Park So-dam returns after cancer recovery, 'deeply relates' to new K-drama where she plays Death

After over a year battling thyroid cancer, South Korean actress Park So-dam is back with a new drama.

Titled Death's Game, the series follows Choi Yee-jae (played by Seo In-guk) who takes his own life after failing to find a job for seven years.

He is then met with Death (So-dam) who punishes him to a game where he is reincarnated 12 times. To win the game, he must stop his own death in each lifetime. If he succeeds, his prize is that he gets to live out those lives fully.

"This script came to me during a time in my life when I was really thinking a lot about the concepts of life and death. When I was reading the script, I deeply related to the story," said So-dam, 32, in an interview with regional media yesterday (Dec 15).

Adding that the story gave her a lot of "food for thought", she continued: "I found myself just closely following the emotional arc of the main character and it was such a quick read. It brought me to tears."

So-dam added to reporters that playing the role of Death was a "great honour".

"I really wanted a lot of people to watch it, and the fact that I could play the role who teaches a lesson to the main character Yee-jae… I felt like the powerful message of the series could spread to a wider group of people," she said.

In-guk, 36, a fan of the original webtoon, was drawn to the same aspects of the show: "The drama carries a very important message, and it's a message where it makes me look back at my own life too. So that's what I was drawn to the most."

So-dam shocked fans in December 2021 when she announced that she had gone for an operation to treat papillary thyroid cancer.

She later revealed that her health had worsened while filming Phantom and did dubbing for the movie while waiting for biopsy results. The spy action film was reportedly filmed from January to May 2021.

She has been on hiatus since then, coming back in January this year when Phantom premiered.

'Our day-to-day life is so precious'

When AsiaOne asked the two stars about their memorable job-hunting experiences before they became famous, In-guk, who made his showbiz debut winning the talent reality show Superstar K in 2009, piped up first: "I think the time I spent before my debut was probably the most challenging.

"Back then I was dreaming of becoming a singer so I went through multiple auditions thinking that one day someone will discover me and see me for who I am."

He continued: "There were moments when I would feel rejected and a sense of despair and I'd think about whether I should really pursue my dream. But I was still not able to let go of it."

So-dam, who is best known for her role in the award-winning 2019 movie Parasite, faced similar difficulties.

"After graduating from college, I remember going through 17 rounds of auditions within one month, and I didn't make it in any of them. Back then, I remember thinking, 'Who am I? What am I and what is all of the acting that I have studied until now?'" she recalled.

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"But I think looking back on it, those were very precious moments that really made me who I am today."

Bringing up Death's Game, So-dam added how she hopes that audiences will be able to feel as moved as she was when she first read the script.

"I think our drama is a show that will make you feel and understand how precious we all are and how our day-to-day life is so precious to us. I think it's also going to be a show that will make you want to have these conversations with the people you love in your life."

Death's Game, which also stars Go Youn-jung and features special appearances from popular actors such as Choi Si-won, Kim Jae-wook, Go Youn-jung, Lee Jae-wook, Lee Do-hyun, Oh Jung-se and Sung Hoon, is now streaming on Prime Video.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com 

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