Jeon Do-yeon could become first Korean actor nominated for Oscar lead acting prize

International feature film shortlist due Dec. 15

Final nominees to be announced Jan. 21 next year

Actor Jeon Do-yeon is being discussed as a potential first Korean nominee for the Academy Award for best actress, for her performance as Miok, the wife of a laid-off worker, in director Lee Chang-dong's Netflix film "Possible Love."

The Hollywood Reporter ran a profile of Jeon's 30-plus-year career on Friday (local time), noting that "if the Academy recognizes Jeon Do-yeon, she would become the first Korean-born nominee for best actress." The only Korean actor to have won an Oscar acting prize is Youn Yuh-jung, who took home the supporting actress award for "Minari" in 2021. No Korean national has ever been nominated in a lead acting category.

Jeon and Lee first worked together on "Miryang" in 2007, when Jeon became the first Korean actor to win the best actress prize at the Cannes International Film Festival. "Possible Love" marks their reunion after 19 years.

The Hollywood Reporter compared Jeon to Lee Byung-hun, who received a Golden Globe nomination last year for "No Way Out," noting that Jeon has worked abroad less frequently and is relatively less known in the United States. Even so, the outlet said her performance alone has put her name in contention for best actress.

"Possible Love" is Lee's seventh feature film and his first since "Burning" (2018). The story centers on two couples: Hoseok (Sol Kyung-gu), a worker scarred by layoffs and a strike, and his wife Miok (Jeon Do-yeon); and Yeji (Jo Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker drawn to their story, and her wealthy husband Sangwoo (Jo In-sung). Over 164 minutes, as the two couples grow closer and drift apart across the lens of a camera, the film layers class divides and desire.

The film won the Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) in the main competition at the Venice International Film Festival in September and swept three awards, also taking the FIPRESCI Prize and the Arca CinemaGiovani Award. It was also selected as South Korea's submission for the Academy Award for best international feature film. The film opened domestically on Sept. 23 and began a limited theatrical run in the United States on Friday. It will be available globally on Netflix on Nov. 6.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "it's hard to imagine anyone other than Jeon Do-yeon playing Miok," adding: "In her buoyant, curious performance, no expression or inflection reads as simple. She is most heartbreaking when she seems most joyful."

In an interview with the outlet, Jeon said: "Miok is a very strong woman. Presenting herself positively is her way of protecting her life. I think I'm quite similar."

Before "Possible Love" arrived in the United States, Jeon had already met American audiences through a New York run of the play "The Cherry Orchard." The Hollywood Reporter quoted director Simon Stone as saying she "can make you laugh in the very next moment after breaking your heart," calling her "a fascinatingly unpredictable actor." Stone also recalled that when searching for a lead for the production, he asked the Korean creative team who "the Korean Meryl Streep" was — and the answer they gave him was Jeon Do-yeon.

Director Lee Chang-dong and actor Jeon Do-yeon on the set of "Possible Love" [Courtesy of Netflix]

Praise for Jeon's performance has followed the film since Venice. Variety said she anchors the film with a "dazzling performance," while IndieWire wrote that, less than 20 years after "Miryang," she has delivered another "once-in-a-century performance."

Since its US release, critical acclaim has spread to the film as a whole. The New York Times' Manohla Dargis wrote that Lee draws the viewer into his story not through grand themes but through sharp, resonant slices of everyday life. NPR said that while "Parasite" was "a Hitchcockian thriller of dazzling craft," "Possible Love" has "the richness and depth of character of a novel," and that all four lead actors deliver the best performances of the year. The Daily Beast headlined its review "This Might Be the Best Film of the Year."

The numbers back up the reception. As of Monday, all 59 critics on the US review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes had given the film a positive review, yielding a freshness score of 100 percent, while Metacritic shows a score of 95 based on 29 reviews.

Netflix has also launched a full Oscar campaign. The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reported earlier this month that Netflix is preparing a multi-category push targeting not only the international feature film award but also best picture, best director and best screenplay, with Jeon's best actress nomination seen as its strongest card.

Industry predictions point in the same direction. The Rotten Tomatoes editorial team included "Possible Love" in its list of 10 predicted best picture nominees in an article titled "Ridiculously Early Oscar Predictions," published Oct. 16, placing it alongside Christopher Nolan's "Odyssey" and Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Three." Jeon was named among five predicted best actress nominees alongside Sandra Hüller and Julianne Moore, and "Possible Love" topped the predicted international feature film list. Lee was cited as a dark-horse best director contender, while Sol Kyung-gu was described as a "more-than-deserving" best actor candidate. However, both Rotten Tomatoes and Variety point to "Odyssey" as the current best picture frontrunner.

Lee told the Hollywood Reporter that "it is still rare and difficult for actors in non-English-language films to be nominated for an Oscar," but added that he believes "Jeon Do-yeon's performance, which brings to life complex, layered emotions, can move audiences beyond the language barrier." He added that "proper recognition from the Academy would honor one actor's achievement and serve as tangible proof of the change the Academy is pursuing."

"Possible Love" opens with the subtitle "Thou shalt not covet," a commandment borrowed from the tenth episode of director Krzysztof Kieślowski's series "Dekalog." Asked about the Oscar attention surrounding the film, Jeon told the Hollywood Reporter: "It has never been a goal, and I have never coveted it. With 'Possible Love,' I got everything I wanted as an actor, and I gained the conviction that the path I have walked was the right one."

The Academy will announce the international feature film shortlist on Dec. 15 (local time), with the final nominees to be revealed Jan. 21 next year. The ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on March 14 (March 15 Korean Standard Time).

shee@heraldcorp.com