Tang Wei says every moment of "Late Autumn" role challenging

Chinese actress Tang Wei speaks during the press conference of film "Late Autumn" in Seoul, South Korea on February 10, 2011. [Lee Ki-bum/Asia Economic Daily]

Chinese actress Tang Wei says portraying the role of her character Anna in film "Late Autumn" was challenging every step of the way.

"Every moment of playing Anna was difficult... It was hard to think of and understand her life and emotions," Tang Wei told reporters after a press screening for the film in Seoul on Thursday.

In "Late Autumn," co-starring Korean actor Hyun Bin, Anna is a Chinese-American woman imprisoned after murdering her violent husband.

The story unfolds with her running into Korean gigolo Hoon (Hyun Bin) while on a bus to Seattle on a 72-hour parole from jail to attend her mother's funeral in Seattle.

The two develop feelings for each other without sharing many words, partly from their language barrier with Hoon only having been in the U.S. for two years, but also due to the tormented state Anna is in which often leaves her lost in her own thoughts and unwilling to respond to Hoon's questions.

This does not daunt Hoon however, only drawing him stronger to her, and throughout, he stays charming and cheerful in front of the silent and withdrawn Anna.

"Hoon is like an angel to her so she starts loving him with the feeling that she's receiving warm rays of sunlight from that angel," Tang Wei explained.

But Hyun Bin said that his character was more than just smiles and sunshine. "Hoon may look cheerful on the outside but I actually feel sorry for him. He holds sadness and pain within him as well but he won't show that on the outside... It's his job to make people happy, so he may console others but be hurting on the inside."

"The movie is about the love between a man and woman from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. I hope viewers will see how they overcome those barriers and fill it in with something else," Hyun Bin added.

"Late Autumn," a remake of Korean director Lee Man-hee's 1966 film of the same name was re-made three times -- into Korean pics "Promise of the Body" in 1975, "Manchu" in 1982 and Japanese film "Promise" in 1972.

Set to screen under the forum category of the ongoing Berlin International Film Festival, "Late Autumn" will open in Korean theaters on February 17.

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Jessica Kim jesskim@