The Korea Herald, South Korea
Sept 4 2014
[Herald Interview] Making life choices through acting
Simon Abkarian, a French-Armenian actor who played Col. Amanulla in
“Kaboul Kitchen,” flew from the ongoing Venice International Film
Festival to receive the grand prize at the Seoul International Drama
Awards. It is his first visit to Korea.
Reflecting on his diverse roles in films, TV dramas and plays over the
past 30 years, the 52-year-old actor said he considers two things when
selecting a drama.
“First, we actors have to work and make a living, at least for me,”
said Abkarian. “But second, and more important, I choose the work
where I can be faithful to what I believe in and be able to defend the
work and not run away from it. I cannot betray what I believe in.”
As an actor, Abkarian likes to make choices when they are available
to him, just as he chose to star in “Kaboul Kitchen,” which he says
depicts an environment in which two cultures meet — a French
restaurant run by an ex-journalist in the war-torn city of Kabul,
Afghanistan.
“It is a clash of cultures between the East and the West, where people
who don’t know each other and are from different backgrounds learn to
live together in a war situation,” he said.
But the film also talks about journalism, said the actor: “Just like
in many countries around the world, journalism has lost much credit in
France. But people still want to see journalists doing real jobs of
investigation and searching for truth. When viewers see that, they
have hopes for the future.
“You realize, it becomes heroic in today’s circumstances to tell the
truth as a journalist, and bring the news out, battling between the
money and power.”
He also worked with director Fatih Akin very recently in the drama
film “The Cut,” centering on the Armenian genocide during World War I,
which is competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice International
Film Festival. Being of Armenian descent himself, working on the film
was very meaningful for him.
“As an artist, I like to make choices,” he said. “It is true that I
cannot carry all the world’s problems on my shoulders, but I can make
choices to stand for the people who don’t have voices, who are not
visible, and tell their stories.”
Actors can give voice to the unheard and the forgotten, said Abkarian:
“I write and direct plays as well to create my own vision in this
world by expressing my freedom.”
“But I am not always serious,” he continued. “I also like to have fun,
so it is a good balance between humor and being political.”
Upon his visit to Korea, he watched many Korean films, including “Old
Boy” by Park Chan-wook.
“Korean cinema practices art with great freedom and with artistic
madness,” said the actor. Abkarian thinks that many Korean films
beautifully blend modern and ancient themes well. “If I do get a
chance, it would be a lot of fun to take part in Korean films, if I
can learn the language fast enough,” said the actor, who already
speaks five languages — French, English, Armenian, Turkish and Arabic.
“I am not afraid of learning new languages because communicating is so
important for me,” he said. “When I go to new countries, I always do
two things: visit (the dining) table and the stage. Since I had good
Korean food last night, I would like to see pansori (Korean
traditional opera).”
Asked why he became an actor, he couldn’t answer promptly, though.
“But I knew one thing. I love people and that is why I am acting. It
is important how you represent your people — not only Armenians or
Koreans — but humanity in general. There are no racial, social
boundaries to love everyone.”
By Ahn Sung-mi ([email protected])