Lee Doo-Na is the lead protagonist of the bittersweet Kdrama, Doona. The character is essayed on screen by Bae Suzy.
Lee Doo-Na comes across as a detached, bratty, and rude chain smoker at first, but as more of her past and troubles is revealed, people around her and the viewers all get to see her true self.
A star burnt out
Lee Doo-Na was the lead singer of the K-pop band Dream Sweet. At the height of her fame, she also lived a life infected with in-group envy, toxic management, hateful critics and audiences, as well as frequent pangs of anxiety.
All she’s known her whole life is singing and performing. And yet, she vies for more than just the mechanical whirring of her career and to be just a pawn of the industry that runs on the exploitation of the artists.
At the start of the show, Doona has retired from the industry and opted to live a normal life in a sharehouse, all by herself. She suffered a major anxiety attack at that stage, which is what proved to be the last straw that made her quit.
Her manipulative manager sends her to a sharehouse to live all by herself so that she learns what abandonment feels like and learns a lesson. He does so because he believes all she wishes for in life is a continuous public interest in her.
Alone and seeking love
However, the reality can’t be farther from that severely erroneous judgment. Lee Doo-Na is not vying for the interest and attention of people en masse. She wants love and care from someone she can call her own.
In the present state, she’s deprived of not just love or her career, but also her will to live to see another day. That’s when she stumbles upon the new tenant at her sharehouse, Lee Won-Joon.
She falls for his innocent charms and eventually, the two live a blissful spell of romantic days. That’s until her manager In-Wook returns to take her back to her old ways. However, she sees him for who he really is and has been, and leaves him to continue living with Won-Joon.
Win some, lose some
Later on, Lee Doo-Na gets another opportunity to pick up her career. She meets the president of the label and demands to go solo as an artist this time.
Her demands are met but her communication with Won-Joon is severed. When they get to see each other, Won-Joon has already lost hope and strength to continue on with their relationship.
Doona wins her career back and becomes a beloved pop idol again, but she also loses her love and best friend Won-Joon.
Also Read: Lee Won-Joon: Doona character explained