Ko Ah-sung reveals she lit cigarettes 40 times for Hong Sang-soo film, earning 'best smoking actor' title

Actor Ko Ah-sung has shared the story behind her unexpected reputation as South Korea's top smoking actor.

A video titled "My aesthetic standards have gotten so high lately … ! Clean girl, personal body type, OO-core… Women who've pulled a muscle chasing trends" was posted Sunday on the YouTube channel "Yeouido Yuktoiclub — Urban Women's Shelter."

During the segment, Ko laughed off her online reputation as "South Korea's greatest smoking actor," saying, "Honestly, I wasn't smoking in a cool way at all."

Ko brought up director Hong Sang-soo's film "Right Now, Wrong Then," recalling the difficulty of shooting that scene. "It was so hard. Director Hong does so many takes. We did about 40. That meant lighting a cigarette 40 times," she said. She added, "It was never meant to look like I was enjoying it — I was just trying to make it look that way."

Co-host Eom Ji-yun could not hide her surprise. "Forty cigarettes? Your head must have been spinning," she said.

Ko also recalled the moment she first came across the title. "One day I was browsing online and saw a post saying I was No. 1 for smoking performances in South Korea," she said. "Apparently I was No. 1 and Ryu Seung-beom was No. 2." The remark drew laughter from everyone on set.

She added with a laugh, "After that scene became famous, every time I had to film a smoking scene in another project, I felt like I had to top my previous self. It's a battle with myself. I don't want to lose that No. 1 spot."

Ko also opened up about how her outlook on relationships has changed. "When I was a student, I wanted to be close with everyone. I really didn't want anyone to dislike me," she said. "Now, even if someone dislikes me, I don't let it bother me much."

She continued, "In the past, if I heard someone was talking about me behind my back, I absolutely had to know what was said. Now I'd actually rather not hear it," revealing a more grounded sense of self.

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