'Don't be a puppet, have your own voice': Park Geun-hyung urges young actors to be creative on stage
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"There will be days when you feel like suffocating, and days when you feel like leaping with joy. There will be moments when you cannot even control yourself," he continued. "The kind of intensity you will feel is something no amount of wealth can replace, and it is something only you will know. I hope you all become great actors."
Opening his talk, the veteran actor said, "I used to be the third eldest among active theater actors. But after the late Lee Soon-jae passed away, I am now the second oldest."
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"Welcome to a life that will test you at every turn," actor Park Geun-hyung began, in speaking before some 30 young aspiring theater actor, who leaned forward in rapt attention, determined not to miss a single word.
"There will be days when you feel like suffocating, and days when you feel like leaping with joy. There will be moments when you cannot even control yourself," he continued. "The kind of intensity you will feel is something no amount of wealth can replace, and it is something only you will know. I hope you all become great actors."
In mid-January, the 85-year-old actor's class took place at the Arts Council Korea's HRD Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where a group of fledgling actors selected from more than 900 applicants had been training together for two nights as part of an acting boot camp under the Theater Tomorrow Project.
Opening his talk, the veteran actor said, "I used to be the third eldest among active theater actors. But after the late Lee Soon-jae passed away, I am now the second oldest."
He chuckled, then added, "If I leave too, there will be no one left to say these things. So even if I bore you a little, please listen carefully."
Park arrived with several pages of densely written notes. His lecture was heartfelt advice as well as tender consolation to young people who feel lost.
"What I am about to say comes from everything I have learned — from entering the theater at 19 without a teacher or a mentor and continuing my career to this day."
His critique was sharp. "Young actors just underline their scripts with colored pencils, but don't really think," he said. "There are too many puppetlike actors today — actors who move only when told and simply reproduce what they did before."
"Art and music are moving forward, but theater has grown stagnant. If you don't step up, the theater world will collapse."
At the core of his lesson was one simple directive: Be a creative performer.
"You are free-spirited artists. Do not be ashamed of your own ideas. Do not hide them. All acting begins with bringing your own thoughts."
Park said he fell in love with theater in his youth and plunged into it with little hesitation, but with the arrival of television, he moved into broadcasting to make a living.
"It was a time when we (theater actors) struggled against discrimination and hunger," he said. "But when I look at Daehangno today, I see younger actors living in even harsher conditions." Daehangno is Seoul's small-theater district.
In May last year, Park and fellow actor Shin Gu — now 89 and Korea's oldest active actor — decided to offer support for younger artists, partnering with Arko and donating the proceeds from their hit Korean production of "Waiting for Godot," which became a surprise sellout.
Arko used the donation to launch the Theater Tomorrow Project, an incubation program that selected aspiring actors through auditions and which is currently providing four months of training. It is to culminate in three new productions, directed by Kang Hoon-gu, Kim Jeong and Oh Se-hyeok in April.
Participants range in age from 24 to 36 and their backgrounds and experience vary widely, but their passion for theater is intense.
Kim Yang-gyun, 36, the eldest participant, has been torn between making a realistic living and pursuing his dream. He worked as a swimming instructor while acting on the side.
"I was starting to think maybe it was time to quit," Kim admitted. "But I applied because I wanted four months to focus entirely on myself and the stage."
Ahn Seung-gyun, 32, who appeared in Disney+ series "The Murky Stream" and the play "Let Me In," said that having never received formal acting education, he felt a deep hunger for fundamentals.
"I wanted real, systematic training, not just learning by watching others," he said.
For many participants, Park's words reignited their commitment to the craft of theater.
"In every word, I could feel his genuine concern and encouragement for us. It was overwhelming," said Ahn.
"I didn't want to miss a single word. The way he looked at us, like we were precious sprouts, sparked something in me. You could feel that he genuinely wanted us to succeed. I think I will remember this day for a very long time," said Hwang Sook-yeong, another participant.
'Soft landing' for next generation of artists
In a similar vein, the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture has launched 2026 Seoul Connect Stage, a showcase of emerging talent running from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13.
The initiative was created specifically for students majoring in theater, dance and traditional arts who will graduate in February. Its aim is to offer these soon-to-be young artists their very first professional stage experience outside the university setting — what an SFAC official described as "a soft landing" into the arts world. Twenty-seven teams comprising 169 artists are presenting their work on SFAC-affiliated stages.
According to the Ministry of Education's 2023 report, some 74,000 students graduated from arts and physical education programs, but only about 14,000, roughly 18 percent, continued to pursue creative work or freelance careers in the arts. In other words, more than 80 percent of students left the field soon after graduation.
Organizers hope the program will allow these young artists to build meaningful stage experience in professional venues before real audiences, laying a vital foundation for their future creative careers.
"Through the workshops and mentoring sessions, I was able to reflect on my identity as an artist and think more seriously about the direction I want to pursue," said one participant at the opening ceremony last Monday.
Another participant said, "Like all artists, we are constantly expected to prove ourselves and win over audiences. "This chance gave us confidence and made that very first step into society feel far less daunting."
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