Foreign media: Jeon Do-yeon emerges as a leading Oscar Best Actress contender for 'Possible Love'

[Financial News] Can the ‘Queen of Cannes,’ Jeon Do-yeon, make history at the Oscars this time? She is being considered as a possible Academy Award for Best Actress nominee for director Lee Chang-dong’s new film, 'Possible Love,' which will be released on Netflix on the 6th of next month.
If she is nominated, she would be the first South Korean actor to achieve this. Youn Yuh-jung previously became the first South Korean actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for 'Minari' in 2021. If Jeon Do-yeon is nominated this time, she will set a new record as the first South Korean actress to be nominated for Best Actress.

In an article featuring an interview with Jeon Do-yeon, published on the 23rd (local time), the U.S. entertainment outlet The Hollywood Reporter spotlighted her, writing, “Jeon Do-yeon defined an era of South Korean cinema. She has emerged as an Oscar contender with 'Possible Love.'”
'Possible Love' explores labor, inequality, and human desire through two couples in different economic circumstances. Jeon Do-yeon plays Mi-ok, the wife of Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu), a laid-off worker. The Hollywood Reporter praised her performance, saying that even subtle changes in her facial expressions and voice resist simple interpretation, and that she is most heartbreaking when she seems happiest.
Lee Byung-hun, who first acted alongside Jeon Do-yeon in the 1999 film 'The Harmonium in My Memory,' expressed his confidence in her acting.
Lee Byung-hun told the publication, “In South Korean cinema, she is truly one of a kind and in a position no one can match. It’s almost puzzling that it took the rest of the world so long to recognize her.” He added, “Very few actors can immerse themselves in a character so completely. She has an amazing, innate ability to fully embody a character without relying on excessive preparation or calculated choices. She doesn’t just play someone; she becomes that person.”
Director Lee Chang-dong, who reunited with her in 'Possible Love' after 'Miryang,' also said, “No one can deny that she is an actress who represents an era in South Korea.” He cited as one of Jeon Do-yeon’s strengths “the fact that, despite having achieved so much, she continues to show new possibilities as an actress.”

For Jeon Do-yeon, acting is a process of discovering new aspects of herself. She said, “I think acting is a process of finding something that has always been within me but that I hadn’t noticed before.”
Of Mi-ok, the character she plays in the film, she said, “She is a very strong woman,” explaining, “Expressing herself in such a positive way may be how she holds on to her way of life.” She added, “I think I’m quite similar to her, too.”
She remained composed about the current discussion of a possible Oscar nomination. “It has never been my goal. It was never something I coveted,” she said.
Director Lee Chang-dong hoped her performance would also be recognized by the Academy. He said, “It remains very rare and difficult for an actor in a non-English-language film to receive an Oscar nomination,” but added, “I believe her performance, which vividly brings complex, multilayered emotions to life, can move audiences beyond language barriers.” He continued, “Recognition from the Academy would be more than an achievement for one actor; it would be evidence of the change the Academy is striving for.”
Meanwhile, 'Possible Love' was previously selected as South Korea’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. However, it has not yet received an official nomination, and whether Jeon Do-yeon is nominated for Best Actress will also be decided through a separate vote.
Whether she is nominated will be known when the nominations for the 99th Academy Awards are announced on January 21 next year (local time). Members of the Academy’s actors branch vote on performances in films eligible for submission to select the Best Actress nominees. There are typically five final nominees.



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