Park Eun-Bin Talks ‘Spooky In Love,’ KCON And How She Chooses Her Roles

Park Eun-bin appears onstage astatine KCON LA's M Countdown connected August 15, 2026 astatine Crypto.com Arena.

CJ ENM

South Korean character Park Eun-bin had heard of KCON before, but erstwhile CJ ENM—the intermezo conglomerate down the world’s largest yearly K-pop and K-culture festival—invited her to be this year’s event, she wasn’t rather judge what to expect. Although she was scheduled to look connected the 2nd time of KCON, she stopped by a time earlier to scope retired the festival. “The power was really, really incredible,” Park says successful Korean, pausing mid-sentence to stress the fervor of the attendees.

We’re chatting connected the 2nd time of KCON LA, which was held from August 14-16 astatine the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. Earlier that day, Park appeared astatine the festival’s “K-Story Zone,” where, arsenic 1 of KCON LA 2026’s “messengers of K-culture,” she engaged pinch fans and shared absorbing tidbits astir her latest bid Spooky successful Love, which concluded its tally connected Sunday.

“I was amazed because location were truthful galore Westerners sitting there,” she says. “I kept wondering, ‘How do they each cognize and for illustration me?’ They moreover had dolls and different things that only my fans would beryllium willing in, truthful that was fascinating.”

Then again, Park astir apt shouldn’t person been excessively amazed by the enthusiastic response. A seasoned character who’s appeared successful complete 60 films and K-dramas, she changeable to world stardom pinch the deed bid Extraordinary Attorney Woo, successful which she played a superb autistic lawyer who uses her neurodivergent skills to tackle analyzable cases. The bid became the astir watched title connected Netflix globally during portion of its tally and was nominated for an International Emmy and a Critics’ Choice Award.

Over the people of her career, Park has gone from being a beloved kid character successful classical K-dramas for illustration Glass Slippers and Guardian Angel to 1 of South Korea’s astir recognizable stars. Along the way, she has built a estimation arsenic a remarkably versatile performer, portraying a wide assortment of characters specified arsenic an lawyer connected the autism spectrum, an aspiring vocalist who returns to nine aft 15 years successful Castaway Diva (in which she sang the songs herself), and a female masquerading arsenic a king successful The King’s Affection.

How Park Eun-bin chooses her roles—and why ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ was an objection

Any 1 of those unconventional characters mightiness look for illustration a daunting undertaking to astir actors. But Park says she has mostly chosen projects that she believed she could handle—and prefers to deliberation of them not arsenic “challenges,” but simply arsenic opportunities to effort thing new.

“If you think, ‘This is simply a challenge,’ it tin consciousness expansive and intimidating,” the 33-year-old character says. “I didn’t want to shrink aliases clasp myself backmost astatine the thought of thing being a ‘challenge.’ So I approached things pinch a much relaxed mindset, and arsenic a result, I deliberation I ended up doing rather a fewer different projects.”

She’s quick, however, to constituent retired that Extraordinary Attorney Woo was an exception.

“That 1 really was a challenge! A situation that I didn’t want to return on,” she says pinch a laugh.

“The book was truthful good, but I told them I didn’t deliberation I could do it and turned it down doubly rather firmly,” she adds. “But the head and writer—both of whom I really trust—told maine I didn’t person to return connected each the work by myself and that they would stock immoderate of the weight pinch me. That gave maine courage. And I thought, ‘If personification has to do this, possibly I should springiness it a try.’”

Though Park has earned acclaim for taking connected eager and demanding roles successful caller years, she’s besides mindful of not giving audiences excessively overmuch of the aforesaid thing.

“I don’t want group to deliberation that I only for illustration taking connected difficult roles,” she says. “I’m ever reasoning astir what I tin show group this clip that’s different from my erstwhile project. In that sense, I thought Spooky successful Love could show a very different broadside of maine from The Wonderfools.”

Park Eun-bin connected really filming ‘Spooky successful Love’ helped her study much astir herself

Filming Spooky successful Love, Park reveals, took longer than she expected—about 7 months for 12 episodes.

“In the past, that was astir really agelong it would return to sprout a 16-episode drama,” she shares. “But these days, nary matter really galore episodes you’re filming, the magnitude of activity that goes into it is astir the same, truthful I deliberation that’s why productions return truthful long.”

Park had besides signed connected to Spooky successful Love expecting a comparatively ray romanticist drama and was amazed by conscionable really galore genre elements—and action sequences—the bid incorporated.

“It ended up being a task pinch galore different aspects to it, truthful it was harder than I’d anticipated,” she says, laughing.

Even aft moving successful the Korean intermezo manufacture for 3 decades, Park says that she still learned a batch astir herself while filming Spooky successful Love—including gaining a amended knowing of the kinds of stories she’s drawn to.

“I had decidedly wanted to do thing wherever romance was the main focus, but this ended up being a bid wherever romance was conscionable 1 constituent among many,” she says. “So it made maine wonderment whether I really for illustration romance that’s woven into a assortment of different genres.”

Park Eun-bin connected portraying the characteristic of Cheon Yeo-ri successful ‘Spooky successful Love’

Beyond the beingness demands of the role, Park besides gave observant thought to really she wanted to represent Yeo-ri. In particular, the character’s personality arsenic a chaebol heiress (chaebol is the word for a ample family-owned conglomerate successful Korea) made Park conscious of avoiding acquainted tropes.

“There’ve been rather a fewer memorable female chaebol characters successful Korean dramas and the media lately, truthful I deliberation a definite stereotype has started to shape astir them successful Korea arsenic well,” she says. “So I thought a batch astir really to represent her somewhat differently.”

Because of what happens erstwhile she comes into beingness interaction pinch people, Yeo-ri keeps others astatine a region and puts up walls astir herself. But Park saw an important favoritism betwixt Yeo-ri’s outward demeanor and the motivations down it.

“It isn’t because she’s simply acold aliases has a mean personality,” Park explains. “She has chosen to isolate herself for the liking of different people, and I realized that selflessness was really astatine the bosom of her character.”

“We each person galore different sides to us,” she continues. “So I thought that if I could show that moreover though Yeo-ri whitethorn look a definite measurement connected the outside, she’s really very warmhearted inside, past possibly she would travel crossed arsenic a small less…obnoxious.” (Laughs)

‘Spooky successful Love’ is disposable to watercourse connected Netflix.