By Lee Gyu-lee
Actress Park Ji-hu, who won accolades and best actress prizes in South Korea and abroad for her performance in the lead role in the 2018 indie film House of Hummingbird, is back in the global spotlight with her role in Netflix’s zombie apocalypse series All of Us Are Dead.
“I’ve always been a fan of zombie apocalypse films and series and the fact that the series is a Netflix original made me want to take part in the project,” Park says. “The plot of K-zombies meeting K-high school students seemed very intriguing to me.”
The 12-part apocalyptic series follows a group of high school students who fight against zombies for survival after their school becomes the ground zero of the virus outbreak.
Park Ji-hu as Nam On-jo in All of Us Are Dead. Photo: Netflix
The series, which was released on January 28, topped Netflix’s global top 10 charts for TV shows for 11 consecutive days, according to streaming analytics firm Flixpatrol.
Park plays On-jo, one of the survivors at the school, who is an outgoing, down-to-earth student. Amid the outbreak, she uses survival skills she learned from her firefighter dad to make it out alive with a group of students including Soo-hyuk (Lomon), the boy she has a crush on, and her long-time friend Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young), who secretly has feelings for her.
The actress, who was also in high school during the series’ production, says the character resembled her actual personality in many ways and events in the series reflected her own school life.
“When I first read the script, I read through all 12 episodes in one sitting. I was so immersed that I was tearing up in the emotional scenes even though I was just simply reading the script,” she says.
“I could empathise a lot with the story, saying: ‘I would’ve done the same thing.’ My personality is similar to On-jo’s; we are both easy-going and sometimes clumsy. I would’ve also taken care of friends and survived together without letting anyone sacrifice themselves, and try to confront the zombies.”
I really appreciate the support I’ve got from many people since House of Hummingbird. I hope to put my best into my acting to not let those people down
Park Ji-hu
While the series involves a lot of action, the actress says her biggest concern was to portray the complex emotions felt by On-jo as she loses her friends and dad during the struggle for survival.
“For On-jo, she loses a friend or family member in every episode. But despite the devastating moments, she still has to run and try to avoid zombies. And it was difficult to portray those emotions in such situations,” she says.
She worked out those difficulties through discussions with the series’ director, Lee Jae-kyoo, and fellow cast members, she adds.
Park had a blast working with the group of actors who were all around her age.
“We got along very well because we were about the same age. [During the production] I was getting ready to apply to college, so the co-stars would give me advice on the admission,” she says. “And there were actors with much more acting experiences [than me], so they would share their experiences with improv.”
Yoon Chan-young as Lee Cheong-san in All of Us Are Dead. Photo: Netflix
She says the favourite response she saw from viewers was about the series’ fast-paced plot and the depth of the subplots.
“I liked the comment that said viewers could ‘binge watch the whole 12 episodes thanks to the story that developed as fast as a bullet and with in-depth subplots of characters’. It’s like it spoke my mind,” she says.
The actress is expecting the rest of the year to be busy; she is taking on two projects ― disaster-thriller film Concrete Utopia and the tvN series Little Women. Park expressed her eagerness to take on various roles, saying: “I’m open to any character if I’m given the opportunity.
“I would also like to take a stab at a romance series. I really appreciate the support I’ve got from many people since House of Hummingbird. I hope to put my best into my acting to not let those people down,” she adds.
