Dara

**Sandara Park** (Korean: 박산다라; born 12 November 1984), also known by her stage name Dara (Korean: 다라), is a South Korean singer, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in the Philippines as a contestant on the talent show Star Circle Quest in 2004, after which she had a successful acting and singing career before returning to South Korea in 2007. She made her South Korean debut in 2009 as a member of the K-pop group 2NE1, which went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time before their disbandment in 2016.

## Early years

Sandara Park was born on 12 November 1984, in Busan, South Korea. Her unusual three-syllable given name means "wise and clever" and is based on the childhood nickname of 7th century general Kim Yu-sin.  She has two siblings: Thunder, who is a former member of K-pop boy group MBLAQ, and a younger sister named Durami. Park's family moved to Daegu in 1993. However, Park's father was unable to make ends meet, and the family moved to the Philippines in hopes of rebuilding his career in 1994. According to Park, she was initially lonely in the Philippines because she wasn't fluent in Filipino and her pronunciation of the language was not good. She later said she worked hard to correct her pronunciation in hopes of one day becoming a celebrity, which was a dream she had harbored since hearing K-pop boy band Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992.

### **2004–2007: *Star Circle Quest* and Philippine success**

In 2004, Park met Filipina actress Pauleen Luna, who encouraged Park to audition for *Star Circle Quest*, a talent search television program on ABS-CBN. Over the course of the season, Park escaped elimination several times, and reached the final ten contestants. During the last elimination round, Park received approximately half a million textvotes and finished in second place behind Hero Angeles.

After the show, Park signed a contract with ABS-CBN subsidiary, Star Magic. In 2004, she starred in her first film, the romantic comedy *Bcuz of U*, opposite Hero Angeles. For her performance, Park won Best New Actress at the 21st PMPC Star Award for Movies. Park and Angeles collaborated again for the 2005 movie, *Can This Be Love*, which reportedly grossed almost 100 million pesos. Her third movie was 2006's *D' Lucky Ones*, in which she was paired with *Star Circle Quest* alumnus, Joseph Bitangcol.  In the same year, her fourth and last movie, *Super Noypi,* was shown in December and was an official entry in the 32nd Metro Manila Film Festival.

Park also embarked on a music career in the Philippines that led to the release of her self-titled six-track album, *Sandara,* which included the novelty dance hit "In or Out," a song that parodied her experiences on *Star Circle Quest*. The album ultimately sold over 100,000 physical copies, making it the only album by a South Korean artist to be certified platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry.

Park left the Filipino show business and returned to South Korea with her family in 2007 as she was not offered to renew her contract with Star Magic. Shortly after, she signed a contract with YG Entertainment, whose CEO Yang Hyun-suk had scouted her back in 2004 after she appeared on a KBS documentary.

### **2009–2012: Debut with 2NE1 and solo activities**

Park took on the stage name Dara, and together with Bom, CL and Minzy, debuted as K-pop girl group 2NE1 in 2009. Park also made her solo Korean debut in 2009. She was featured on the single "Hello" from Big Bang member G-Dragon's album *Heartbreaker*, and later released her first solo single, "Kiss," which featured fellow 2NE1 member CL as a rapper. The song was used in a video promoting Cass Beer, which Park starred in alongside actor Lee Min-ho. The video became popular for a kissing scene between the two performers, and the single topped South Korean music charts. Park again teamed up with a Big Bang member in 2010, when she made an appearance as the female lead in Taeyang's "I Need A Girl" music video.

During this era, 2NE1 continued to release hit albums and songs, including 2011's "I Am the Best," which topped charts in South Korea and made the group the second South Korean artists after Psy to top the U.S. Billboard World Digital Songs chart.

As a result of 2NE1's growing fame, Park's earlier Philippine movies *Bcuz of U*, *Can This Be Love,* and *D' Lucky Ones* were screened in South Korea in 2012.

### **2013–2014: Return to the Philippines and renewed acting**

In May 2014, ABS-CBN announced that Park would be a guest on *Pinoy Big Brother*, which set off a social media frenzy, dominating both the Philippines and worldwide Twittertrending topics. She guest starred on the show on 15 May, and later appeared as a celebrity house-guest in the telecast, *All In Über,* during its live episode. Park also appeared on *Gandang Gabi, Vice!*, one of the most popular talk shows in the Philippines hosted by Vice Ganda.

Later in the year, Park made a surprise cameo appearance as a top actress in the last episode of the highly rated Korean drama *My Love from the Star*.

On 12 November, BeFunny Studios made an unannounced release of a 3-part mini web series starring *The Walking Dead'*s Steven Yeun and Park titled *What's eating Steven Yeun.* Park played the role of Steven Yeun's American girlfriend who is left behind as her boyfriend pursues a career in "Mokbang", a popular Korean internet broadcast where generally attractive people eat in front of a webcam and get paid for it. The comedy sketch went viral and reached over a million views in the few days after release.

### **2015: Web drama success and *Sugar Man***

In 2015, seven years after her last acting role, Park returned to the small screen through the web-drama *Dr. Ian*, starring alongside Kim Young-kwang. Expectations were high as the series featured Park in her first leading role since moving back to South Korea, coupled with the involvement of director Kwon Hyeok-chan (*Secret Garden*, *Master's Sun*). The series enjoyed global popularity, not only in Korea but also in the United States, Taiwan, and Thailand, surpassing 500,000 views within three days of its broadcasting. Park became the first actress to win the "Best Actress" award at the K-web festival for her performance.

Park then took on her second leading role in *We Broke Up*, a web-drama based upon a web-toon of the same name.  She played the role of Noh Woori, an optimistic and bright girl preparing to get a job. Premiering in June, the series was a success, becoming the fourth most watched web-drama on Naver with 16 million views. Due to the positive reception, the cast held a personal 'mini concert' on 17 August. Park also made cameo appearances in the television series *The Producers*, playing a fictional *2 Days & 1 Night* variety program cast member alongside her *We Broke Up* co-star Kang Seung-yoon, IU and label-mate Jisoo.

On 15 September, Park was cast opposite *Goong* star Kim Jeong-hoon in *Missing Korea*, a romantic-comedy set in the fictional year of 2020, in which the North and South are working towards unification through non-governmental exchanges and economic cooperation, leading to the first-ever 'North-South Joint Miss Korea Pageant'. Though not as successful on the global market as her previous web-dramas, Park received acting recognition and earned her another nomination for "Best Actress" in the 2016 K-web festival, making her the first idol-turned-actress to be nominated for the award in succeeding years.

### **2016–present: 2NE1's disbandment and first solo concert**

Park started the year 2016 with a special appearance in the MBC drama *One More Happy Ending* as a beloved but spoiled star of a popular girl group. The producer of the drama expressed the difficulty of casting an actress who could play the role, as the character's beauty was meant to overshadow characters played by actresses like Yoo In-na, Jang Na-ra, Yoo Da-in, and Seo In-young. It was because of In-na, who was close friends with Park, that they came in contact and the matter was resolved. Park also participated in the promotional single "Loving U" as part of the drama's soundtrack. Park was officially promoted from being YG Entertainment's public relations head to director.

Park then joined the judging panel of ABS-CBN's reality singing competition show *Pinoy Boyband Superstar*, alongside Filipino top stars Yeng Constantino, Vice Ganda, and Aga Muhlach. The show is based on the format created by Simon Cowell and was first shown in United States through *La Banda*. The show premiered on 10 September, and became the most watched weekend program, and the second highest program in television viewership nationwide. As the show was still filming on the day after 2NE1 announced the official disbandment, Park became the first former member to respond after the event by way of handing a handwritten letter in English to fans on 26 November 2016, and allowed them to upload the contents on her behalf.

In 2017 she starred alongside Han Jae-suk in her domestic debut film *One Step*. Billed as the Korean remake of *Begin Again*, she portrayed Si-hyun, a convenience store part-timer who seeks out a mysterious melody she hears every night in her dreams, and meets the producer of an Internet broadcasting program who tries to help her find out the music. The film premiered in South Korea on 6 April 2017, and opened on 10 May in the Philippines. She received acting praise from its director, Jeon Jae Hong, who noted that she only had one retake during the filming process due to her professionalism. Following an announcement that she was cast in the film adaptation of the popular webtoon *Cheese in the Trap* as the heroine's best friend Jang Bo-ra, it was also revealed that Park would star in OnStyle's new television program titled *Relationship Appeal* where she will review trending topics and travel to popular tourist spots. In June, it was reported and then confirmed by director Lee Won Jun, that Park was cast in a Vampire action film called *107th Year of Night*.