2024 Baeksang Made Viewers Laugh And Cry, From Love Confession To Remembrance Of Lee Sun-kyun
The 60th Baeksang Arts Awards took place at COEX D Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the evening of May 7th. Shin Dong-yeop, Park Bo-gum and Suzy were the MCs of the event.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Baeksang Arts Awards witnessed various emotional moments throughout the event.
Soldier Lee Do-hyun’s simple love confession, “Jiyeon ah, thank you”
Lee Do-hyun’s confession of affection to his girlfriend, actress Lim Ji-yeon made headlines. Taking the stage to receive the trophy of Best New Actor in the Film category with “Exhuma”, Lee Do-hyun proudly greeted as a soldier.
Introducing himself, Lee Do-hyun said, “I’m Corporal Lim Dong-hyun, who was active as an actor under the stage name Lee Do-hyun, adding “I just took a leave from the army this morning. I was told to prepare an acceptance speech but I didn’t do it so I’m regretting it now”, expressing his overwhelming feelings.
After showing his gratitude to “Exhuma” team, including the director and cast members, Lee Do-hyun added, “My beloved father, mother, brother, my pet dog Gaeul… and Ji-yeon ah, thank you”.
Colleagues’ longing for the late Lee Sun-kyun
At the award ceremony, a tribute was conducted for the late Lee Sun-kyun, who sadly passed away on December 27th last year. Chun Woo-hee, who appeared as an award presenter for the Screenplay Award in the TV and Film categories, looked at the lists of nominees before announcing the winners and said, “I see that the late Lee Sun-kyun starred in two of the nominees. His acting in these works will remain in our hearts forever”. The deceased acted in “Killing Romance” and Sleep”.
Beating many outstanding nominees, director Yoo Jae-sun of “Sleep” finally won an award. Delivering an acceptance speech on behalf of director Yoo, who was absent from the event, producer Kim Hee-kyung said, “I would like to thank all the officials, actors, and staff who believed in the power of the script and decided to produce it. I especially want to express my sincere gratitude to the late actor Lee Sun-kyun for creating a mere convincing story with his wonderful acting”.
Actors shed tears watching Lee Soon-jae’s acting
This year, Lee Soon-jae’s short but impactful acting performance brought tears to all the actors who were at the awards ceremony.
Appearing on the stage, Lee Soon-jae did a short play which was about an interview with casting staff. Introducing himself, he said, “I’m Lee Soon-jae, who just turned 90 years old this year. Since my debut in a play in 1956, I’ve starred in 175 dramas, 150 movies and less than 100 plays”. He then mentioned several actors such as Choi Min-sik, Lee Byung-hun, etc., and expressed his appreciation.
The actor continued, “I’m old and people often ask me if it’s hard to memorize the script. Every time, I would say, ‘That’s the basics of being an actor, How can you act without memorizing the script? You have to put your soul into the lines, but what if you can’t memorize them? If you are not confident in memorizing lines, you should quit acting”, adding “I’ve been acting all my life but there are still many things I cannot do, so I always think about it when taking on a new role. Being an actor is about challenging new things. The role of an actor is to think and try to create new characters. How can this be easy? That’s why hundreds of actors who thought acting was easy have disappeared from the screens. The stars that remain now are the ones who survive”, making all the actors cry.
Lastly, Lee Soon-jae showed a short performance in “King Lear” and said, “I want to be remembered as an actor who worked hard.”
