Childhood & Early Life
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.
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Career
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.
In 2007, he returned to television with the romantic drama series ‘A Happy Woman’ and in the same year, became part of ‘The Legend’, a period drama in which he portrayed the role of Jumuchi, a lord of the Gwanmi fortress.
In 2009, he was seen in a major supporting role in the suspense thriller ‘White Night’. The film was a critical and commercial success and further helped Park in getting similar roles that had scope to perform.
In 2013, he starred in one of the key roles in ‘New World’, a crime drama, in which his performance was widely appreciated. This was a sign that Park was well endowed with all the necessary skills to play bigger roles and as a result, he started getting offers to play the lead and other important roles. Hence, he became more careful about choosing his roles.
In 2013, he also appeared in the horror anthology film ‘Horror Stories 2’, in which he played a key part as a manager in the segment ‘444’ and made a TV appearance in the same year with a crucial role in the short lived series ‘She Is Wow!’
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In what can be said as the busiest year of his professional life, 2014 saw him play key roles in five back-to-back films. He started with an important cameo in the film ‘Man in Love’ and then played a prosecutor in the film ‘Man on High Heels’ and followed it up with a prominent role in the highly acclaimed drama ‘For the Emperor’.
2015 started with a crime thriller film titled ‘The Deal’ and Park made appearances in some well received films that year.The films that he starred in include ‘The Shameless’ and ‘Office’.
He was offered the lead role in the police procedural crime thriller drama ‘Hidden Identity’ and played one of the main characters in the romantic drama series ‘Remember: War of the Son’. For his role in the series, he won the Special Acting Award at the SBS Drama Awards that year.
The string of major roles continued into 2017 as well, as he appeared in ‘The Tooth and the Nail’ as a prosecutor and is all set to appear in three back-to-backfilms in the later part of 2017.
More than anything, Park is known for his solid script sense, and this continues to this date.
Park also works as a guest lecturer at the Seoul University.
