Actress Park So Dam, who played Kim Ki-jung (a.k.a. Jessica) in Best Picture winner Parasite, has been diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. The 30-year-old was diagnosed during a routine health check and has undergone surgery, according to a statement provided by her agency, ArtistCompany, to CNN. “Actor Park So Dam will focus on her recovery so that she can see you all healthy in the future, and ArtistCompany will also do our best to help the actor recover her health,” it reads.
Papillary thyroid cancer is the most common type of thyroid cancer, according to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). It normally affects people under 40 years of age, particularly women, and tends to be easier to treat than other types of thyroid cancer, the NHS says. “Around 9 in every 10 people are alive 5 years after a diagnosis of thyroid cancer,” the NHS says on its website. “Many of these are cured and will have a normal lifespan.”
Park, who won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture for Parasite, will skip the press tour for her new movie, Special Delivery, an action film about a delivery driver who gets “into hot water when she finds herself unexpectedly taking on human cargo in the form of the young boy.” It’s unclear if filming on her next film, Lee Hae-Young’s Ghost, will be delayed.
(Via CNN)