Actor Nam Myung Ryul has fired back at Son Suk Ku’s comments about theatre and its currently one of the top trending news in South Korea.
Earlier on the same day, actor Nam Myung Ryul publicly targeted Son Suk Ku through his social media. He attached an interview article featuring Son Suk Ku and wrote, “Hahaha, I just laugh. That arrogance. I want to add that it’s not about being rich or being famous but about being humble.”
Nam Myung Ryul further criticized Son Suk Ku in the post, commenting, “Even if you whispered with all your sincerity, you should have worried about projecting your acting to an audience of 350 seats. If you didn’t have such concerns during theater performances, then you were only focused on acting. Say, ‘After trying, I found that I’m better suited for the medium of acting.’ There are many actors who can fill a 350-seat theater even with a whisper. Defining what real acting is when all acting is portraying fictional characters is a contradiction.”
In the article attached by Nam Myung Ryul, Son Suk Ku’s interview about the play “Soldiers on the Tree” was included. What got the veteran actor riled up was this, Son Suk Ku said, “Originally, I only wanted to do theater, and I had no intention of getting involved in other mediums. At that time, they called love ‘whispering,’ but I couldn’t understand why they would ask me to fake whispering. So I quit and turned to movies.”
Although Nam Myung Ryul deleted the post amid controversy, he later added another post, saying, “Some criticize it as the words of an old man who cannot keep up with the times. However, it’s a conversation about the essence that has continued in Shakespeare’s time, still continues now, and will continue in the future. To my friends!”
Later, an official from Son Suk Ku’s agency told media outlets, “We have no intention to clarify whether his comments were right or wrong. As those who were present on the scene might know, the remarks were about his own acting style and not meant to criticize theater performances. It is a situation that can be easily misunderstood,” and emphasized that Son Suk Ku is currently fully dedicated to the play “Soldiers on the Tree.”
Later, the associate of Nam Myung Ryul stated to OSEN, “Firstly, the teacher has great affection for the theater world. It seems that he wanted to clarify the misunderstanding about Son Suk Ku’s statement regarding (the perception of theater acting as fake), rather than criticizing or blaming Son Suk Ku as an individual.”
The associate further clarified, “There is no personal interaction or conflict between Nam Myung Ryul and Son Suk Ku. This statement came up solely because of the part regarding ‘fake acting’ in the theater, which the teacher, with his deep affection for the theater world, wanted to address. The teacher himself humbly accepts any criticisms that rightfully question the theater world.”
Source: (A)
