Photo credit by VOGUE

Actor Spotlight: Bae Doona

We’re back with a new Actor Spotlight, this time featuring the powerhouse Bae Doona. She’s honestly iconic and has a way of making her roles fit herself so seamlessly. It’s incredible to watch her.

Born to an actor family in 1979, Doona decided to start her career as a model. She’s beautiful so it’s not hard to imagine that she was very successful. I mean, just look at her.

In 1999 she gave acting a shot and was cast in the film ‘The Ring Virus’, better known as ‘The Ring’. Yes, it’s that Korean remake of the Japanese horror film. She played the girl that crawled out of the well and then the TV. That’s pretty iconic for a first film role, even if she had no lines at all. 

Her role in ‘Take Care Of My Cat’, two years later was her breakthrough role. This movie has been on my watchlist for a while because I think it looks like an interesting coming-of-age story and the friendship of five girls. 

Remember Bong Joon-Ho, Oscar winning director of ‘Parasite’? Bae Doona worked with him on the film ‘The Host’

International

Doona is able to cross over and star in different language films as well. Not only has she had major success in US productions. She also starred in a Japanese film. The concept of ‘Air Doll’ is a bit… out there I should say. Doona plays a sex doll who comes to life. It’s an odd take on ‘Pinocchio’? I’ve literally no idea. However, it does sound interesting. 

On a completely different side of the spectrum there’s this film based on the true story of the Unified Korean ping pong team that was sent to the Olympics in 1991.

In the US, Bae Doona rose to fame because of her participation in the film ‘Cloud Atlas’ and the series ‘Sense8’. The latter one is actually the first time I saw her act and I fell in love a little bit. That’s when I decided to look up her filmography and how I started watching ‘Stranger’ or ‘Secret Forest’ however you want to call it, which is still one of my favorite K-dramas to date. I’m so stoked there’s a second season coming in August. 

Doona can cross over from big budget productions like the Netflix production ‘Kingdom’ to small budget films like ‘A Girl at My Door’.

I genuinely love Doona’s acting. She has a quiet way of commanding your attention when she’s on the screen whether it’s big or small. The way she humanizes every character she plays, is breathtaking and I’m just waiting for the day she wins all the Baeksang Awards. 

Go follow her on her Instagram

Ilse Van Den Heede
A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.