ACF 152: Korean Society Luncheon with Actor Ahn Sung-Ki

Ahn Sung-ki (l) and Prof. Hyangsoon Yi (r)

Last month I had the honor and great pleasure of being included in an intimate luncheon for Ahn Sung-ki, the "people's actor" of Korea. Mr. Ahn was in town for the start of a one week tour of New York, Washington D.C., and the University of Georgia. The mini-tour was organized by Prof. Hyangsoon Yi, assistant professor of comparative literature at the University of Georgia, and it recieved generous support from the Korea Foundation. Prof. Yi also moderated the discussion and Q&A that evening at The Korea Society, which sponsored the luncheon I attended.

There were ten of us present on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27th at Korea Palace, a lovely establishment on East 54th Street that I'd never been to before. We were ushered into a very nice, small private dining room. Besides Mr Ahn and Professor Yi, there were three people from The Korea Society present, four other guests and myself, the only person from print media and the blogosphere.

Of the 77 films listed in Mr. Ahn's filmography at IMDb, I had seen only three: Silmido, To the Starry Island, and Duelist. Still, I'd read enough about Mr Ahn to know that he'd started out at the age of five as a child film star, was one of the few to make the transition to a successful acting career as an adult, and that he has been one of the most popular actors in Korea for years, hence his informal title as the "people's actor."

As Mr Ahn speaks very little English, I used one of the Koreans present to ask him about making the transition from childhood to adult star. He said that actually he had stopped acting for several years during middle and high school, and during his period of military service. Thus when he returned to the screen, it was as a "new actor" making a new and fresh beginning.

Later I asked Yuni Cho, of The Korea Society, if Mr. Ahn had the image in Korea that Tom Hanks has in the U.S., that is, someone who's played a variety of roles but is generally regarded as the embodiment of an "everyman." Yuni, who I've known for several years, was sitting opposite me at one end of the table, and next to her was Brigette Noh of Chaos Theory Music. Brigette got very excited, saying she'd couldn't understand why she'd never thought of that. Yuni offered to put my question to Mr. Ahn, who replied that, yes, he'd describe himself as a Tom Hanks kind of actor in Korean Cinema.

I found out the next day that I'd made somewhat of an impression on Mr Ahn with that question. A co-worker at my "day job" had been at the discussion and Q&A that had taken place the night before (the evening after our luncheon). He told me that a woman had asked Mr Ahn what American actors he might compare himself to.

He turned to Yuni Cho and asked what was the name of that guy at lunch who had brought up the Tom Hanks comparison. She gave him my name, and he related how I'd asked about whether he'd consider himself like a "Korean" Tom Hanks, and that he'd thought it was a good comparison. Hearing from my co-worker that Mr. Ahn liked the comparison really made me happy.

As had my decision to take some time off from work to attend the luncheon. Mr. Ahn was so direct, accessible and unaffected. He passed food and later empty plates across the table, a totally unpretentious person. The food was very good and I certainly intend to make it back to Korea Palace in the not too distant future. All in all it was a truly delightful experience.

Thanks to The Korea Society (particularly Yuni Cho, who invited me) for the luncheon and for its role in bringing this wonderful actor to New York.