Ahn Sung-ki's final work is "Birth"… Even while battling blood cancer he resolutely said "I'll do it myself"
Responsibility toward the camera even before long lines, film industry figures with wet eyes
'national actor' Ahn Sung-ki. Even during his illness he never let go of the thread of film. The film Birth, which he participated in while receiving blood cancer treatment, became the deceased's last work based on the filming period.
On the 9th, the final filming anecdote revealed through the SBS special documentary "The person who was always there, actor Ahn Sung-ki" left a deep impression on the film world. Director Park Heung-sik recalled, "The line was very long in the first take. He delivered the first sentence really well, but the second sentence didn't come out easily." He added, "I watched the monitor and cried my eyes out. A fear that 'could this work be his last?' suddenly overwhelmed me," he said.
Even so, Ahn Sung-ki did not stop filming. Director Park said, "If he had just said 'I'm having a hard time today,' we would have stopped filming, but the actor sat in his place without moving at all and said, 'I'll do it,'" adding, "He fulfilled his responsibility as an actor until the end."
When the fact that he was battling blood cancer became known in Sept., 2022, Ahn Sung-ki's appearance at an official event while undergoing chemotherapy saddened many. And Ahn Sung-ki passed away at 9 a.m. on the 5th while his family watched. He was 74. He debuted as a child actor at age five and appeared in more than 170 works over 69 years, writing the history of Korean film. In life he loved acting so much that he said, "I want to be with audiences with enjoyable films as long as I have strength."
The deceased's wake was held in room 31 of the Seoul St. Mary's Hospital funeral hall, and the funeral was held as a film-person funeral organized by the Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation and The Korea Film Actors Association. Actor Park Sang-won expressed his condolences, saying, "He was a senior I respected as a person above acting," and close singer Cho Yong-pil also said, "He must still have had many things he wanted to do; it's so sad." Park Joong-hoon expressed deep sorrow, saying, "I respected him as a person beyond being an actor."
Ahn Sung-ki's final work, Birth, preserved his stance of staying in place and saying "I'll do it myself" even before long lines. The image of him sitting in front of the camera until the end unmistakably shows it was Ahn Sung-ki and makes it all the more poignant
[Photo] 'OSEN DB'
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