Kwak Dowon, born in 1973, took an interest in acting at a young age after watching a play at his church. His passion was such that he tried to start his career on stage as soon as he finished high school, foregoing university in an unusual move for a Korean citizen. His first years in the business proved to be particularly challenging, as the only tasks theaters were willing to entrust him with were manual chores, and since he couldn’t afford a rent he had no choice but to...More

Kwak Dowon, born in 1973, took an interest in acting at a young age after watching a play at his church. His passion was such that he tried to start his career on stage as soon as he finished high school, foregoing university in an unusual move for a Korean citizen. His first years in the business proved to be particularly challenging, as the only tasks theaters were willing to entrust him with were manual chores, and since he couldn’t afford a rent he had no choice but to ask them to let him sleep there too. To make it worse, he suffered from severe shyness, which obviously proved a massive hurdle. He tried to overcome this fear by starting with roles in plays for children. His life changed when he took part in a workshop held by the theatre troupe Georipae. He eventually spent the next seven years working with them, before he was tempted to try his luck on the silver screen. Oh Dalsoo, a fellow performer at Georipa who was also debuting in the film industry, advised him to audition for roles in independent movies and short films to get started. He made his screen debut in 2003 in the movie <Ogu: A Hilarious Mourning>, soon followed by the anthology film <If You Were Me>. Kwak went on with small appearances in <The Good, The Bad, And The Weird> (2008), <Mother> (2009) and <Handphone> (2009). He demonstrated the full breadth of his acting ability with supporting roles in <Midnight F.M.> (2010), <The Man From Nowhere> (2010), and <Nameless Gangster : Rules of the Time> (2011). His reputation skyrocketed after appearing as a merciless detective in the 2013 smash hit <The Attorney>, with his electric exchanges with Song Kangho in the courtroom being singled out as standout scenes. He also impressed while playing against Hwang Jungmin in 2014’s <Man In Love>, and later that year he appeared in the crime sequel <Tazza-The Hidden Card>. His career has witnessed an upsurge in 2016 thanks to Na Hongjin’s <THE WAILING>, which also marked the first time he was given top billing. The film being universally acclaimed by critics after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and scoring high numbers during its theatrical run, Kwak has become a household name in Korean cinema. He has since been starring in several blockbusters such as Kim Sungsu’s thriller <Asura : The City of Madness> and Yang Woosuk’s <Steel Rain> and its follow-up <Steel Rain2: Summit> (2019). He also impressed with his turn as a former KCIA director who fled to the US and intends to reveal all the wrongdoings of the Park administration in the historical political thriller <The Man Standing Next> (2019). After fronting the cop comedy <The Golden Holiday> (2020), he was cast in Kwak Kyungtaek’s action drama <FIREFIGHTERS> (2020) and is set to starred in the horror film <CCTV>.Less