Actor You Need to Know: Park So-dam

Park is a coup de maître, hitting a home run in her game, and her efforts, one after another, are only improving that.

- DEBASHREE DUTTA

Park So-dam  most innately overpowers the screen, as if she just assumes control, leaving nothing for a chance to be extraordinary. Ever the sharpshooter, Park, 31, has been well on her way— her portrayals forge a bond with those watching her; that empathy comes from her acting. And she is routinely breaking stereotypes—in playing a role, in being someone—possibly breaching her own rules. That is what makes her so promising. Park is appropriately one of Korea’s most prolific performers—in indie films and elsewhere. She has a unique grasp of what acting entails, which is why it seems her role-playing is so readily creative.

She must have found her voice in it in her formative years when she turned to independent films: the Korean Academy of Film Arts feature Ingtoogi: Battle of the Internet Trolls and Steel Cold Winter (2013), the latter of which picked up the spotlight at the 18th Busan International Film Festival. It became apparent that Park could beat one to the draw in performing, and on the horizon, she had roles in hit 2014 films such as the thriller Scarlet Innocence and the period saga The Royal Tailor.

In a boarding school of secrets, the nucleus of