Jung Woo Sung Clarifies Controversial Statement About Hollywood

Actor Jung Woo Sung made his debut as a director this month with the short film "The Killer and The Old Man." He also made some controversial statements about Hollywood, that he later felt the need to clarify.

At the press conference for his latest film "Scarlet Innocence," he was asked if he received any offers to act in Hollywood. Jung Woo Sung would not say if he had received such an offer but he did say he would never accept one.

"Going to Hollywood abroad should not be an actor's ultimate goal," he said.

Jung Woo Sung stressed that actors must decide which roles to take based on what works best for them. But there are important issues to consider. One of the reasons that a Hollywood role did not interest him was that Asian actors tend to be given supporting roles. Or they will play villains.

"Hollywood is a white-dominated industry, so unfortunately the main character has to be white," he said. "But I want to be a main character."

A few days later he felt it necessary to clarify his statements. He did not want people to think he was insulting the choices of Lee Byung Hun and Choi Min Sik, both of whom recently made foreign films. Lee Byung Hun played a contract killer in the Hollywood film "Red 2" and Choi Min Sik played a ruthless gangster in "Lucy."

"What I said earlier was strictly my personal opinion," he said. "I was not trying to say it was good or bad that actors wanted to go to Hollywood. I was just saying that I wanted to play main characters. I personally don't want to play supporting characters in someone else's country."

But he stood by his original statement that Asian actors are rarely given leading roles.

 "Hollywood certainly still takes Asian actors and makes villains out of them," he said. "It's disappointing to see how they perceive Asian actors. It's not every actor's goal to enter Hollywood. But there are many actors who have different goals and different opinions from me. And I don't have a reason or an intent to disrespect them."

Not that there is anything wrong with playing a villain he said. Jung Woo Sung played a villain in 2013 film "Cold Eyes."

 "Villains can be fascinating characters too.," he said. "I wasn't saying that portraying villains is bad, but the reality is that Asian actors are constantly only cast in villain roles in Hollywood. That hasn't changed."