[Japan Exclusive Official Interview] Hyun Bin, star of the movie ”Harbin,” to Japanese fans: ”I hope you can feel the culmination of my hard work in a perfect form”

The suspenseful PENG SOO action blockbuster "Harbin," starring Hyun Bin, which has been ranked number one in Korean audience numbers for four consecutive weeks (according to KOFIC as of April 22, 2025), is now showing nationwide. (Distribution:
KADOKAWA, KADOKAWA K Plus) 1909─An Jung-geun (An Jung-geun), a member of the Korean Righteous Army, and his comrades headed to Harbin, China, risking their lives to secure the independence of their homeland.
"Harbin" is a supreme suspense action entertainment film that reinterprets a historical event that shocked Asia from a modern perspective.
"Harbin" was finally released on July 4th. The audience who saw it commented, "It's a dynamic film that you should see in the theater.
Amidst the flood of reactions such as "A great work," "I couldn't stop crying at the climax scene," and "A work worth watching," an official interview with Hyun Bin, which was conducted during his visit to Japan, has arrived.
Hyun Bin talks carefully about his feelings for his Japanese fans, stories from filming with director Woo Min-ho, and his experience working with Lily Franky, who he reveals to be a big fan of!
--This is your first visit to Japan in a while, so what were your impressions meeting your Japanese fans during the stage greeting?
It was great to be able to communicate with the audience in the theater, looking them in the eye.
It was a very meaningful time for me to come and greet you. --Even during the stage greeting, I could sense your strong trust in Director Woo Min-ho. What was the most impressive thing about the director's direction during filming?
Even before filming began, I realized that he was someone who paid particular attention to detail. He was very meticulous and checked everything one by one. Even during filming, he would do rough drafts on location.
While watching the collected footage, we discussed what was lacking and what needed to be corrected while making the film.
I now understand why not only I but also many other audience members love director Woo Min-ho's films. -- Did the director ask you anything about the role of Ahn Jung-geun?
The director said, "Rather than focusing on the achievements and facts that appear in historical documents, I want you to think a lot about and imagine what feelings and thoughts Ahn Jung-geun had as a person.
So I set everything else aside, kept in mind what the director had said, prepared myself, and went to the shoot.
He worked on the role by consulting with the director and sometimes even acting in the director's version.
Sometimes our decisions can make our comrades victims. We must carry the guilt, suffering, and pain, follow our beliefs, and take one step at a time for a better future and ideals.
I had to be able to express my feelings. I must have felt lonely. I was constantly thinking about these things. And I was wondering how I could convey these feelings to the audience.
It was the work I put the most heart and soul into in my acting career so far. I don't know if it was the right decision, but I did my best.
-Has your view of the character Ahn Jung-geun changed before and after playing the role?
A lot has changed. Before, I thought of him as a historical figure, a symbolic figure. Now, about seven years have passed since the preparation for "Harbin" and the end of filming.
For the next eight months, I read a lot of material and thought about him every day, so now we have become much closer to each other.
-- I was originally a fan of Lily Franky, who played Ito Hirobumi.
I heard that he was a very good actor. What was your impression of working with him? When I talked to him personally, I thought he was a really nice, very sensitive and pure person. And he was also a very gentlemanly person.
When I watched the performance on the monitor, I was shocked and impressed by how his character changed so drastically in an instant. How can he create such an aura without any big movements or lines?
I was really inspired by the experience. When I met him in private, he was very friendly, and I liked him more and more every time we met.
I hope that someday I will have the opportunity to act with him again, in a role where we don't kill each other as soon as we meet. --Please give us a message for the Japanese audience.
As the director said at the Japan premiere, this is a movie he made with the hope that the audience would enjoy it in the theater.
I hope you can feel the culmination of our efforts in a perfect form. <Overview of the film> Production: HIVE MEDIA CORP "Spring in Seoul" Director: Woo Min-ho ("KCIA"
"The Chiefs of Namsan" and "The Insiders") Screenplay: Kim Kyung-chan, Woo Min-ho Cinematography: Hong Kyung-pyo "Parasite"
"Semi-Underground Family" and "Baby Broker" Starring: Hyun Bin "Crash Landing on You" and "Confidential: Korea
"International Collaboration Investigation", Park Jung Min's "Smuggling 1970", Jo Woo Jin's "The Insiders", Jeon Yeo Bin's "Vincenzo"
Park Hoon "Spring in Seoul", You Chae Myung "Itaewon Class", Lee DONG WOO "Goblin"
Lily Franky "Shoplifters", Jung Woo Sung (special appearance) "Spring in Seoul"
2024 / Korea / 114 min. / Color / Cinemascope / 5.1ch / Eirin G / Subtitle translation: Nemoto Rie Original title: Harbin HARBIN
Korean release date: December 24, 2024 ⓒ 2024 CJ ENM Co., Ltd., HIVE MEDIA CORP ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED Provided by: KADOKAWA K Plus MOVIE WALKER PRESS KOREA Distributed by: KADOKAWA, KADOKAWA
K Plus Official Site harbin-movie.jp OfficialX https://x.com/harbin_movie
July 4th (Friday) Shinjuku Piccadilly and other cinemas nationwide