Actor Hyun Bin smiles at a press conference in Yongsan District, Seoul, Dec. 18. Yonhap

Actor Hyun Bin felt immense pressure portraying a revered historical figure in the espionage thriller "Harbin." He admitted he almost "burst into tears" upon completing the filming, the actor shared Thursday.

The period drama, set in 1909, follows a group of Korean independence fighters led by Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910) as they plot to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, Japan's first prime minister and resident-general of Korea, at Harbin Station. The assassination occurs shortly before Japan's annexation of Korea.

Hyun Bin stars as Ahn, a figure revered by Koreans for his patriotism and courage even more than a century later.

"I wouldn't dare say I completely understand him now," the 42-year-old actor said during a group media interview held in Seoul ahead of the film's theatrical release, set for Dec. 24. "However, I sincerely did my best to ensure I didn't tarnish his achievements or his presence."

"Harbin" is not a story of immediate triumph, Hyun Bin said. "It's about the long and arduous struggle for Korean independence, so we (actors) approached our roles with restraint."

As director Woo Min-ho insisted on filming in remote locations across Korea, Mongolia and Latvia, often under harsh weather conditions, to authentically portray the struggles of those who risked their lives, actors had to roll through snow-covered mountain fields and mud for intense battle scenes.

Actor Hyun Bin speaks at a press conference in Yongsan District, Seoul, Dec. 18. Yonhap

The scene where Ahn crosses the frozen Tumen River between China and North Korea alone after losing all his comrades was shot on a frozen lake in Mongolia, where temperatures dropped to minus 40 celcius.

"It was beyond what I heard and imagined," he recounted. "When I was filming there alone, I felt a bit scared, freezing cold and lonely, without knowing where it ends."

Filming was a repetitive process of shooting for a few minutes after hours of waiting because drones couldn't fly for long in the extreme cold, he added.

Despite the physical challenges, Hyun Bin said the film was more mentally taxing than physically demanding.

He explained that he reflected on whether Ahn, as a human being, experienced "frustration, worries, feelings of guilt toward his comrades" who were killed due to his earlier decisions as a leader before carrying out the assassination.

"Based on the words and writings he left behind, I acted while trying to imagine what he was thinking and what emotions he felt," he said.

The actor recalled "almost bursting into tears" after filming the scene in which Ahn is executed for assassinating Ito Hirobumi on the last day of filming.

"It felt like I was finally laying down the pressure I had been carrying on my shoulders," he said.

Hyun Bin, best known internationally for his role in the hit 2019-2020 TV series "Crash Landing on You," married the drama's co-star Son Ye-jin in 2022. They are now parents to a two-year-old boy.

He expressed his desire to share the film with his son when he is old enough to understand the turbulent Korean history.

"Then I'd like to tell him that I was performing the role of this great person when I wasn't able to be with him," he said with a smile. (Yonhap)