“Kill Boksoon” Legendary Star Jeon DoYeon On Acting Career And Parallels With Personal Life & Characters | Exclusive Interview

“Kill Boksoon” is the new highly anticipated Netflix movie starring Jeon DoYeon, Sul KyungGu, and ESom, released on March 31 on the platform. Directed by Byun SungHyun, who many will know from past works in “The Merciless” and “Kingmaker,” “Kill Boksoon” is another gem to add to his impressive list of movies. It was also invited to the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival’s Berlinale Special section and the response was overwhelming as it was commended for its unique narrative and brilliant production design.

Jeon DoYeon can most recently be noted for her lead role in the hit Netflix series “Crash Course in Romance” in which she played a doting mother named Nam HaengSun who falls in love with her daughter’s tutor played by Jung KyungHo. The series received impressive ratings as it was slotted in the number one spot in South Korea for most watched K-Drama at the time. The blossoming love story between the two main leads was sincere, heartfelt, and the chemistry as fiery.

Jeon DoYeon’s streak of K-Dramas and movies is also worth noting as she has been an icon in the Korean entertainment industry. Having debuted in 1990 as a model, she quickly turned her focus to acting in which she was able to make a stark impression. It was her role in the film “The Contact” that particularly won viewers over. It was one of the most watched movies of that year at the time and Jeon DoYeon also snagged several Best New Actress awards.

Since then, the actress has been busy starring in various movies and K-Dramas, many of which went on to gain global success. In her newest project, “Kill Boksoon,” Jeon DoYeon took on a role that she had never done before. Viewers will be pleasantly surprised to see the transformation that she went through to take on this character.

“Kill Boksoon” embodies a world of contract killing reimagined through film and a compelling storyline laced with intriguing genre-crossing elements of noir and drama. Gil Boksoon (Jeon DoYeon) is both a killer with a 100% success rate and a mother of her teenage daughter, JaeYoung (Kim SiAh). While Boksoon might be a seasoned assassin, she struggles with parenting.

The movie is a rush of adrenaline that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. With a dynamic ensemble of powerful actors with impeccable character portrayals, there really is not a moment to be bored while watching. The relationship between the mother and daughter is heartfelt, with the additional contrast of the action-packed fight scenes. The emotional vulnerabilities that Jeon DoYeon is able to show through her relationship to a rebellious teen is insightful and delightful to watch.

Kpopmap had the privilege of being invited to a roundtable discussion of the film ahead of its premiere. We were able to sit down with the legendary Jeon DoYeon to talk more in-depth about her character as well as past projects.

I really loved the mother and daughter parts of the movie. I know there are a lot of secrets between mother and daughter, and in the end, when it seems that everything is on the table, there’s a closeness between mother and daughter again. Do you think that that’s because secrets were revealed or because the mother and daughter both realized that they just wanted to protect each other?

Yes. Instead of, I guess revealing the secrets for Boksoon and JaeYoung. And I think they’re kind of shared their thoughts on those secrets and that’s how they got to kind of grow together as people. And I think it’s a very open end for the movie. I personally don’t think that you have to, you know, expose all your secrets in order to have a good relationship. Sometimes I think secrets are needed to have a healthier relationship. I have a daughter myself and I’m looking at my mother daughter relationship- I think there is a place where people do need secrets. So I don’t think it was necessarily because they shared their secrets, but after sharing their secrets, they could, you know, have communication. That’s what was more important.

I recently watched your Korean drama “Crash Course In Romance” and I was a huge fan of it. Your character in “Kill Boksoon” is very different from the drama. Was there like a type of, did you feel like a bit of catharsis kind of playing in this kind of a particular role because it’s very different from some of the other roles you’ve done?

I would say that I didn’t really feel a sense of catharsis when I was shooting for “Kill Boksoon”, but the fact that Director Byun came to me with this this movie and asked me to do this movie did give me a sense of catharsis because this is what I have to work on as well. But I think people just basically have a very low expectations for female killers or, you know, female action movies. And I kind of want to make sure that I go beyond that and make sure that people are interested in female killers and actions. So that was the part that I felt a lot of catharsis. And also I just want to add that you know my character in “Crash Course in Romance” and “Kill Boksoon” are two polar opposites as you said, but me myself as an actress, Boksoon, and HaengSun, us three have something in common and that is we are very hard working moms who try to look after their child.

I’d like to ask a key part of the film and its action sequences is how the characters imagine the fights playing out with the potential moves being shown on screen. What was it like filming the same scene in different positions and different conclusions?

I felt like I was caught up in an endless cycle of action scenes going on and on again. So I would film one position and then I will think about it, and then I would go shoot another sequence of the same action scene. So I think it was five times or ten times more action than I would expect from an action scene. So it was a struggle for me.

In the beginning of the film, your character fights with a Japanese character and you are actually speaking in Japanese. How was it talking in different languages for this movie?

I think it’s always difficult to act in a different language. Not your mother tongue, whether it be English or Japanese. But I really tried hard to understand what I was saying in Japanese. I could just memorize the line, but I wanted to make sure that I knew what I’m saying so that I could put feelings of Boksoon into the lines. Thank God that I didn’t have really long lines. I just want to say that I really tried to understand what I’m saying so that I could add those emotions in the lines when I was speaking.

There are so many different characters that you have been playing over the years. And now “Kill Boksoon” is such a different movie for you. So what’s been important for you when you select the roles and when you have selected the roles over your career?

From the very beginning of my career up until now, it was always the scenario that came first. I wanted the scenario to be something that I could relate to, and it had to be a story that I want to tell the audience. But this time it was quite different because I chose to do the film without even looking at the scenario in the very beginning stages. So actually, Director Byun and I would talk and we would make the story kind of together. So it was a very new type of challenge for me. At first when I read the scenario, because I didn’t look at the scenario when I chose to do it, I didn’t know if I could pull this off well or not. But over the past years, directors have come to me with different genres. And I am very thankful for Director Byun for coming to me with such a genre that nobody would expect me to do. Because he chose me, I wanted to show people that I’m a versatile actor that can pull off different genres. And in the movie there is a phrase about a dull knife and how it hurts more. Director Byun told me that it was a tribute to seasoned actors like me. This was proof to me that people with a lot of experience can be versatile, so I wanted to make sure that I pulled this off well.

You play a hit woman in this movie. What do you think? You can be a good hit women in real life as well?

If I am a killer, I would try my very best. I would have to pull it off (laughs).

Thank-you again to Jeon DoYeon for talking about your newest film and we wish you all the success!

Make sure you check out “Kill Boksoon” on Netflix.