Jeon Do-yeon said it was she who first approached Byun Sung-hyun, director of the Netflix action film “Kill Boksoon.” She was looking to collaborate with young and rising filmmakers after her own silver screen projects had faltered.

“I had spent quite a long time waiting for the right project to come along, but I wanted to become more of an independent actor. So I approached a number of young and rising directors and director Byun was one of them,” Jeon told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul, Wednesday.

According to Jeon, the director found Jeon and the character Gil Bok-soon similar to one another.

In the film, Jeon plays lead character Gil Bok-soon, a legendary female assassin who juggles killing and parenting her teenage daughter Jae-young (Kim Si-a).

“Byun visited my house often and he found it funny to see me panic at home doing household chores and hardly communicating with my 15-year-old daughter. To be honest, ‘Kill Boksoon’ is not just about action but is a family movie of a struggling working mom,” Jeon said.

She explained that the life of a working mom is a universally interesting topic and the story of a killer who is not merciless and grows by raising a daughter attracted her to the film, and global audiences connect with that as well.

On Wednesday, “Kill Boksoon” topped Netflix’s non-English film chart.

“I thought that I wouldn’t worry or care about viewer numbers because it’s released on Netflix, but I do feel super excited,” Jeon said.

“I want to show more parts of me, although the audience may think Jeon Do-yeon is just a queen of drama and there is nothing else to expect from me,” she added, joking she was now done with action projects.

Jeon’s first-ever action film, “Kill Boksoon” released on Netflix on March 31.