‘Harbin’ Hyun Bin “Wife Son Ye-jin‘s support is a great strength... I want to make a good movie for my son”[Interview]

MOVIES Dec 19, 2024

Translation

Photo courtesy of CJ ENM
Photo courtesy of CJ ENM
Director Woo Min-ho and actor Hyun Bin have joined forces for the film ‘Harbin’ to fully capture the sacred sacrifices of independence fighters on screen.

Director Woo, who captured the journey of independence activists and Ahn Jung-geun to Harbin for the October 26, 1909 uprising, took the megaphone for this massive project with a production cost of 30 billion won with the sole purpose of “capturing their journey in a sublime way.” He cast Hyun Bin as Ahn Jung-geun, the independence activist most respected by the Korean people. In response to Director Woo‘s words, “I saw the sorrowful look of Ahn Jung-geun in Hyun Bin’s eyes,” Hyun Bin emphasized, “It is an honor for me to be cast in this project.” ○“My wife Son Ye-jin and my son are my greatest strength.”

Hyun Bin, who lacked confidence in embodying the great man Ahn Jung-geun, honestly said that he “declined three times” the offer to appear in “Harbin” and made the difficult decision after much deliberation. He said that he was able to muster up the courage thanks to Director Woo Min-ho‘s “steadfast belief” in him.

“Every time I declined and made another offer, the director would revise the script little by little and send it to me. I could see that he was continually worrying about even the smallest details. As I continued to read the script, I became curious about Ahn Jung-geun, and I thought, ’Will I ever get another chance to play such a great person?‘”
Still from the movie ‘Harbin’, photo courtesy of CJ ENM
Still from the movie ‘Harbin’, photo courtesy of CJ ENM
Although it was a series of difficult filming sessions, including long-term overseas locations and battle scenes in the cold, he said that the “physical pain” was nothing. He said that it was “the most mentally difficult of all the works I’ve done so far” due to the great sense of responsibility for playing Ahn Jung-geun.

“I wanted to get as close to his thoughts as possible, so I searched for and read all the materials about him, and I thought of General Ahn Jung-geun every day without fail. But I still haven‘t found an exact answer to who he was. The general was thirty years old when he carried out the Harbin Incident. How he could risk his life and accomplish such a great thing at such a young age? I don’t think that‘s something I can even dare to imagine.”

Also, while playing Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the 2014 film ‘Roaring Currents’, he deeply sympathized with his senior Choi Min-sik’s words, “While filming, I hoped that the general would appear in my dreams at least once.” He said with a faint smile, “But he didn‘t appear in my dreams until we finished filming. I wish he would appear in my dreams even now.”
Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, Photo courtesy of VAST Entertainment
Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, Photo courtesy of VAST Entertainment
During the difficult and lonely filming, what gave him the most strength was his wife Son Ye-jin’s support. He expressed his gratitude, saying, “My wife must have had a hard time taking care of the child alone, but she was always the first to cheer me on and comfort me.” And then he emphasized, “I really wanted to make this movie well, even for my child.”

“I had a child while I was preparing for ‘Harbin,’ and when my child grows up, I want him to say, ‘When you were just born, your dad played such a great character in this movie.’ Just like General (An Jung-geun) who wanted to leave a better country for his descendants, I’ve been thinking a lot these days about showing my child a better world. I think adults should play a role in creating a better future.”


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com
  • 0
  • 0