Actor Lee Byung-hun looked back on the times when, after an unwanted start as an actor, he was recognized as a first man and frontman of Korea's film industry at the 30th Busan International Film Festival.
On the evening of the 19th, Lee Byung-hun's talk at Actors House was held at the Shinhan Card Hall, Sohyang Theater, Dongnam University in Busan.
Although Lee Byung-hun came to the Busan festival with the opening film "No Other Choice" (director Park Chan-wook), his start in film was as a "failed actor." At the 30th Busan International Film Festival, Lee looked back on his 30s and drew laughter by saying, "At that time I was serving public service duty." He added, "At that time there was such a thing. If your father passed away and you were the only one earning money in the house, there was a system of six months of public service duty. I was the last generation of that," and revealed, "I was at the Seongnam City management corporation."
Especially, Lee recalled his connection with director Park Chan-wook, who worked with him on this Busan opening film "No Other Choice," saying, "Just before I was discharged from military service I received the script for 'Joint Security Area (JSA).' I read that scenario and immediately expressed my intention to do it, and as soon as I was discharged we started shooting," which delighted the audience.
He also recalled, "But actually that wasn't my first meeting with director Park Chan-wook. In the mid-1990s — saying it like this makes it sound really old — around that time I had ruined two films, and on the day of the technical screening for my third film, 'Their Own World,' which I did with Jung Woo-sung, that was the day."
He continued, "While we were watching the film, the assistant director came and said that a director was waiting outside. Since the director said someone was waiting, I went out as soon as it ended. Someone was standing there with a ponytail hairstyle holding a script envelope. He handed over the envelope and said he really wanted to work with actor Lee Byung-hun, so please consider him."
Lee Byung-hun said, "I said okay. Personally I don't really like ponytails. It didn't leave a good impression. I felt it inside but it wasn't my style. Anyway, I had a strange premonition that I wouldn't end up working with those people," he joked, then revealed, "But that person turned out to be director Park Chan-wook, who had ruined a film. That was our first meeting," which surprised the audience.
Above all, he recalled, "At that time if a rookie director messed up one film they could no longer get investment. There was a superstition that if an actor didn't make more than two films, they wouldn't be cast anymore. People said if you work with that friend we'll be ruined too. For both to get another project was like a miracle. But a ruined director and a ruined actor met and, although we didn't know what would happen, we said 'let's try,' and that was 'Joint Security Area (JSA)," he reflected.
Even amid the global phenomenon sparked by the Netflix series 'Squid Game' and the film 'K-pop Demon Hunters,' Lee Byung-hun was bewildered. He confessed, "Creators start with ambition and dreams, but as someone who participated a little, I never thought we would receive such tremendous love and attention, or that it would cause such phenomena beyond popularity. It was an extremely lucky case."
He added with a laugh, "Global star? I'm still not used to it. It may sound like a lie, but I get very nervous and deliberate for a long time, and when I make the final choice I often think, 'What the heck,' and just do it. When you deliberate you should make decisions based on whether it will work, but when the decision actually comes it's often 'I don't know' and you do it. It's like 'what's life?'"
About the Hollywood film 'G.I. Joe,' Lee Byung-hun recalled, "It was when I was first deciding on a Hollywood project, and I couldn't choose between 'The Good, the Bad, the Weird' and 'A Bittersweet Life.' I felt something was lacking and wondered 'should I not do it?' I couldn't decide on 'G.I. Joe' until the end. I worried so much that I asked directors Kim Ji-woon and Park Chan-wook whether I should do the project or not. Park Chan-wook told me to try it, and Kim Ji-woon said, 'Why would you do something like that?'"
But after much deliberation Lee went abroad. He said, "After thinking I decided on 'The Good, the Bad, the Weird,' then 'A Bittersweet Life,' and then 'G.I. Joe' in that order." He especially noted, "All of them required action and were tough shoots. One was shot in Hong Kong and one in the U.S., so that period was the most physically demanding time of my life."
In response to an audience question about his years as an actor, Lee gave an honest answer. "It may sound like the complaint of someone who is full, but I became an actor by being pushed into it," he said. He recalled, "So after becoming an actor I was criticized a lot. I had never acted before. I never joined a drama club at school, never spoke lines. I went through a very difficult training process."
For that reason he emphasized 'opportunity' as an actor. "I told younger actors that a lot. We are a profession that waits. After a project ends it can be six months or a year until the next project, or it could be several years. You wonder why you're not getting work. Many people just blame themselves and let time pass, but you must keep preparing for something," he said. Pushed into becoming an actor, Lee is now a first man of Korea's film industry and a global star.
[Photo] OSEN reporter Min Kyung-hoon.
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