Park Sung-woong

Park Sung-woong avoids the off-stage limelight and keeps his private life secretive. He met actress Shin Eun-jung on the sets of ‘The Legend’ and this encounter turned into a relationship and the couple got married on 18th October 2008.

Park Sung-woong was born in Chungcheong, South Korea on 9th January 1973 into a well settled middle class conservative family. Though he was a talented kid, he wasn’t quite allowed to think outside the box. But the inner voice inside Park always suggested something else. He indulged in sports in his high school days, and as rebellious a kid he was, he wasn’t really looking forward to taking a major risk with his career by plunging into the show business.

He was good in studies, and always wanted to be a lawyer and hence, studied law at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. But the plays that he kept doing had Park hooked to acting and his passion towards it kept growing along with him. At a point in time when he had to take a decision on his career, he decidedto give his passion a chance and hence moved to Seoul. After some initial dilemma, he finally made up his mind and started auditioning. But he always knew that a newbie’s struggle can quickly turn into a nightmare. Soon enough, he was picked to play a role in the 1997 film ‘No. 3’ and that’s when his film career kick-started.

Park played a very small role in the 1997’s low budget gangster comedy ‘No. 3’, which was praised all around as the launching vehicle for many of its actors, along with its writer/director Song Nung-han. Park didn’t waste any time in grabbing some other roles and once again played a very small role in the film ‘Story of Man’ in 1998.

Being part of critically acclaimed films became a norm for Park as he made an appearance in ‘If the Sun Rises in the West’, and a few months later, he made a small but significant appearance in the film ‘City of the Rising Sun’.

2002’s ‘Resurrection of the Little Match Girl’ became the first of Park’s films that went on to receive critical acclaim at international film festivals.It was also screened in London Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival. And in the very same year, Park ventured into TV, playing a supporting role in the series ‘Sunshine Hunting’. Although it was a popular medium in South Korea and despite the fact that some of the most prominentactors were indulging in it in order to grow their fanbase, Park stayed away from it for quite some time after making his debut.He had decided that he would appear on TV, only if he was presented with interesting roles.

Meanwhile, film roles kept flowing into him, and he ended up playing a crucial role as the female lead’s ex-husband in the film ‘This Charming Girl’. The film, which travelled to many film festivals across the world, also became one of the most financially successful South Korean films of the year 2005. Needless to say, starring in these critically acclaimed films did put Park in the bracket with some of the most competent South Korean actors of that time.

In 2006, he was signed in for a role in the film ‘Sunflower’, which narrated the story of a gangster, whose intention to start a fresh life as an honest man would be marred by circumstances. The film was highly appreciated for the acting of its cast members and also turned out to be a moderate success at the box office.