Interview: Park Ji-hyun Takes on Comedy in 〈Wild Thing〉 (Part 2)

※〈Wild Thing〉 actor Park Ji-hyun interview continues from Part 1.

Domi gives up performing and becomes a chaebol daughter-in-law, living an upper-class life. Even so, why does she return to the stage?

I think Domi is an honest, very down-to-earth person. Her main goals are probably money and fame. Her debut as a singer may have been motivated by making money and gaining prestige. So she eventually married into a chaebol family, but she could never forget the longing for her old dream. When Hyun-woo (Kang Dong-won) suggested a comeback, she wouldn’t decide quickly because money and reputation were at stake, but the desire was there. That desire is probably what made her so desperate to get back onstage.

The film doesn’t detail every member’s backstory. Why does Domi keep asking to settle the accounts? How did you interpret and play Domi?

I thought Domi was really smart. Back then, idols and singers didn’t actually make that much money. Still, Domi seemed to think very strategically about the long term—believing that if she succeeded as a singer she could become a global star and earn a lot. I think she chose to debut with as few members as possible to secure her share. I also think she chose the singer’s path because she was born for it: she was talented enough to land the main vocalist spot right away and had the looks to match. (laughs)

Domi married into a chaebol family, yet she isn’t cowed and even speaks her mind in front of her mother-in-law. That gutsy trait was striking.

I think that was a small, telling example of Domi’s character. No matter that she married into a chaebol family, she’s not the type to be intimidated by her mother-in-law. That makes her more endearing and presents her as someone proactive about her life. Because she’s active rather than passive, she chooses the difficult journey again—likely to feel once more the exhilaration of being on stage.

So, what is the biggest similarity between actor Park Ji-hyun and Domi?

I think it’s honesty and being faithful to the present. But I don’t think I could live like Domi. (laughs) Playing her was satisfying in a vicarious way. We’re social animals, so we have to follow manners, norms and order—so we can’t really live like Domi.

You’ve often spoken about your love of K-pop. What was it like to experience fandom culture firsthand while performing as ‘Triangle’ in 〈Wild Thing〉? And after playing a singer, do you think your view of other performers’ stages will change?

Because I had personally experienced fans waving balloons back in the day, when I saw the ‘red-green-blue’ fan colors I thought, “That’s a fandom color—did they really use all three? Impressive.” I also felt I could act with a better understanding of how encore stages on music shows are run. Fans often hold banners during stage greetings; when I was young I used to go to concerts and bring things like that, so it brought back memories. Watching today’s stages, I feel respect for how much effort goes into them. The choreography of modern idols is so difficult that I don’t think I could do it. Even the choreography I performed was actually very hard.

Your comic timing was excellent. Domi often prompts comedy with unexpected answers. How did you work on comedic rhythm, and how was your chemistry with the director and other actors?

Not only in comedy but in all my acting, I focus on finding small ways to alter a moment so it doesn’t read as ‘acting’—that’s what makes a performance feel more real. I realized that is especially important in comedy while working on this film. Since I have limited experience in comedy, I kept asking myself, “Is this right?” even while performing. Even now, after seeing the results, I’m not always sure if I did well. With the director, we weren’t so much trying to figure out how to make Domi laughable as we were focused on how to make her feel authentic—how to avoid making it look like she’s trying too hard to be funny. There were actors with a lot of experience in the cast, so I felt very comfortable working alongside them. The director gave such strong guidance that each new take brought out a lot of different sides.

The rap scene was striking. Was that rap improvised or the result of careful calculation?

That scene was one I worried about from the moment the script first came out. My rap is short, but we took a lot of takes. I thought about how to make that moment as funny as possible, so I tried to give it my best without overthinking my facial expressions. I don’t remember exactly which take it was, but the director probably used the cut he liked best.

At the 〈Wild Thing〉 press conference you said you once auditioned with a monologue from Director Son Jae-gon’s 〈The Villain on the Second Floor〉. What was the exact line?

Actors usually prepare a free piece for auditions. For my free piece, I always used that monologue. In 〈The Villain on the Second Floor〉, Kim Hye-soo has a scene at the “Kim Jeong-sim Neuropsychiatric Clinic” where she says, “I thought it was a female teacher—what’s with the man’s name, Kim Jeong-sim?” Although it’s a two-person play, I turned that into a monologue for my free piece.

Choosing 〈The Villain on the Second Floor〉 as your free piece suggests you had a long-standing appetite for comedy acting. Is that right?

The monologue from 〈The Villain on the Second Floor〉 can be played as comedy, but it can also be delivered seriously or sadly. I liked that line because the speaker says it very earnestly while it still makes the audience laugh. That quality is also a feature of Director Son Jae-gon’s films: in 〈Wild Thing〉, it wasn’t that the actors were trying to be funny—the characters pursue their goals with such desperation that the process naturally makes the audience laugh. So the monologue from 〈The Villain on the Second Floor〉 can be viewed as comedy or as another genre; I didn’t think of it only as comedy.

From the perspective of having filmed it, which scene stands out for you as an actor, and as an audience member of 〈Wild Thing〉, which scene made you laugh the most?

The final stage—after Triangle’s ups and downs when they return to perform—was memorable for me as an actor and was an emotionally swelling moment. Stage-wise, I remember the performances from their first- and second-album periods. The funniest moment is when we’re all in a car and the police chase us. Everyone ducks down, and when the police look into the car and see no one, the line “What, is this car a Tesla?” is so funny. Those short, offhand lines really made me laugh.

What does 〈Wild Thing〉 mean to you?

This project felt like my biggest challenge. Not simply because it showed a side of me I hadn’t shown before, but because it involved the most difficult acting and left me with a lot to work on as an actor. As a result, it let me present a different side of myself to audiences. After doing it, I finally got a taste for this genre. I want to study this genre more and work harder, and I hope this becomes the start of comedy acting in my career going forward.

You said you truly tasted the comedy genre. What, in your experience, is its appeal?

There’s a thrill when everything clicks perfectly. But you can’t achieve that by thinking about it alone; comedy requires teamwork. I realized how valuable unexpected ideas that pop up in the moment can be. In other acting, you can often plan and prepare in advance, but in comedy, overplanning can be a drawback. Being vivid and present in the moment creates the most enjoyable performances. I usually prepare a variety of options in advance and then try to perform without overthinking, but in comedy those prepared options often don’t land. Instead, a fresh, spontaneous option that emerges on set can feel new and really fun. I think that’s how I began to appreciate the taste of improvisational acting.