SEOUL – Actor Lee Byung Hun finally nabbed the Blue Dragon Film Award for best actor for the first time in his 25-year career – after seven previous nominations – for his role as a smooth-talking gangster in political thriller Inside Men.
“When I saw the script for Inside Men, I wondered if it exaggerated reality,” he said in his acceptance speech on Friday at the awards ceremony at Kyung Hee University.
“But ultimately it seems like reality has surpassed Inside Men,” he said, referring to the political scandal sweeping Korea involving Choi Soon Sil, under investigation for peddling unauthorised influence in state affairs and coercing funds from conglomerates.
Lee also addressed the mass candle vigils that have been calling for President Park Geun Hye’s resignation. “I had a belief that those candles would be candles of hope,” he said.
Lee’s character in the film, Ahn Sang Goo, is a mobster who ends up being crushed by larger political powers more ruthless and power-hungry than his group of fist-wielding crooks.
The 46-year-old actor debuted in 2001 with the military drama Joint Security Area.
He has forayed into Hollywood, starring in blockbusters like G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra in 2009, Terminator Genisys in 2015, and The Magnificent Seven this year.
The award for best actress went to Kim Min Hee for her role as a lonely Japanese heiress in The Handmaiden.
Kim, whose affair with married film director Hong Sang Soo was recently made public, did not attend the ceremony.
Producer Yoon Seok Chan of The Handmaiden received the award on her behalf.
“She worked harder than anyone on the film, from 2013 until last year’s sweltering summer,” he said.
The annual Blue Dragon Film Awards, in its 37th edition, is considered one of Korea’s three most influential awards ceremonies
