"You can't hide it just by hiding it, so I'm very sad." Actor Park Joong-hoon mentioned film mentor Ahn Sung-ki as he published his first essay in 40 years of acting, After Don't Regret. He could not share the news of the publication, but his longing for his "life combo" remained unchanged.
On the afternoon of the 4th, a press conference celebrating the publication of Park Joong-hoon's essay After Don't Regret was held at Jeongdong 1928 Art Center on Deoksugung-gil in Jung-gu, Seoul. For that day, Park Joong-hoon attended not as an actor but as a "writer," and under the moderation of pianist and writer Moon A-ram, he spoke candidly about the book and his recent life.
Born in 1966, Park Joong-hoon debuted in 1986 with the film Cambo and is now approaching his sixtieth birthday and the 40th anniversary of his debut. Published on the 29th, After Don't Regret is an essay in which Park Joong-hoon looks back on the joys and sorrows of 40 years in acting as both an actor and as Park Joong-hoon the person. Park Joong-hoon smiled and said, "It's awkward to be called a writer," then added, "Will I write more than one book in my life? It feels like the first and last book. Of course, I don't know. You can't choose the future in front of you. When the publisher called me 'writer,' I thought they were calling someone else. I'll accept it, but it's embarrassing. For this occasion, I stood here as the 'author who wrote the book.'"
Park Joong-hoon wrote After Don't Regret at the urging of junior actor Cha In-pyo. Although Cha In-pyo, who goes to the same sports club, recommended it, a film industry senior closer to him was Ahn Sung-ki. How did Ahn Sung-ki react to Park Joong-hoon's first book? Regrettably, Park Joong-hoon confessed, "You can't hide it just by hiding it. To be honest, it has been more than a year since I last saw senior's face in person. His health is quite poor. I think I should express it just that way."
In fact, Ahn Sung-ki was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2019 and has been battling the disease. Fortunately, he announced he was cured the following year, and at the 43rd Golden Camera Awards held in 2023 he showed a healthy update as a lifetime achievement award recipient. That same year, Park Joong-hoon added meaning by attending the red carpet at the 27th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival holding Ahn Sung-ki's hand. However, during follow-up observation the disease recurred, and it is known that he is undergoing treatment again. Moreover, this year he has reportedly stayed out of the public eye, making the situation all the more distressing.
Park Joong-hoon said, "Senior Ahn Sung-ki is not in a position to talk or text personally, so I ask his family about his condition. He speaks calmly but is very sad. For 40 years we made four films together—he is a respected mentor, a film person, a senior, a mentor-like figure. I respect him as an actor and as a person, but I don't think he is in a situation where he can fully appreciate that I published a book, and that makes me very sad."
Ahn Sung-ki was an indispensable presence in Park Joong-hoon's film career. From rookie actor to youth star, people's actor, comic actor and national actor, Ahn was there at every gateway to each leap. Park Joong-hoon recalled, "In Chilsoo and Mansu, I was Chilsoo opposite Mansu; in Two Cops I was Detective Kang opposite Detective Jo; in No Mercy for the Rude I was the chaser opposite the fugitive; in Radio Star I was the washed-up singer opposite the manager—those four films are irreplaceable representative works for me. And those four films are always included among senior Ahn Sung-ki's representative works. In a way, we made each other's representative works together."
He especially said, "Actors talk about 'chemistry,' but in reality, actors try to stand out. With senior Ahn Sung-ki it was different. I only looked at how I could respond to his acting. In the ordinary sense, it was a work where the synergy stood out."
Park Joong-hoon said, "I started as a rookie star, then a youth star, people's actor, comic actor, and as time passed people began to call me a national actor alongside senior Ahn Sung-ki. None of that was intended by me. I just spent 40 years living through the times, and that's how those things came to be said about me."
Asked about the filmography he would like to reintroduce amid the recent trend of re-releases, he picked Radio Star and Two Cops, both with Ahn Sung-ki.
Park Joong-hoon said, "It's strange—Radio Star seemed like an old movie at the time, but now it doesn't feel like an old movie. The same with Two Cops. Two Cops is especially unforgettable for me. At that time films were released in single theaters; Jongno Theater had 1,000 seats, so if it sold out for a month, 150,000 people attended. But Two Cops drew about 870,000 people at Jongno Theater. Two Cops ran for about half a year. Because distribution rights were regional, to estimate national box office then you multiplied single-theater attendance by 10. Also, interest in Korean films was low, so people said to multiply by two for Korean films. By that math, Two Cops felt like 15 million people saw it. It would not be an exaggeration to say that. It was that tremendous a film," he said, expressing his affection for the era he spent with Ahn Sung-ki.
Unable to share the news of his first essay during those times, what kind of reception did Park Joong-hoon want from the public and from senior Ahn Sung-ki for After Don't Regret? Park Joong-hoon laughed and said, "I want to hear 'I enjoyed it.' People like us are either praised or criticized—either good or bad. A small mistake can bring huge criticism, but a small good deed can bring enormous encouragement and praise. Because I haven't had film work for the past 10 years, after hearing tremendous praise for 30 years I haven't had anything to be praised for. So now I want to be praised. My writing isn't excellent, but I wrote with sincerity, so I hope my feelings get across," he added with a laugh.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]