Jung Woo-sung | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jung in March 2021 | |
| Born | April 22, 1973 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Agent | Artist Company |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정우성 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong U-seong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Usŏng |
Jung Woo-sung (Korean: 정우성; born April 22, 1973) is a South Korean actor and the first Korean UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Jung started his career as a fashion model, rising to stardom and teenage cult status with the gangster film Beat (1997), for which he won Best New Actor at the 17th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.
Jung is also widely popular in other Asian countries, notably in Japan. He is a versatile actor known for playing leading roles in a wide spectrum of genres including high-grossing box office hits: The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), Cold Eyes (2013), The Divine Move (2014), The King (2017), Steel Rain (2017), Hunt (2022), 12.12: The Day (2023); dramas: City of the Rising Sun (1998) and Mutt Boy (2003); historical epic: Musa (2001); romance: A Moment to Remember (2004); crime thrillers: Asura: The City of Madness (2016) and Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020). His critically acclaimed film Innocent Witness (2019) won him the Grand Prize at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards.
He is also an accomplished television actor. For his first major TV drama part in Asphalt Man (1995) he won Best New Actor at SBS Drama Awards and at the 32nd Baeksang Arts Awards (TV). His other prominent roles were in romantic dramas Padam Padam (2011) and Tell Me That You Love Me (2023–24).
Jung grew up in Sadang-dong, then one of the poorest neighborhoods in Seoul.[3] He gave up studying, dropping out of high school after one year, to work and thus support the family budget.[3] He never hid this fact or regretted doing so.[4] He was tall in elementary school, his height causing him to constantly hunch.[5] When trying to break into the film industry, he was told he was too tall to become an actor, so he first worked as a model.[6]
Jung Woo-sung, who was selected as an actor through street casting by Cha Seung-jae, former CEO of Sidus, who was the head of the production department at the film company Shin Cine at the time.[6] Jung Woo-sung made his film debut with a leading role in 1994's The Fox with Nine Tails, one of the first Korean fantasy movies and the first to use computer-generated imagery. He debuted together with actress Ko So-young, who later co-starred with him twice including in his breakthrough 1997 film Beat.[7] Directed by Kim Sung-su, Beat is a story of a high school student forced into gang life. The movie brought Jung widespread fame and started his rise to Korea's A-list actor and one of the most sought-after commercial models.
In 1999, he starred in director City of the Rising Sun, playing an unsuccessful boxer who forms a friendship with an unlucky swindler. His co-lead in the movie, actor Lee Jung-jae, became his lifelong friend.
Jung later played a naval lieutenant in Phantom: The Submarine and a marathoner in Love.[7]
2001's Musa marked his third collaboration with director Kim Sung-su. In the epic blockbuster, Jung played opposite Chinese star Zhang Ziyi and received wide exposure abroad as well as in Korea. After spending time in 2002 directing a series of music videos[8] and appearing in a large number of commercials, Jung took on the eccentric lead role in Mutt Boy, the fifth film by director Kwak Kyung-taek.[7]
Jung's next roles were in highly romantic roles that used his established screen image. In the box office hit A Moment to Remember he played an architect whose wife (played by Son Ye-jin) is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and in the Netherlands-set Daisy, he played a hired assassin who falls in love with a street artist played by Jun Ji-hyun.[7] He portrayed a happily committed fireman in Sad Movie,[9] and played a demon hunter seeking for lost love in The Restless.[10][11]
Kim Jee-woon's "kimchi western" The Good, the Bad, the Weird inspired by Sergio Leone's work, would become one of Jung's most iconic roles. He used his physicality to great effect as the Clint Eastwood counterpart in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.[12] The film was screened out of competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival which also marked its world premiere. Jung attended the festival together with his co-stars. He won Best Supporting Actor at the 3rd Asian Film Awards and Outstanding Achievement in Acting at the 2008 Hawaii International Film Festival for his performance. Shortly afterwards, Jung worked again with Kim Jee-woon on a short film for W Korea.[13]
Jung then starred alongside Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan in Hur Jin-ho's romance film A Season of Good Rain,[14][15][16] and Su Chao-pin's martial arts film Reign of Assassins with Michelle Yeoh.[17]
In 2011, Jung was cast in the English-language 3D remake of John Woo's The Killer.[18] The film was to be shot in Los Angeles, and reunite him with A Moment to Remember director John H. Lee and Reign of Assassins director John Woo acting also as producer.[19] The project was put on hold while John Woo worked on another film.[20] The project has not progressed any further.
Jung drew praise in his first villain role in Cold Eyes, an action thriller that became a box office hit in 2013.[21][22][23][24] He portrayed the ruthless head of a criminal organization specializing in bank robbery, eluding the detectives chasing him with uncanny dexterity.[25]
Jung next played a baduk player seeking revenge in The Divine Move,[26][27][28] followed by an adulterous university professor gradually losing his eyesight in Scarlet Innocence.[29][30] Scarlet Innocence had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, meeting with positive reviews from critics.[31] He then took a leading role in the melodrama indie feature Don't Forget Me, also known as Remember You, a remake of the 2010 short film Remember O Goddess, both directed by Lee Yoon-jung. Jung had also co-produced this movie, explaining that he wanted to protect the director's original ideas that other producers wanted to modify.[32]
In 2016, he starred in the noir crime thriller Asura: The City of Madness,[33] his fourth collaboration with director Kim Sung-su. Jung played a crooked detective who attempts to save his terminally ill wife while arresting a corrupt town mayor.[34] Asura premiered globally at the 41st Toronto Film Festival in September 2016, where it was shown in the Special Presentations section.[35] The actor's second movie shot in 2016 and released in 2017 was Han Jae-rim's political drama The King, whose plot revolves around a senior prosecutor being manipulated by an overambitious younger colleague connected to the mafia.[36][37]
In 2017, Jung stars in Steel Rain, playing a former agent from North Korea's intelligence bureau.[38] In 2018 he played an officer of the elite police unit in the science fiction action thriller Illang: The Wolf Brigade. The film, based on the Japanese anime Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, was his second collaboration with director Kim Jee-woon.[39][40]
In 2019, he is set to star in drama film Innocent Witness as a lawyer.[41][42] His performance earned him the Grand Prize in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards.[43] The same year he starred in the thriller Beasts that Cling to the Straw.[44]
In 2020, Jung starred in the sequel of Steel Rain, titled Steel Rain 2: Summit.[45] Jung starred alongside Lee Jung-jae in Lee's directorial debut, spy action film Hunt which premiered at 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[46]
In 1995 Jung appeared in his first major television role in SBS drama series Asphalt Man, playing an aspiring race driver who leaves to United States to realize his dream. The part not only expanded his popularity but also brought him critical acclaim with Best New Actor award at 32nd Baeksang Arts Awards and SBS Drama Awards.
In 2010 Jung returned to the small screen after 15 years' absence in the big-budget spy series Athena: Goddess of War, playing an NTS (National Anti-Terror Service) agent. Athena was a spin-off to the 2009 highly successful KBS2 drama IRIS.[47] With a budget of ₩20 billion (US$17 million), the series was shot on location in Italy, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.[48] The aired in SBS channel, and its pilot episodes gathered 22.8% of the audience share.[49] Jung and another actor were injured during filming in January 2011, causing a week's postponement of one of Athena's episodes. The series was also edited into a two-hour movie version, and released in 2011 as Athena: The Movie.
He made his Japanese drama debut with a guest appearance in episodes 6 and 7 of Good Life ~Arigatou, Papa. Sayonara~.[50]
Jung followed that with another TV series Padam Padam which marked the establishment of new cable broadcasting station JTBC. Jung said he "decided on this drama because (he) was drawn to the way Noh Hee-kyung writes 'family drama.' Whether mother-son or father-son, the love and pain experienced by families is something (he)'d like to try portraying in a realistic way."[51] He played a man who has recently been released from jail after serving a 16-year sentence for a crime he didn't commit.[52][53] The series premiered on December 5, 2011.
In December 2020, he replaced Bae Seung-woo for SBS television series Delayed Justice as leading role.[54] Jung served as an executive producer for Netflix series The Silent Sea in 2021.[55] and in 2022 he will star remake of Japanese drama Say Me to Love Me [56]
In 2000 Jung had started to try his hand at directing. His first works were music videos for one of the top South Korean pop music group G.o.d. In 2012, he directed and starred in the promotional commercial for cable channel XTM.[57][58] And a year later, Jung was among four celebrities who directed a short film using smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4 with the theme "Meet a Life Companion." His short Love explored the feelings of first love, and recorded 1.8 million views on YouTube.[59] He then directed another short film for Samsung Galaxy S4, this time for the project "Story of Me and S4." In Jung's short Beginning of a Dream, Choi Jin-hyuk starred as an ordinary office worker who dreams of leaving his mundane existence and entering a world of fantasy; he is approached by a blue fish, rides a sports car at supersonic speed, sees a boy floating past holding a balloon, hangs out with a hippie band in their van, and meets himself as a young boy at a bus stop.[60][61]
In 2014, Jung along with actors Francis Ng and Chang Chen, directed three short films for Three Charmed Lives, an omnibus commissioned by the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Critics praised Jung's short The Killer Behind the Old Man as the strongest and most stylish entry. In it, a son hires an ultra-methodical hitman (played by Andy Choi) to assassinate his own father, but the killer however finds himself transfixed by the man's slow-moving and ordered life, and thus hesitates to carry through with his mission.[62][63] Jung was invited to present The Killer Behind the Old Man at the 9th London Korean Film Festival in November 2014.[64]
His feature directorial debut A Man of Reason, starring himself, Kim Nam-gil, Park Sung-woong, and Kim Jun-han was invited to the Special Presentations section at 2022 Toronto International Film Festival where it had its world premiere in September 2022.[65]
In May 2014, UNHCR Korea appointed Jung Woo-sung as its first celebrity supporter. He was officially nominated UNHCR National Goodwill Ambassador on June 17, 2015.[66][67] He went on his first UNHCR mission to Nepal in 2014.[68] He then donated ₩50 million (US$46,000) to help victims of the April 25 earthquake.[69]
In 2015 he visited South Sudan and in the beginning of March 2016 he met with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.[70][71] In June 2017 he went to Kurdistan Region of Iraq and visited Qushtapa camp for Syrian refugees and Hasansham U3 camp housing mainly Iraqis displaced from Mosul region.[72]
In October 2012 Jung left Taurus Films, his agent since 2009, and established new talent agency Red Brick House appointing his manager of 10 years as CEO.[73] In May 2016, Jung and actor Lee Jung-jae co-founded and became CEOs of the talent management agency, Artist Company.[74][75] Apart from the owners, the company represents other artists, viz. Lee Si-a, Go Ara, Ha Jung-woo, Esom, Nam Ji-hyun and Yum Jung-ah.
Jung has attended various international film festivals, not only as an actor or director, but has served on the following festivals' juries:
He is best friends with fellow actor Lee Jung-jae, whom he met while filming City of the Rising Sun. They are co-owners and co-investors of several businesses, including management agency Artist Company.[58][82]
The actor is notoriously private about his romantic involvements. The only one that he publicly acknowledged so far was his short-lived relationship with Athena co-star Lee Ji-ah. After they were photographed on a date in Paris,[83] Jung confirmed in March 2011 they were dating.[84][85][86] But after Lee's married and divorced past with top Korean singer-songwriter Seo Taiji became exposed to the public the following month, the Korean press reported in June that Jung and Lee had broken up.[87][88] Despite this and contrary to some other South Korean mega stars Jung's life remains untouched by any scandals and he is often praised by fellow filmmakers for his cooperativeness and willingness to help junior colleagues on the set.[89] He is known for picking up the tab when eating with his co-workers or ordering meals for the entire crew.[90]
On March 8, 2022, Jung donated ₩100 million won to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association along with Lee Jung-jae to help the victims of the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has spread to Samcheok, Gangwon.[91]
On August 3, 2022, Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association announced that Jung along with Lee Jung-jae joined the Hope Bridge Honors Club, a group of major donors with more than ₩100 million donations.[92]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Fox with Nine Tails | Hyuk | ||
| 1996 | Born to Kill | Kil | ||
| Shanghai Grand | Ryu So-hwang | Cameo | ||
| 1997 | Beat | Lee Min | ||
| Motel Cactus | Lee Mi-ku | |||
| 1998 | City of the Rising Sun | Do-chul | ||
| 1999 | Phantom: The Submarine | Number 431 | ||
| Love | Myung-soo | |||
| 2001 | Musa | Yeo-sol | ||
| 2003 | Mutt Boy | Cha Cheol-min | ||
| 2004 | A Moment to Remember | Cheol-su | ||
| 2005 | Sad Movie | Jin-woo | ||
| 2006 | Daisy | Park Yi | ||
| The Restless | Yi-gwak | |||
| 2008 | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | Park Do-won, the Good | ||
| 2009 | Present | Min-woo | Short film | |
| A Good Rain Knows | Park Dong-ha | Korean and Chinese co-production | ||
| 2010 | Reign of Assassins | Jiang Ah-sheng / Zhang Renfeng | Chinese production | |
| 2013 | Cold Eyes | James | ||
| 2014 | The Divine Move | Tae-seok | ||
| Scarlet Innocence | Shim Hak-kyu | |||
| 2016 | Remember You | Seok-won | Also producer | |
| Asura: The City of Madness | Han Do-kyung | |||
| 2017 | The King | Han Kang-sik | ||
| Steel Rain | Eom Chul-woo | |||
| 2018 | Intention | Narrator | Documentary | [93] |
| Illang: The Wolf Brigade | Jang Jin-tae | |||
| 2019 | Innocent Witness | Soon-ho | ||
| Trade Your Love | Traffic cop | Cameo | ||
| 2020 | Beasts Clawing at Straws | Tae-young | ||
| Steel Rain 2: Summit | Han Kyeong-Jae | |||
| 2022 | Hunt | Kim Jung-do | [94] | |
| 2023 | Woongnami | Wild boar man | Cameo | [95] |
| A Man of Reason | Soo-hyuk | Directional debut | [96] | |
| Honey Sweet | A landowner | Cameo | [97] | |
| Cobweb | Shin Sang-ho / Director Shin | Cameo | [98] | |
| 12.12: The Day | Lee Tae-shin | [99] |
| Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | ||||
| 1995 | Asphalt Man | 아스팔트 사나이 | Kang Dong-suk | ||
| 1996 | Oxtail Soup | 곰탕 | Drama special | ||
| 1.5 | 1.5 | Lee Jang-wook | |||
| 2010 | Athena: Goddess of War | 아테나: 전쟁의 여신 | Lee Jung-woo | ||
| 2011 | Good Life ~Arigatou, Papa. Sayonara~ | 굿 라이프 | Dr. Lee | Cameo (Ep. 6–7) | |
| Padam Padam | 빠담빠담.... 그와 그녀의 심장박동소리 | Yang Kang-chil | |||
| 2021 | Delayed Justice | 날아라 개천용 | Park Sam-soo[a] | Eps. 17–20 | [100] |
| 2023 | Tell Me That You Love Me | 사랑한다고 말해줘 | Cha Jin-woo | [101] | |
| TBA | Made in Korea | 메이드 인 코리아 | Jang Geon-young | [102] | |
| Year | Title | Role | Note | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | ||||
| 2021 | Stars of West Gando, 3500 | 서간도의 별들, 3500 | Narrator | [note 1] | [103] |
| Year | Title | Role | Starring | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | |||
| 2000 | After You Left Me | 그대 날 떠난 후로 | g.o.d music video | Shin Min-ah, Kim Kwang-il |
| 2002 | You Just Don't Know | 모르죠 | Shin Min-ah, Jo In-sung | |
| Sad Love | 슬픈 사랑 | |||
| A Fool | 바보 | |||
| 2012 | EGO편 | EGO편 | XTM station ID | Himself |
| 2013 | Love (4랑) | 나와 S4 이야기 | short film | Seo Ye-ji, Jo Seung-hyun |
| Beginning of a Dream | short film | Choi Jin-hyuk | ||
| 2014 | The Killer Behind the Old Man | 킬러 앞에 노인 | short film from Three Charmed Lives | Andy Choi, Woo Sang-jeon |
| Year | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | |
| 2015 | Don't Forget Me | 나를 잊지 말아요 |
| Year | Title | Starring | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Korean | ||
| 2021 | The Silent Sea | 고요의 바다 | Gong Yoo, Doona Bae |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | SBS Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Asphalt Man | Won | |
| 1996 | 32nd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actor (TV) | Won | ||
| 1997 | 17th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Best New Actor | Beat | Won | |
| 35th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | |||
| 18th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | |||
| 1998 | 34th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor (Film) | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | 20th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Popular Star Award | Phantom: The Submarine | Won | |
| 2001 | 22nd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Musa | Won | ||
| 2002 | 39th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | ||
| 2003 | 24th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actor | Mutt Boy | Nominated | |
| 2005 | 13th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Actor | A Moment to Remember | Nominated | |
| 2006 | 6th Korea World Youth Film Festival | Favorite Actor | — | Won | |
| 2007 | 7th Korea World Youth Film Festival | — | Won | ||
| 2008 | Hawaii International Film Festival | Outstanding Achievement in Acting | — | Won | [104] |
| Korea Fashion & Design Awards | Best Dressed of the Year | — | Won | ||
| 17th Buil Film Awards | Best Actor | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | Nominated | ||
| 29th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Popular Star Award | Won | |||
| 2009 | 3rd Asian Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won | [citation needed] | |
| 2nd Style Icon Awards | Style Icon Actor | — | Won | [105] | |
| 2011 | Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism | Distinguished Korean Wave Entertainer Award for Film | — | Won | [106] |
| SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Planning Drama | Athena: Goddess of War | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | 6th Style Icon Awards | Top 10 Style Icon | — | Won | [107] |
| 28th Korean Swan Best Dresser Awards | Best Dresser Award (Actor) | — | Won | ||
| 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Cold Eyes | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | 8th Asian Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
| 50th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor (Film) | Nominated | |||
| 51st Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | The Divine Move | Nominated | ||
| 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Asura: The City of Madness | Nominated | ||
| Popular Star Award | Won | [108] | |||
| 17th Busan Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Won | |||
| 2017 | 26th Buil Film Awards | Nominated | |||
| 6th Marie Claire Film Awards | Pioneer Award | Won | |||
| 1st The Seoul Awards | Best Actor (Film) | The King | Nominated | ||
| 2018 | 54th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor (Film) | Steel Rain | Nominated | [109] |
| 23rd Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Actor | Won | [110] | ||
| 2019 | 55th Baeksang Arts Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) for Film | Innocent Witness | Won | [111] |
| Best Actor (Film) | Nominated | [112] | |||
| 39th Golden Cinema Film Festival | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Won | [113] | ||
| 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Leading Actor | Won | [114] | ||
| 6th Korean Film Producers Association Awards | Best Actor | Won | [115] | ||
| 2020 | 56th Grand Bell Awards | Nominated | |||
| 29th Buil Film Awards | Beasts Clawing at Straws | Nominated | |||
| 2021 | 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards[116][117] | Best Leading Actor | Steel Rain 2: Summit | Nominated | [118] |
| 41st Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Rookie Critic Award | — | Won | [119] | |
| 12nd Beautiful Artist Award (Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation) |
Achievement Artist Award | Won | [120] | ||
| 2022 | 31st Buil Film Awards | Best Actor | Hunt | Nominated | [121] |
| 58th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | [122] | ||
| 42nd Korean Association of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Won | [123] | ||
| 43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actor | Nominated | [124] | ||
| 42nd Hawaiʻi International Film Festival | Halekulani Career Achievement Award | A Man of Reason | Won | [125] | |
| 2023 | 59th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor – Film | Hunt | Nominated | [126] |
| Country | Year | Honor | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea[note 2] | 2021 | Presidential Commendation | [130] |
| Publisher | Year | Listicle | Placement | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forbes | 2015 | Korea Power Celebrity 40 | 16th | [131] |
| 2017 | 21st | [132] | ||
| 2018 | 17th | [133] | ||
| Sisa Journal[note 3] | 2018 | Next Generation Leader in Society | 19th[note 4] | [134] |
