(Harper's Bazaar Korea)

Korean actress Park Bo-young talked about her upcoming mystery thriller “The Silenced” with a fashion magazine in Korea.

Park plays a student in an isolated girls’ boarding school, where its students begin to show strange symptoms and disappear one by one. Park’s character Ju-ran’s worries are dismissed by the boarding school teachers, but she too begins to show some of the strange symptoms.

“The role was challenging for me,” said Park. “Ju-ran’s not the kind of character to settle with (given facts). She’s very introverted but also increasingly curious and eventually uncovers a secret.”

Park said that timing her character transitions in her relationships with friends and the school principal, as she unearths more of the mystery, was challenging.

“I also had to express small changes through her voice and small habits. I had to rely a lot on my imagination,” said Park.

Park’s character is based on the main character of the Stephen King's cult horror novel “Carrie,” also set in a school setting.

The publicity poster for "The Silenced," which hits Korean theaters on June 18. (Lotte Entertainment)

Park is known for her previous lead roles in the blockbuster films “Speed Scandal” (2008) and particularly “A Werewolf Boy” (2012).

She said that up until the release of the hit 2012 fantasy romance “A Werewolf Boy” she suffered from nightmares of being attacked by an assailant, caused in part by career pressures.

“I was too scared to sleep. I even had to go to the hospital for treatment,” said Park. “The doctor said very frankly, ‘Since it’s just a dream, you should just get caught and die.’ I wondered what kind of advice that was, but when I made my mind up, I somehow never had those dreams again.”

Park also said that adjusting to her acting career has also helped her find a better work-life balance.

“Actors do their job in front of the camera. When (filming) ends, I just return to my life,” said the 25-year-old actress.

Park also took part in a photoshoot, inspired by the 1930s boarding school uniform she wears in the film.

The mystery thriller “The Silenced” hits theaters on June 18.

(Harper's Bazaar Korea)

(Harper's Bazaar Korea)

(Harper's Bazaar Korea)

(Harper's Bazaar Korea)

By Yoon Sarah (sarah356@heraldcorp.com)