When we first see Sunja, played by Minha Kim, in season two of Pachinko , she is standing in a crowded market place in Osaka. We actually hear her before we see her; she is calling out to the bustling crowds in the market and asking them to buy her kimchi. She waxes eloquent about how tasty it is, and finally adds, ‘Come, get a taste of home’.
In 2021, when Minha Kim began filming for season one of Pachinko, it was only her second professional acting role, and first american production. The young actor took on the challenge of bringing alive the main character of author Min Jin Lee’s celebrated novel Pachinko – a sweeping, expansive chronicle of four generations of a family as they navigate love, loss, grief, and survival. Following a critically acclaimed performance in the first season of the show, Minha was nominated for a Gotham Award for Outstanding Performance in a New Series, and was honoured as Breakout in TV at the 2022 Asian American Award’s Unforgettable Gala.
Earlier this year, she was also seen in the music video ‘Come back to me‘, a song by RM of BTS. Returning for a second season, Minha Kim, in an interview with The Hindu , says she approached the character the same way that she did in the first season, except that the show takes a time jump that she had to be mindful of. “I think the most important part for me is to feel genuinely, and in an authentic way.
A time jump meant that I had to maintain her personality, and work on building my own stor.