Late actor Lee Sun-kyun, his last dark interview, "Acting is a diary for me."

The last interview of the late actor Lee Sun-kyun was revealed.

On the 27th, News Magazine Chicago aired the final excerpt of the final official interview (filmed in downtown Chicago on October 7, 2023) of actor Lee Sun-kyun, who passed away on December 27, 2023.

The interview dated October 7, 2023 was actor Lee Sun-kyun's last official interview before his death on the 27th, and was reportedly conducted after he was invited to the American Asian Pop-up Cinema and received the Best Achievement Award. Lee Sun-gyun was found dead in a car near a park in Jongno-gu, Seoul around 10:30 am on the 27th.

The interview was broadcast in a news magazine on October 10th and consisted of questions and answers about actor Lee Sun-kyun's award for 'Parasite' and the future direction of his acting career. This article is a summary of an interview that lasted about 12 minutes.

Regarding his thoughts on winning the 'Best Achievement Award' at the 17th Asian Pop-up Cinema Film Festival, Lee Sun-kyun said, "First of all, I am very grateful and grateful for the invitation. Well, this award is not given for just one work, so if you are greedy, you can accumulate a variety of films. "I think it was greedy to go. I think it's more significant and meaningful because it's like an award for a diary or an actor's diary," he said of the award.

Regarding the reason why he took on the challenge of acting as a comic in 'Killing Romance', which was selected as the closing film of the 17th Asian Pop-up Cinema, Lee Sun-gyun said, "Well, first of all, I really enjoyed the script. It was a very strange and comedic script that I had never seen before. That's why I was curious, and this is the debut film of director Lee Won-seok, who directed it. I was curious because I enjoyed watching 'Men's Manual' very much. I was also very curious about the director. I knew him from the beginning, but we didn't have a deep personal relationship. Originally, the director I went to the meeting to meet and reject him, but he suddenly gave me a thumbs up and decided to think about it one more time. After making my decision, I started to worry about why they gave me this script and this role. “That’s right,” he said.

He continued, "Usually when I act, I tend to bring the character to me and think more about what I would do, but in this case, I had to create a character that I couldn't portray, so the process was a bit reversed. That was a new experience." “It was an experience, and I think I thought a lot about which character I wanted to create and how to create it. I was able to act more freely and boldly, and I had a lot of time left at that time, so I think I tried various things. It was fun,” he added.

Regarding the unique charm of 'Killing Romance', Lee Seon-gyun said, "I couldn't see it very much, and I don't think I watched it much (laughter). I thought there should be a movie like this, because it's a very unique movie. Those who know director Lee Won-seok's character, “I think a lot of people will get that feeling, ‘Oh, I look a lot like the director,’ or something like that,” he said.

When asked how he wanted to express the Jonathan character, he said, "He is very selfish and has personal narcissism. I thought it would be great to be very quirky, comical, and clown-like, so I took a lot of reference to that for the costumes and makeup. Stanley Kubrick. “I thought it would be nice to suddenly see the madness of that role in the movie ‘A Clockwork Orange,’” he explained. He continued, "Director Won-Seok Lee's directing method listens a lot to the actors' opinions and is very open and thoughtful, so I think I gave more opinions and had more conversations with the director than in any other work. This role will change greatly depending on who takes on the role. “I think it can be done,” he added.

Regarding his collaboration with Lee Ha-nui, who played a passionate role with him, "She is such a great actress. We started together in the drama 'Pasta', but now she has grown into a tremendous actor and has positive energy that encompasses not only acting but also the field. Even though she is my younger sister, I really depend on her a lot. “He’s a friend I’m grateful to,” he said.

Lee Sun-kyun, who also visited the Academy Awards ceremony for the movie 'Parasite' (directed by Bong Joon-ho), was asked whether he felt the status of Korean films, and said, "I feel it a lot. When 'Parasite' won the Academy Award, it was the 100th anniversary of Korean cinema, so it was a 100th anniversary. It seems to be a work that is the highlight of and a meaningful work that starts a new century. Not only Korean movies but also Asian movies. While American-centered movies were very popular, interest in various cultures of other countries increased, and OTT “As the number of movies has increased, it seems like it has become easier to access other aspects. They say the movie market has narrowed because of OTT, but I think it has expanded from another perspective,” he said.

When asked how he thought he was improving compared to the beginning, Lee Seon-kyun, who has over 20 years of acting experience, said, "It's so good (laughs). Better than I thought. When I think about it at the time, I couldn't even dream of doing this." It was a work experience. I went to the Academy Awards and won the Best Picture award. I received applause from so many Hollywood celebrities. It really felt like a dream. This time, I think they gave me an award for not giving up and working hard. It was really great. “I think it’s significant and meaningful,” he said.

When asked what kind of acting he would like to do in the future, Lee Seon-kyun said, "In the future, well, I should write another diary. It's not that I'm greedy about just wanting to do something, because each work and each character is a process of creating another. It's in vain. “I don’t want to do it, but I want to be grateful and make it happen,” he answered.

When asked if I had ever discovered an inherent sense within myself that I didn't know about while working in film, I said, "First of all, I think the strengths and weaknesses of the actors enrich me as I think about how to express the characters in the text. It's an indirect experience that I didn't feel before. “I think about my emotions through ‘What would I do if I were you? Because there are many processes like this and assuming this again. Rather than bringing up things I didn’t know, I think those processes are very precious and fun,’” he said.

Now, at this moment, when asked what acting is to actor Lee Seon-gyun, he says, "When I get asked this question, before that, acting was a task that was constantly given to me. Well, I thought so. I'm not a planning person, so I don't do much in advance or review, but I I have a desire to do well in the homework given to me, and if I do it well, it enriches and grows. I think it is what made me do that. Acting gave me a certain driving force and a certain form in my life. If I were to talk about it at this point, what would it be like? If you look at it, it's like a diary. When I received the award this time, I just saw the things piled up in a diary, and what I've done so far is not bad. And I worked hard. If this is an award like this, I want to write another diary well. That's what I thought." .

Reporter Ha-neul Lee, Ten Asia greenworld@tenasia.co.kr