It’s no secret that Record of Youth actress Park So Dam shot into international stardom after Parasite became a global phenomenon in 2019.
The 29-year-old played Jessica in the Oscar-winning film, a.k.a. the clever daughter of the brilliantly deceptive Kim family. She even went viral on social media for that iconic doorbell song, now coined by the internet as the “Jessica Jingle.”
It’s safe to say that Parasite was a huge turning point for So Dam, but did you know that she actually almost didn’t get cast in the movie? Yep, and it was all due to an innocent misunderstanding on her end. The actress shared the incident in a recent interview with Mamamoo’s Solar for the K-pop idol’s YouTube channel.
According to So Dam, Parasite was the first project that she landed without having to audition. “At that time, I didn’t have a management company. I was just spending time on my own,” recalled the actress. That’s when Bong Joon Ho contacted So Dam via text, practically offering her a part in the movie. She was in such disbelief that she thought the message was fake. “I didn’t believe it...I didn’t reply.” You got that right, she basically seenzoned the famous director!
Fortunately for her, Joon Ho was persistent and tried his luck a second time. The actress recalls, "He contacted me again and was like, 'Why won’t you believe me?'" This time around, So Dam finally replied, and the rest is Oscar history.
It seems the initial encounters between So Dam and Joon Ho had always been marred with small misunderstandings. During the same interview, So Dam also shared that she had only met the director once before Parasite. Around six years ago, Joon Ho asked the actress to audition for the lead character in the 2017 adventure drama Okja. Unaware of So Dam’s age, he had mistakenly called on a then 24-year-old So Dam to try out for the role of a 14-year-old.
After the mishap, the two drank tea together and eventually parted ways. It wasn’t until two years later that Joon Ho would randomly contact So Dam again for Parasite.
Watch So Dam’s full interview with Solar below for more secrets about the iconic film.
So Dam is currently starring in the Korean theatre adaption of the French play The Student and Mister Henri. She also has two Korean films in the pipeline titled Ghost and Special Cargo.
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