EMOTIONAL DEFENSE OF A COMPLEX CHARACTER

In a powerful response to mounting fan criticism, actress Romy Park took to Instagram to defend her character Poppy Nozawa, offering rare insight into the complex motivations behind some of Poppy’s most controversial decisions. Park’s revelations paint a picture of a deeply flawed but ultimately well-meaning woman whose actions, while sometimes questionable, come from an emotionally vulnerable place.

ADDRESSING THE FINN SITUATION

When confronted about Poppy’s past with Dr. John “Finn” Finnegan, Park didn’t shy away from addressing that pivotal night. She acknowledged that while Poppy knows the encounter should never have happened, her character holds onto that memory because it represented a rare moment where she felt genuine connection. This candid admission sheds new light on Poppy’s tendency to seek validation in problematic ways.

TRAUMA AND TRIGGER RESPONSES

The actress revealed that Poppy’s pattern of lying and hiding when confronted stems from deep-seated trauma responses. Rather than calculating manipulation, these behaviors mirror childhood coping mechanisms, suggesting Poppy reverts to these protective patterns when feeling threatened or cornered.

THE TRUTH ABOUT LUNA

In perhaps the most heartbreaking revelation, Park confirmed that Poppy’s true love isn’t Bill Spencer or any other man – it’s her daughter Luna Nozawa. “Poppy’s first and true love is her daughter,” Park explained, before revealing the devastating reality that this love isn’t reciprocated. The fact that Luna doesn’t return this deep maternal love has left Poppy truly bereft, as her daughter was “her world.”

STORM ON THE HORIZON

With Los Angeles buzzing about the impending revelation regarding Luna’s paternity, Poppy faces unprecedented hostility. Park’s insights suggest her character’s past trauma and desperate need for connection will play a crucial role in how this explosive situation unfolds.

Here Romy’s official take on the situation…

“Good question!! My answer is Poppy is someone who acts with her emotions in the moment without thought to what the repercussions may be and how that can affect those around her. Because of that, people inadvertently get hurt. But she does not intentionally try to hurt people.

She is not malicious. She has a good heart. She thinks WITH her heart and not her head, which leads to making poor decisions that can be misinterpreted as selfish. But I don’t believe her intentions are to be selfish.

I think she is someone who has been hurt a lot and has had a difficult life, but she doesn’t take that out on other people. Poppy is a bit of a lost person and— I surmise—suffering from some kind of trauma herself, which manifests in bad decisions. So then she hides or lies like a child might—but out of fear.

As far as her ‘free love’ mentality—she equates sex with love. She wants to feel love. She wants to belong. Hence her line to Finn saying that when Bill, Luna, and herself were making plans as a family, that is something she only ever dreamt about. And when it turned out Bill wasn’t the father, she said, ‘and then that dream was destroyed…again.’ The ‘again’ is very significant and was intentionally written.

Regarding her tryst with Finn, she got lost in the connection and it led to something that never should have happened. She knows it. She believes the connection they shared at that time was beautiful and doesn’t want to believe it was anything other than that. It was a moment in time, when she felt she was loved and wanted—however brief—and she will cling onto all those moments in her life where she felt some sort of acceptance. If she lets that go, then we have a person who might succumb to all the negativity in her life.

Poppy’s first and true love is her daughter. It’s heartbreaking because Luna doesn’t love her back. So, Poppy has truly lost everything because Luna was/is her world. When Poppy was wrongfully imprisoned, her concern was for Luna rather than herself. That is not the thought process of a selfish mother. She might not have been the best mother, but her heart was always in the right place.

My character development for Poppy was influenced by the stories of others, which I encountered during my hiatus from acting to study therapy. It was through my field study that I attended numerous group therapy sessions. It expanded my mind and my heart, and I grew enormously as a human being.

It was then that I learned I must never judge anyone at face value. I must not be quick to make conclusions about someone’s character based solely on their actions, personality, etc. I must first understand their experiences and what shaped their life, and that the best quality that a therapist or counselor possesses is compassion. It is an important quality for the human race in general, but particularly for those who work in the service of others—people or animals.”