Jeon Do-yeon: A new action heroine is born in Kill Boksoon
South Korean star Jeon Do-yeon is versatility personified. From most recently playing an endearing adoptive mom in the Netflix series Crash Course in Romance, she becomes a badass assassin-mom next in the Netflix film Kill Boksoon, which premieres March 31.
“I didn’t expect Kill Boksoon to launch this quickly. Because people still remember me from Crash Course in Romance. People are jokingly talking about (my past character) Nam Haeng-seon’s double life,” Jeon said during a recent virtual presscon.
“Well, actually, while I’m definitely not an assassin, I’m also leading kind of a double life — of a mother and of an actress. So it didn’t come as too new to me.”
As the title character in the film written and directed by Byun Sung-hyun, Jeon is juggling her duties as a hired killer and single mom to a teenager. At work, she has a reputation for finishing off a job with a 100-percent success rate. But at home, she’s grappling with parenting stress.
When her contract becomes up for renewal, she decides to retire and repair her troubled relationship with her daughter. However, on her final mission, she violates a rule that turns her into a target of her own company and the entire hitman industry.
The film also stars Sul Kyung-gu, Kim Si-A, Esom and Koo Kyo-hwan.
Since the action genre is known to be a man’s world, it’s a “breath of fresh air” every time an action heroine is born.
“As you mentioned, the genre of action was dominated by men before so there was definitely a thirst there for something new,” Jeon replied to The Philippine STAR’s question during a separate virtual roundtable about how she felt being part of female-fronted actioner, which incidentally is being released this International Women’s Month.
“People don’t want to see the same old thing over and over again, and I think it was great timing for this movie with female assassins to come out. It felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m thankful that this kind of movie was created, and I hope more like this will come out in the future. Please stay tuned for Kill Boksoon.”
Interestingly, the film was inspired by the work and life of Jeon herself, also known as the first Korean actress to win at Cannes for the film Secret Sunshine. Director Byun happens to be a long-time fan of hers.
The Kingmaker and The Merciless filmmaker related that after they were introduced by a common actor-friend, Jeon had proposed that they work on a project together.
Byun counter-offered and asked if she would be willing to work on his script instead.
“And she was willing to,” he recalled during the presscon.
“I really thought long and hard about what kind of movie I could work on together with Do-yeon. She’s been in so many great movies, most of them being quite dark and deep.
“Because her dark and deep movies are really great movies, I didn’t want to fight heads-on. I wanted to go around it. That’s why I chose an action genre film. I don’t think she was in many action movies so I thought I would write an action movie (for her).”
While exchanging ideas with Jeon to develop the storyline, he found out that the internationally-acclaimed actress’ “greatest challenge” was none other than parenting.
So, he built around the idea, replacing acting with contract killing to “heighten the irony between life taking and life nurturing,” the production notes said.
As for Jeon, she was immediately intrigued by the project. The action genre, for one, was alien territory for her and she wanted to explore it.
“I actually want to try a lot of different genres but chances don’t come that easy. So, I was very happy when he proposed an action film,” she said.
Nevertheless, she had her reservations as well. “It was my first time deciding to go into a project without reading the scenario beforehand,” she said.
“I was taken aback a little because it was packed with action. I was scared because I didn’t know if I could pull it off.
“But I kept telling myself that I have to pull it off no matter what. No matter what happens, I’m going to get this done. And I had to keep practicing because the set-piece wasn’t me with the action team but me with the other actors. And sometimes the actors might get quite emotional once we’re rolling.
“So, we had to make sure that we had lots of practice so we wouldn’t accidentally get anyone hurt. Also, director Byun prefers long-takes when it comes to action sequences. While it was scary, it gave me catharsis when I finished a scene. So, I had a lot of different feelings swirling inside me.”
Still, at the heart of all the action in Kill Boksoon is the mother-child story.
Jeon’s favorite line in the film encapsulates her character’s struggle to be the best parent that she can possibly be: “Killing people is easy, compared to raising one.”
“I thought it was the director’s own way of expressing how hard raising a child is, in his own black-comedy words. It felt like he really understood the struggle moms go through, so it was refreshing and satisfying,” the actress said.
When one press member, who happened to be a single mom, asked her about the film’s message to solo parents out there, Jeon said, “First of all, kudos to you. I didn’t take on this movie with the actual intent to convey a certain message, but I focused on the relationship between mom and daughter.
“(It’s about) a working mom who wants to be a perfect mom but work at the same time. In reality, I think it’s best to just not feel that kind of pressure and just grow with the child. Communicate with the child. That’s the best. As a mom, I can definitely tell you that children sometimes make wiser decisions than their parents. There were many times that I saw and felt that.
“In Kill Boksoon, Boksoon’s daughter Jae-young (played by Kim Si-A) is definitely like that, too. I hope viewers will be motivated to be a good mom, and to communicate and to grow with their daughters.”
The story resonated with her because she finds the relationship between Boksoon and her daughter quite similar to her own relationship with her child.
“That’s why it was not difficult at all to immerse myself in my character. It was very organic,” she said.
And when Boksoon matures as a mom in the course of the movie, such character development naturally resonated with her, too.
Thus, Jeon’s personal takeaway from the film is that “I want to live a life where I can be proud of myself, and make choices that are true to who I am.
“It’s not a lesson learned from a mom, but rather a realization from something that a daughter says to a mom.”
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