Youn Yuh-jung's 'Dog Days' hits theatres next Wednesday

At 77, actress Youn Yuh-jung, the first Korean actress to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 93rd Oscars for "Minari" (2021), returns in a new movie after a three-year hiatus.

"Dog Days," the first film she chose after "Minari," is set to be released on February 7. It marks the directorial debut of Kim Deok-min, who spent 19 years as an assistant director in the challenging film industry before finally realizing his dream in his 50s. When we met at a cafe in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Friday, Yoon affectionately referred to Director Kim as Deok-min. The two had previously encountered each other on a movie set, where they experienced mistreatment. “I thought, ‘If Deok-min needs me when he makes his debut movie, I'll do it.’ There are many talented and attractive individuals, but in the end, it's character that endures,” Youn said. “I decided to take on the movie because of Deok-min’s good character.”

"Dog Days" is a heartwarming movie about people who become intertwined through a dog. Yoon plays Min-seo, a world-renowned architect who is widowed and living in a large house with her son abroad. The only thing keeping her company is her dog, Wanda. Yoon’s performance is so natural that one might assume Yoon is similar to Min-seo in real life. Interestingly, Min-seo's character was initially named 'Youn Yuh-jung' in the script. Director Kim conceived the script with Yoon in mind right from the beginning.

"It was a mystery to me," she said of her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, which she won near the age of eighty. "Life is a mystery to me; it's an avant-garde art, an unfinished eternal experiment," she continued. "I want to be completed, but it doesn't always work out, and the word 'respect' is too much for me."

"They say the happiest way to die is to die doing what you do, and for me, the best way to go is by doing what I do, which is acting. My role model is Young-ok (actress Kim Young-ok). She's 10 years older than me, and the fact that she's still working is amazing, isn't it? I still put a lot of effort into acting desperately every moment."


Ji-Sun Choi aurinko@donga.com