of it, I thought, "Why isn't it shining even though I do it like this? I want to do it more like a local person." But I think that was too excessive a desire. Because friends from the countryside also speak Seoul dialect very well, but when their emotions rise, their hometown dialect comes out immediately, and you can't hide that. So, I think I need to place more importance on the process of learning emotions and effort. In the past, I was too attached to the results, which caused me a lot of pain. But if I obsess too much over the results, no one will want to try. So, I am looking for ways to find joy in the process so that I can try more as an actor.

You mentioned earlier that you felt awkward talking about practicing dialects in the past. Why did you feel awkward back then?

Because it felt like bragging. I thought, "Is it too obvious that I'm doing something that all actors do?" But when I think about it, I think many actors need to honestly talk about what they have done. "I did this much, and that's why I got this result. But it wasn't easy," I think it's right to say that. People who see the results from the outside think that they got it very simply and consider it a natural talent, but I haven't seen any actor who got there just with natural talent. So now I feel I should say that I have worked hard too. Recently, I saw an interview with my favorite actor Lee Byung-hun during 〈Squid Game〉. He was being interviewed in English, and you could see how much time he had spent. The vocabulary choices and sentence structures have changed from interviews a few years ago to this year's interview. I think the efforts of people practicing languages should be praised more than ever.

As you mentioned earlier, your experience of raising stray dogs for a long time has helped shape the emotions in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉. You mentioned in a press conference that you observed the process of change while raising a stray dog that grew up in a garbage dump.

The kids I raised before were very well-behaved. But the 19-year-old 'White Dog' who passed away this year was a troublemaker every day. When I was 〈Dazzling〉, I had to have surgery because he bit my eye. The process of change in the child is never quick. You can't fix it with punishment. Punishment only makes it worse. So, you train them, saying, "This kind of code doesn't harm you." But it took so long for the child to understand this. It was almost at 15 years old that he became aware. But now he has become the child I can never forget. And I think I learned a lot of patience from that. People who raise pets say, "If you can't coexist, you can't raise them." But making a living being that we can live together is also the story of 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉. That effort may seem ridiculous, but in reality, life requires much more patience and endurance. I think parenting is the same. As a side note, a junior of mine is publishing a book as an illustrator called 「Drawing Dobong」, and I was asked to write a recommendation the day after my pet's funeral. But the recommendation just flowed out. Do you know Milu from 「Adventures of Tintin」? He looks so much like our dog that I keep adding tens of thousands of won worth of Milu-related goods to my cart because I want to see him so badly.

In fact, Bamsun in 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 can be said to be a character who has endured many trials. However, the film does not detail Bamsun's emotions or narrative. As an actress, you may have wanted to convey more emotions.

Watching her son Jeong-hwan silently from behind seems to be that point. Bamsun seems to have only joy, but in fact, there is a very big pain behind it. However, I don't think I can include everything I find in every work. There needs to be a balance, and if there were too many emotional scenes, it could diminish Jeong-hwan's paternal love, so I wondered if revealing Bamsun's emotions a lot would be a good thing. If they were to create a spin-off for me, I would like to talk about many things that I couldn't include here. Watching the video of the Chilgok mothers making rap was really helpful. It was shocking. When a Chilgok mother rapped, the first line of the lyrics she created was "Losing my son", and I think sadness is like that. It's those very sharp cuts in life. So, I think it's better to be a character that opens up a space for imagination without being greedy for many parts.

As you just mentioned, you said that the reference videos of the Chilgok rapper grandmothers were a great help in creating the Bamsun character. Do you usually look for evidence when you act?

I am also pathologically suspicious. In fact, acting is about believing, but since I am not yet a seasoned actor, I always have doubts. So, I think, "There must be something more to find, how can I make this stick to my body?" So, those references are like a lifeline. I feel like if I climb hard, I will reach somewhere. I think the guidance from directors and producers is a very important part.

It sounds like you are a perfectionist. (laughs)

I'm not a perfectionist, but I do have a desire to reach that point. In daily life, I'm like a troublesome teenager in my 50s. I get scolded by my mom all the time. My mom says, "Please dress properly when you go out. If you keep wearing sportswear, what will people think?"

Watching the movie naturally raises the question, 'What would I do if my family became zombies?' What do you think you would do if your close family became zombies?

I think I would care for them. Also, I actually have elderly parents, and their memory has declined a lot. So, I feel the changes every day. Even if it's not the process of becoming a zombie, I think about how to accept the changes when my parents act in ways that don't seem like them every day.

Since last year, from 〈Miss Night and Day〉 to 〈The Frog〉, 〈Light Shop〉 and 〈Heavenly Ever After〉, you have been very active recently. Are you feeling exhausted from the consecutive projects?

I can get physically tired, but my mental state is fine. But usually, people say, "When projects come in, do a lot of them." However, I increasingly feel that there is no need to follow that standard, and I think I should make choices that I can enjoy and create fun with. Teacher Kim Hye-ja always said, "Don't do too many overlapping projects, and watch some works too." So, I want to give myself the confidence to choose freely.

The crisis of Korean cinema has been a hot topic. If you could say something to the audience who will watch 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 this summer, what would it be?

Honestly, I have some anxiety about whether a single film can miraculously revive Korean cinema. However, when I was young, I watched a movie called 〈Benji〉 (1974). The story of saving children through a dog became a great driving force in my childhood, uniting everyone with one heart. I hope 〈My Daughter is a Zombie〉 can be such a work, and I hope that not only our work but also the competing works can become films that families can come to the theater to enjoy together during the summer vacation.