"I won't accept more than a certain amount. I hope that can go back to other junior colleagues or staff members." The late Ahn Sung-ki's convictions as an actor and a film person moved people.
On the 9th, SBS specially scheduled the feature documentary "The person who was always there, actor Ahn Sung-ki."
Ahn Sung-ki died on the 5th. He was 74. Having debuted as a child actor at just 5, he appeared in more than 170 films over 69 years, and he was the history of Korean cinema.
In life, Ahn Sung-ki himself described being called a "national actor" by saying, "I think it's right to call me a national actor. I don't have a fan club, and I think the public are my fans, who gave me that name out of affection and the wish that I live well. I don't feel the need to break away from that, and I want to live as an actor who steadily shows good work."
He even considered advertising shoots carefully. Although Ahn Sung-ki had continued a coffee commercial for 38 years, he was cautious at the start. Director Bae Chang-ho said about this, "Ahn Sung-ki came to my house drunk. He was worrying whether doing a commercial would make him neglect his acting. When he had that concern, I told him to do it right away. Once he found stability in life, he could make the films he wanted."
Above all, Ahn Sung-ki took the lead in standing with the film industry during hardships. Director Jang Hang-jun said, "There was a period in the '90s when actors' pay rose sharply. Back then, Ahn Sung-ki was the industry's top. But he made something like a declaration: 'I won't accept more than a certain amount.'" Actor Jung Jae-young explained, "He said he hoped that could go back to other junior actors or staff members."
He also appealed for the livelihood of film people against the reduction of the screen quota, which endangered the domestic market for Korean films. About that time, director Jang Hang-jun said, "The screen quota was a major social issue. Directors, producers and staff had high participation, but I wondered whether actors would step forward. It might have hurt actors' images. But many actors stood in front of the cameras representing Ahn Sung-ki. They ran into the streets, and Ahn Sung-ki was the rallying point," adding to the poignancy.
Ahn Sung-ki even appeared twice in films dealing with the May 18 Gwangju Uprising, such as "A Petal" and "In the Name of the Son," sharing the era's pain. Considering the period when society was oppressed, he once declared he would stop appearing in melodramas, and he took part in works that addressed social events films had not covered, raising his pride as a film person.
Fellow actor Han Ye-ri added of the deceased, "He was the warmest person I have met, and we are all most grateful to him, but he was a truly special actor and a special person who always said thank you first."
[Photo] Joint reporting team, source: SBS.
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