Sandara Park eyes mature roles for Filipino film comeback

MANILA, Philippines — Korean singer-actress Sandara Park is more than prepared to appear in her first Filipino movie in two decades.

The artist sat down for an interview with broadcast journalist Karen Davila who, after discussing Sandara's rise to fame on talent show "Star Circle Quest," asked about the singer's decision to leave the Philippines for Korea in 2007 despite an established career.

Sandara admitted to being "Pinoy at heart" while still being a Korean national, however, she was surprised to learn during a vacation to Korea that nobody knew who she was.

As such, she wanted to pursue stardom in her birth country, acknowledging she wouldn't have done the same today, being older and more wary of the things around her.

"I just tried anything, I love the challenge and trying new things. Siyempre 'di ko alam if magiging successful pa ako or tapos na career ko. So... I was brave," Sandara reflected.

Numerous individuals, including fans and former ABS-CBN executives advised against her leaving the Philippines, leaving her worried about losing her Filipino support.

A couple of years later Sandara indeed achieved stardom with the girl group 2NE1 with CL, Minzy, and Park Bom.

Later in the interview, Karen pivoted the discussion to Sandara's acting career, which began after her runner-up finish on "Star Circle Quest" behind Hero Angeles, who became her love team partner.

Sandara and Hero acted together in projects like "Bcuz of You," "Can This Be Love" and "Krystala." After leaving the Philippines, Sandara continued her acting career in Korea, though she did make a cameo as herself in 2017's "My Ex and Whys."

Karen asked Sandara, who just celebrated her 42nd birthday, if she would return to acting in Filipino projects given streaming and limited series are more popular today.

The singer-actress confirmed wanting to do a Pinoy movie again, humorously noting how her initial roles were as exchange students or someone not good at speaking Tagalog.

"I think I can do some much more mature roles, mga love stories at ganun," Sandara ended. — Video from Karen Davila's YouTube channel

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