Local Actress Turns Down U.S. Director Steven Spielberg
Published on | Source
By Joon Soh
Staff Reporter
A local actress currently working in the United States has refused an offer to play a geisha in a film project to be produced by renowned U.S. filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
In a phone interview from Hawaii with Yonhap News Agency yesterday, actress Kim Yunjin said she was offered a supporting role in "Memoirs of a Geisha", a film to be directed by Rob Marshall and based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden.
However, the actress decided not to take the role because she did not want to make her debut in a Hollywood film by playing a geisha.
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to play the lead in "Memoirs of a Geisha". Japanese actor Ken Watanabe and Chinese actresses Michelle Yi and Gong Li have also reportedly signed onto the project.
"Since it is a film by Steven Spielberg and Rob Marshall, I first thought maybe I should just close my eyes tight and just do it", she said, but in the end decided not to do it. "Even if it is Hollywood, I don't want to start by playing a Japanese geisha. It's a matter of pride",
Kim is currently part of the cast of Lost a 13-episode drama on the American network ABC about a group of people stranded on an island after their plane crashes.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" is set for a 2005 release.
Staff Reporter
A local actress currently working in the United States has refused an offer to play a geisha in a film project to be produced by renowned U.S. filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
In a phone interview from Hawaii with Yonhap News Agency yesterday, actress Kim Yunjin said she was offered a supporting role in "Memoirs of a Geisha", a film to be directed by Rob Marshall and based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden.
However, the actress decided not to take the role because she did not want to make her debut in a Hollywood film by playing a geisha.
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is set to play the lead in "Memoirs of a Geisha". Japanese actor Ken Watanabe and Chinese actresses Michelle Yi and Gong Li have also reportedly signed onto the project.
"Since it is a film by Steven Spielberg and Rob Marshall, I first thought maybe I should just close my eyes tight and just do it", she said, but in the end decided not to do it. "Even if it is Hollywood, I don't want to start by playing a Japanese geisha. It's a matter of pride",
Kim is currently part of the cast of Lost a 13-episode drama on the American network ABC about a group of people stranded on an island after their plane crashes.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" is set for a 2005 release.
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