When we first see Sunja, portrayed by Minha Kim, in Season 2 of Pachinko, she stands in a densely packed marketplace in Osaka. Her voice reaches us before her image; she’s calling out to the bustling market crowd, inviting them to sample her kimchi. She passionately extols its taste, ultimately encouraging, “Come, get a taste of home.”
In 2021, when Minha Kim began filming for the first season of Pachinko, it was only her second professional acting gig and her debut in an American production. The young actress embraced the significant challenge of bringing to life the central character from Min Jin Lee’s celebrated novel Pachinko. The story is an expansive saga that spans four generations, navigating love, loss, grief, and survival. Following her critically acclaimed performance in the first season, Minha garnered a nomination for a Gotham Award for Outstanding Performance in a New Series and was honored as the Breakout in TV at the 2022 Asian American Awards’ Unforgettable Gala. Additionally, she appeared earlier this year in the music video for RM of BTS’s song “Come Back to Me.”
As Pachinko returns for a second season, Minha Kim shared her approach to the character in an interview with The Hindu. She mentioned that her method remained consistent with that of the first season, though she had to consider the show’s time jump. “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 stories of Sunja,” she explained.
In the new season set in 1945, Osaka is engulfed in war. Sunja, now more seasoned both physically and emotionally, bears heavy responsibilities—her husband is missing, possibly languishing in prison, she has two young sons to care for, and resources are scarce. She remains deeply concerned about her mother, who is still in Japanese-occupied Korea, the home Sunja left years ago to resettle in Osaka with her husband. The remnants of her old life are preserved through the kimchi she sells and the Korean language she speaks with her sons.
Director Leanne Welham, who was impressed with Minha’s embodiment of Sunja, described her as a ‘smart actor.’ Welham acknowledged that joining a second season and portraying a character with Sunja’s complexities was not easy, yet Minha managed to convey all the necessary experience without it feeling overwhelming. “She has this luminance about her when she’s on camera, which is unusual and amazing to work with,” Welham added. This season is directed by Leanne Welham, Arvin Chen, and Sang-il Lee and features dialogues in Japanese, Korean, and English.
Reflecting on her character’s evolution, Minha says that while Sunja shoulders great responsibilities, her love ensures it never feels burdensome. Throughout filming, Minha constantly grappled with Sunja’s emotional struggles and how she copes with extraordinary circumstances as an ordinary woman. “Every situation that she is facing is quite hard.
. What I tried to do as the character is to just accept it and admit it, something that I feel Sunja is very good at. She just… goes on,” Minha described.
Sunja’s journey is marked by numerous decisions impacting her family’s future. “Even if she has a moment where she is confused, she is never lost for too long and realizes there is no right or wrong in the situation. She is very fast. She has a responsibility to protect her family and herself as well,” Minha elaborated. This required Minha to ensure her portrayal was multi-dimensional. “I wanted to bring some diversity in my emotions. It isn’t always the same, and I wanted to build this individual’s relationships with other characters as well,” she explained.
Season two picks up seven years after the first season, with Sunja’s sons now aged eight and thirteen. Her sister-in-law, Kyunghee, offers a strong support system, and Koh Hansu (played by Lee Min-ho) re-enters Sunja’s life, reviving their shared, troubled past.
Minha visibly brightened when discussing the ensemble cast, which includes Jung Eun-chae, Lee Min-ho, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Jin Ha, and Yuh-jung Youn. “They are great actors, and we had many conversations about our characters and relationships. But we mostly followed our own instincts, trusted each other, and had faith in our own characters. We believed each other,” she said.
In anticipation of Pachinko Season 2’s New York premiere, Lee Min-ho delighted fans by sharing photos of himself and Minha on Instagram, playfully captioned, “hansu & sunja in newyork.” The camaraderie extended off-camera as well. “The entire cast had a great relationship off-camera, and we had some time to hang back in Korea after we finished filming. I think this really did help us on set as well,” Minha noted with a smile.
Season 2 of Pachinko premiers on Apple TV+ on August 23, and fans eagerly await the continuation of this multi-generational saga.
