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Park Bo-young talks action and future aspirations following 'Gold Land'

Published: 28 May. 2026, 21:27 Updated: 29 May. 2026, 16:32

KIM JU-YEON
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Actor Park Bo-young [BH ENTERTAINMENT]

Park Bo-young, who took on the crime thriller genre for the first time in Disney+ series “Gold Land,” had no qualms about getting down and dirty for the role. When it comes to full-on action, however, she knows her limits.

“It was so much fun — running through clouds of dust, throwing myself into something, bleeding and sweating along the way,” the actor said in an interview at a cafe in central Seoul on Thursday, following the series finale.

But when it comes to more technical action scenes, Park said she would have to think carefully, because action, to her, has to feel satisfying to watch.

“Physically, I do think I have limits,” she said, referring to her height. Park's official profile says she's 158 centimeters (5 feet 2 inches).

“For example, if I were playing a character like Park,” she explained, referring to the character Park Ho-cheol played by actor Lee Kwang-soo, “who fights his way up through sheer grit [in “Gold Land”], there could be limits — like my reach being too short and not quite making it. I wouldn’t want the action to feel limited, so I’d want to handle it within what I can realistically do.”

Park Bo-young as Kim Hee-joo, left, in Disney+ series ″Gold Land″ [DISNEY+]

In that sense, as a newcomer to the gritty, violent territory of crime thrillers, Park said “Gold Land” gave her the perfect role to start with. She plays Kim Hee-joo, a small-town woman who becomes entangled with a criminal syndicate over one ton of gold bars, worth roughly 150 billion won ($100 million).

“It wasn’t stylish action built around carefully choreographed physical fights,” Park said. “Most of it was about staying calm and doing what I had to do to survive, which was fortunate for me.”

There were more scenes of her being the target of violence rather than her being the perpetrator, so she “learned how to take a hit well,” the actor said. “Hitting someone makes me feel uncomfortable [ …] I honestly felt much more at ease being on the receiving end.”

She also had trouble holding a gun: “I didn't know it was that heavy,” she exclaimed.

Park Bo-young as Kim Hee-joo in ″Gold Land″ [DISNEY+]

A still from ″Gold Land″ [DISNEY+]

Hee-joo continues Park’s recent run of playing complex, heavier roles, a contrast to the bright public image that earned her the nickname “Bbo-vely,” a blend of “Bo” and “lovely.” Park has often played comic, spirited roles in series such as “Oh My Ghost” (2015) and “Strong Girl Bong-soon” (2017), while recent projects including “Concrete Utopia” (2023) and “Daily Dose of Sunshine” (2023) have shown a more somber side.

She recently won the prestigious Baeksang Award for best actress in broadcasting for playing the dual role of twins in the tvN coming-of-age drama “Our Unwritten Seoul” (2025).

A still from ″Gold Land″ [DISNEY+]

“If I hadn’t been able to break away from that [lovely] image people used to see in me, or if I had felt too burdened by accepting [the roles], I don’t think I would have been able to move forward,” she said.

The fact that she has since been offered a string of heavier characters makes her feel that viewers are, “in a way, seeing different sides of me as I grow older,” she said.

Besides, Park jokingly says, she may not be as nice as people think. When asked what she would do if she actually found herself in possession of the gold bars, she said, “For an interview answer, I’d say that I’d return it right away. But if I’m being honest, I think I might try to go as far as I could [to keep it].”

Playing Hee-joo made her “more determined to live a good life,” she said. “It reinforced what I already believed: Don’t covet what belongs to someone else.”

Actor Park Bo-young [BH ENTERTAINMENT]

Park says she plans to take it easy this year attending classes, spending time with her family and working part-time, after back-to-back projects for more than three years. She has just one criterion for her next project: It has to be bright, “no matter what.”

“After doing four projects with dark tones in a row, I felt myself getting darker, too. [ …] My baseline energy, I could feel it sinking.”

“There is a right time to do something bright, too, and I think I’d regret missing that window,” she said. “They say things come true if you say them out loud, so I’ve been vocalizing [that wish] whenever I can.”

As for a role she wants to play that she never has done before? A rich person.

“My characters are always living in rooftop rooms, and they rarely have both parents alive. A lot of them have lived with their grandmothers [as sole caretakers]. I’d like to play someone from a wealthy family for once.”

“I want to play a positive, rich person,” she said with a laugh.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]