I Will Live As An Actor

I will live as an actor Episode 165

“Are you talking about actor Jang Young-guk?”

Memories clearly appear in his wrinkled gaze.

“Who can say that they don’t miss the passage of time? But the intensity of my longing was accompanied by a sense of despondency and helplessness. As I got older as a film director, it was difficult to find the excitement I had when filming my first film.”

Just as there are plum blossoms that bloom in the spring and camellias that bloom in the winter, each person’s prime is different.

Some people may come when they are young, while others may come later in life. However, he clearly thought that his prime as a film director was over. Until I met him.

“I have met actors while filming numerous movies, but among them, my feelings for actor Jang Young-guk are special. Just like when I was filming my debut film, he was an actor who gave me a new feeling of heart palpitations.”

It was like lighting a fuse. As I watched his acting on the televised screen, my heart pounded so hard that it did not stop.

Maybe that’s why he was able to make ‘The Outlaw’, which is considered a masterpiece as a commercial film.

“Outlaw’s success meant something special to me. It’s not because I simply mobilized a lot of audiences, but because the direction of my work changed with Outlaw as the starting point. It became a caution to seek out new things rather than being complacent. “My body was already old, but my mind felt like I had gone back to when I first picked up the megaphone.”

The release of Outlaw was amazing. Not only did it achieve great box office success as a hit and miss film, but it also created a nationwide syndrome.

In particular, the acting transformation of actor Jang Young-guk, who had never played a vicious villain, impressed many people.

I knew that the spectrum of his acting would be wide, but it may be because he played a villainous role that was so deep that it almost seemed vicious, without any discomfort.

Because of this, Jang Young-guk, who played a supporting role, received more attention than Son Hwa-won, who played the lead role.

For example, it’s the same way that the Joker gets more attention in Batman.

“Three years have passed since actor Jang Young-guk became the youngest person to win an acting award. Someone said “After winning the grand prize, he, like all actors, will experience a jinx.”

It was like a ghost story passed down among actors. After reaching its peak on the broadcasting circuit as an acting target, it will go into a downward spiral like a ghost.

This applied not only to actors but also to all people in the entertainment industry, including comedians. Statistically speaking, it was the same. However.

“Actor Jang Young-guk has achieved achievements over the past three years that are even greater than what he achieved in the past. There has been no target jinx over the past three years. Rather, I leapt toward a higher place.”

When asked how much further actor Jang Young-guk will develop in the future, he said,

“This has been floating around in Chungmuro for some time. No matter how talented you are from God, without effort, everything goes to waste. The reason this saying came about was actor Jang Young-guk. Everyone who met him at the filming site said the same thing. “It’s unfortunate that his efforts are disparaged as talent.”

Director Baek Jang-hoon smiled faintly and elaborated.

“A lot of coaches came to see him. It is not limited to Chungmuro. Someone said so. It is not funny to say that the reason Jang Young-guk does not enter Hollywood is because he chose to be the head of a snake rather than the tail of a dragon. I can tell. “The fact is that he will soon become an actor who will represent Korea.”

* * *

The dazzling night view of Hong Kong unfolds. Dazzlingly bright.

When looking down from a skyscraper, the sight in the city center is almost like a new world.

But where there is light, there is also darkness. Small gun carriages are located in the narrow streets that lead from every alley.

The food sold is also varied. From dim sum to wonton noodle jerky. There are countless foods that represent Hong Kong.

A young man and woman are eating noodles there. The man and woman who were eating noodles in silence were boiling with sorrow without even looking at each other.

Today is the last day. A man who came to Hong Kong from the United States on business had to return to the United States tomorrow, and he had a family.

The noodles are at the bottom, but neither of them gets up.

The owner of the noodle shop glanced at them as if he wanted them to leave, but the two remained silent.

It was none other than a woman who spoke first.

“You haven’t changed anything since ten years ago.”

The fingertips of the man adjusting the frame of his glasses are slightly trembling. It may be because of the excitement and tension about this person in one’s vision.

The woman’s appearance was exactly the same as when he first met her ten years ago. The camera is capturing her appearance in an over-the-shoulder (OSS) style. The woman just looks at the man without answering.

The man silently accepts her gaze directed at him as if he were repenting.

“I left you and went to America, but my married life wasn’t that good. It was my fault for realizing too late that a marriage without love was simply uncontractible. I knew my wife was having an affair with another man, but I couldn’t say a word. “Maybe it was natural because I couldn’t give love.”

The man looks at the woman’s face and smiles.

“I’m sorry about you. I never had the courage to look at your face again. I promised to spend my whole life with you, but in the end, I was the one who betrayed you. “Even if you regret it now, you can’t go back.”

It was a sad voice, but the woman did not respond and just looked at the man.

“Do you remember this place? This is the place I first visited with you in the past. It was also the last place I sent you. “If we meet again, I definitely want to eat here together.”

The man said, stroking his face with his long fingers.

“I don’t want to leave your side. So, can you stay with me tonight?”

Eventually, the man pays for the noodles and stands up.

The noodle shop owner looks at the back of a man walking down an alley and looks puzzled.

Of the two bowls of noodles, one had its bottom exposed, while the other was intact. I was skeptical from the moment the man ordered two bowls of noodles for himself.

A man and a woman walk while looking at the night view of Hong Kong.

The man walks as if fascinated by the woman’s appearance. The man walks quickly, chasing after the woman who is walking away.

The man’s steps become faster, as if he doesn’t want to miss out. And before you know it, you’re headed down to the subway station.

He finally stops walking when he can’t see the woman among the crowd of people at the subway station.

Probably because I knew that everything was an illusion. Immediately,

Baaaaaaang!

The sound of horns and people shouting increase. Before he knew it, the man had come down to the subway tracks, chasing the woman or his past.

The man looks at the approaching subway, paying no attention to people’s gestures.

There is no trace of fear or terror in his gaze.

Soon, a dazzlingly bright light embraces him.

“Cut—!”

It was a filming location that rented an entire subway station in Hong Kong late in the morning. The subway stopped running for filming, with only the headlights on, and an actor came up from the line.

Because it was the last scene, the director went out and hugged the actor.

A suit with neatly swept pomade hair and classic glasses frames add intelligence.

Just like wine whose aroma and flavor become stronger as time goes by, only three years had passed, but the image of England was becoming brighter.

* * *

Wang Jinyang (王辰良) is a Hong Kong master. The once brilliant heyday of Hong Kong cinema was in decline due to numerous censorships and intervention by the party government.

This is why Wang Jinyang, who once dominated the Hong Kong film industry, also put down his megaphone and went into exile abroad.

I thought my passion for movies would cool down as I got older, but the passion that was built up in my heart showed no signs of abating.

He wanted to take the lead again, but he couldn’t find any actors in China who could work with him.

He was once called a master and dominated the Hong Kong film industry, but after going into exile and causing friction with the party government, even Chinese actors became reluctant to him.

Thanks to his wealth, the film was filmed in Hong Kong after an agreement with the Chinese government, but there were no actors.

At that moment, the person who caught Wang Jinyang’s gaze was none other than a Korean actor.

Unlike the Chinese film industry, which went through a period of decline after its brilliant heyday, Korea, unlike in the past when it was a wasteland for movies, was entering an increasingly brilliant heyday as time passed.

The actor at the center was none other than a young man named Jang Young-guk.

‘I wonder if it’s so famous that even Hollywood can find it in person.’

He knew that he had already come down from the ranks of masters. It’s been ten years since I haven’t picked up a megaphone. Looking at it objectively, the young actor Jang Young-guk did not have the slightest chance of appearing in his work. That was when not only Hollywood but also Europe came to Korea to meet him.

Therefore, just like Liu Bei, he did not intend to hesitate even if it meant trying. But for some reason, the young actor who was facing him readily answered.

-Okay, I’ll appear.

Wang Jinyang said as he poured a glass full of pure bamboo leaf wine.

“How could you have trusted me so much and followed me? I ask you now, but back then I was a ghost of a worthless past. “He was once famous in the Hong Kong film industry, but his glory had faded.”

England, sitting across from him, answered without hesitation.

“Because I like the director’s work.”

It was a simple answer, but Wang Jinyang could not hide the emotions welling up deep in his heart.

Even actors in their own country turned their backs on him. However, I never thought that a single word from a young actor from another country saying that he likes his work so much would touch my heart so much.

‘Director, you’re crying again.’

England looked like he was scratching his head. Wang Jinyang was a more sensitive person than expected.

While he displayed fierce charisma like a tiger at the filming site, his tear ducts did not dry up when he drank alcohol.

“Do you really like my work?”

When asked again as if to confirm, England nodded briefly. It wasn’t a lie. Didn’t you watch the Hong Kong movies of the 1980s, when director Wang Jinyang was active, until the video tapes were worn out to the point where you could already memorize the lines? Even more so.

‘With this work, director Jinyang Wang is also taking flight again.’

In fact, England couldn’t believe it when Wang Jinyang came to see him in person. It was because I knew how famous Jinyang Wang had become overseas in his past life.

“Going to Korea?”

“Yes, the wedding is in a week.”

“Mr. Jang, you’re getting married?!”

Director, you forgot again.

“Not me, but my mother.”