Sung Dong-il

Sung is very close to his son, Joon, and said that when he got an offer to feature on a show with his son, he was initially confused. But later he was happy to have said yes as he believes that the show made him more aware as a parent. He also said that it introduced him to some of his own drawbacks as a person.

Sung Dong-il was born in Incheon, South Korea on 27th April 1967. According to him, he was born into a strict household that had many rules and restrictions. Sung’s parents were quite orthodox in their beliefs, but couldn’t stop their son from dreaming big. Sung always had an impeccable sense of humor, which he exhibited perfectly among his schoolmates and family members. But making a career out of it was a thought, far away from his head.

He was good in academics, and hence was looking forward towards a career in engineering. But the acting bug bit him while he was in his high school. However, he considered it as more of a hobby than a passion.

After finishing his schooling, he struggled to earn an admission into a technical college and finally got enrolled in the Yuhan University’s Mechanical Design programme. But somehow, he never gave up on acting and kept participating in the local theatres. He considered this as a leisure activity and the routine continued until 1987 when he ventured into the professional theatre. His reputation grew further, and when he gave a shot at the SBS Open Talent auditions in 1991, he was one of the very few who succeeded. And hence, a career in acting took off.

The talent hunt SBS organized landed Sung a role in the network’s comedy series ‘Gwanchon Essay’. Once he was done with the series, everything was back to square one and after an ordinary beginning, he started getting more roles, most of them being insignificant ones. But since he was getting enough money to survive in a big city like Seoul, life was pretty okay, as far as Sung was concerned.

He accepted every offer that came his way and kept on making people laugh, thanks to his comic timing. In the late 90s, he appeared in series like ‘Korea Gate’, ‘The Bicycle-Riding Woman’ and ‘Snail’. In 1999, ‘Love In 3 Colors’ happened, in which Sung played a relatively significant role for the first time. The romantic drama series was low on comedy but high on romance, and that helped Sung to explore different genres. In due course, he gained the necessary experience which would come in handy when he first appears in a movie, which he had already signed.

In 2001, he made his film debut with ‘Running 7 Dogs’. Although the film wasn’t a big hit, it did open the path for Sung that led him to grab more such meaty roles.

Sung continued to appear on TV all this while with series like ‘Rustic Period’ and ‘South of the Sun’. His role as a manager in ‘Drama City’ was admired by a wider audience.

Sung’s perpetual hunger for stardom eventually came to an end with his 2006 film ‘200 Pounds Beauty’. It was a romantic comedy which revolved around the life of struggling musicians and Sung played an executive of a recording company. It was a major role and was well under his comfort zone as it involved comical elements. And Sung succeeded in making the audience laugh and was later touted as one of the main reasons for the film’s success.