A young K-pop star (played by Bae Suzy) stands motionless on stage before her performance. Of all that she could think of, she imagines herself jumping into the water and drowning, sinking into the vast depths of the ocean. The next moment we see her, she wakes up alone in a sparsely-covered room and shakes off her reverie. This sets the tone of the narrative unfolding ahead.
An adaptation of the webtoon ‘The Girl Downstairs’, Doona! follows Lee Doona (Suzy), the lead vocalist of the K-pop girl group Dream Sweet, who calls it quits at the peak of her career and moves to a shared house.
Actor Suzy debuted as a K-pop idol in 2010 before taking to acting full-time, and though the character reminded her of the time when she was a member of Miss A, their experiences were vastly different, says the actor in a conversation with The Hindu. “There are emotions which are hard to put into words, but you understand what a person is feeling and what they are going through. Though having been on that side myself, I portrayed the character with the emotions I knew best”.
Bae Suzy as Lee Doona in ‘Doona!’ | Photo Credit: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix
Doona, who on the surface appears as a reckless in-your-face person, is a woman dealing with several complexes, from abandonment issues to self-doubt and confidence. Did Suzy feel a resonance with her onscreen character? “Doona is the type of person who follows her heart; she would just do something without thinking too much about it, and then go back and regret her actions. It was quite thrilling to portray her because there were certain moments where I felt I was living vicariously through her,” says Suzy.
The actor confesses she envied her on-screen character for the ease with which she could articulate her feelings. “I am the type of person who has a hard time expressing my emotions or what I am currently going through.”
It has been a while since Yang Se Jong (known for Temperature of Love, Still 17) appeared on screen. After completing his two-year mandatory military service, the actor is now making a comeback with Doona!; he admits that he feels weighed down by the anticipation.
Yang Se Jong plays Won Jun, a university student who strikes a friendship with Doona and becomes her emotional anchor, only to find himself falling for her. “My focus was to stay as loyal as possible to the script. I didn’t want to miss out on any emotional nuances of what Won Jun goes through; that was my prime area of focus,” says the actor.
Yang Se-jong as Lee Won-jun in ‘Doona!’ | Photo Credit: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix
Directed by Lee Jung Hyo, known for the mega-hit Crash Landing On You, Doona! goes beyond being just a love story. It brings out the downside of life in the spotlight, the push and pull of public expectations, as well as women who live under the scanner of constant judgment.
Calling it a unique romance, the director says the challenge was in condensing the volume of the webtoon (which was over 150 episodes) and making it as effective as possible in nine episodes. He reveals that the drama is also a departure from his earlier stories of self-assured female characters in charge of their own life. “The kind of stories that draw me in are those with elements I have not tried before. Doona! begins with the narrative first, but goes on to more emotional lead episodes, and that is what probably makes it stand out in the romance series.”
Suzy incidentally made her acting debut playing a feisty aspiring K-pop idol in the high school musical Dream High in 2011; however, the actor has gone on to play plucky characters — from a warrior in Gu Family Book and a secret agent in Vagabond to an entrepreneur in Start-Up. She also recently won many accolades for her performance in the psychological thriller Anna. Suzy is grateful that the focus is no longer on her looks but on acting credentials, something she says is profoundly fulfilling. “I’m learning to trust myself more.”
Bae Suzy as Lee Doona in ‘Doona!’ | Photo Credit: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix
At a time when many K-pop idols have openly spoken about mental health issues, Suzy says she was mindful to not portray Doona frivolously. After all, celebrities are people too.
“Doona is not your typical K drama female lead. She tapped into my curiosity with her complicated personality. Through her, I am representing all K-pop idols, and I wanted to make sure that I brought to screen a character that was uniquely my own for the audience to understand her in the best way possible. I focused on studying her carefully, and you do end up empathising with her,” she signs off.
Doona! is currently streaming on Netflix
