U AUNG KO portrays U Aung Ko, a political dissident professor turned Rangoon tour guide who helps free Laura Bowman from her psychological prison and who, in turn, frees himself to start a new life.
Although "BEYOND RANGOON" is not his own personal story and is in no way biographical (with the exception of a dramatized appearance of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi), the torment of Burma is something the Burmese-born actor knows and understands well.
Currently living in Paris, France, where he regularly works as a language teacher and translator, U Aung Ko was busy with chores on a French film documentary about Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi. Alan Clements, the company's advisor on Burma, suggested him to Boorman who tested Aung Ko for a leading role in the film.
While growing up as a university student in Rangoon during the early ' 60s, U Aung Ko's membership in the then powerful Burmese Communist Party and his part-time work with the French Embassy led to several years of Party-sponsored study abroad, specifically at the Sorbonne in Paris. He returned to Burma and worked as a school teacher, but with a French wife and his increasing dissatisfaction with Burmese politics, he left again for Paris in 1975.
Although U Aung Ko has never acted before, it is obvious that he identifies very strongly with the suffering and pain of his on-screen character. U Aung Ko continues to counsel Burmese students living in Europe and is very involved with aspects of the pro-democracy movement for Burma. His vigorous and convincing performance in "BEYOND RANGOON" comes from a heartfelt belief that in some small way the film will promote change and will someday allow him to return home to Burma.
