After majoring in law at university, Park Sungwoong decided to become an actor when he was 24 years old. With a desire to perform action scenes all for himself, Park entered the action school the martial arts director Jung Doohong opened. Having played minor roles in many films since 1997, the actor finally rose to a supporting actor from This Charming Girl in 2005. In the meantime, Park often played villains in heist films, and his muscular physique with a height of 187cm seems to have played a big part in it.

The film that put him on the map is the TV series The Legend (2007). With his first achievement in 10 years of being an unknown actor, the series well revealed Park’s ability in the field of the action film. He also married Shin Eunjung, who played his wife in the drama, which became a hot topic. Since the main character of the series was Bae Yongjoon, Park Sungwoong also became known in Asia as The Legend was very popular among the K-wave fans. Based on the popularity accumulated from the series, Park played the leading roles in several movies, but it was New World (2013), where Park Sungwoong played a supporting role, that truly made his presence felt. Lee Joongku, Park’s character in the movie, is a sentimental gangster who tries to protect his pride as a gangster. Park’s performance drew as much attention as the leading actors such as Lee Jungjae, Hwang Jungmin, and Choi Minsik, creating a buzzword, “I’ll save your ass.”

Park Sungwoong’s acting spectrum widened afterward. After he showcased his most impressive tough character with New World, the audience began to discover the unexpected aspects hidden in him. Around that time, Park expanded his scope with the epic The Fatal Encounter (2014) and horror Office (2015). The Shameless (2015) is a collection of Park Sungwoong’s various charms: The actor played a weighty, lonely, and sexy character, featuring his outstanding performance in action scenes. Park’s sexy charm stood out even more in the queer film Method (2017).

The strength of Park mostly lies in his strong presence. Even if he doesn’t play the main character, the actor always shows his presence beyond the weight of his role. The Closet (2020) is the prime example. As a guest star, he only appeared in a few scenes, but those were the most suspenseful part of the movie. Recently, Park was focusing on comedy genres and showing sloppy but pure-hearted characters. In 2019, he won the Best Performance at the Korea Cultural Entertainment Awards for The Dude in Me, where he played the character whose body had been swapped with a high school student’s one. Currently, Park Sungwoong is active in TV dramas and entertainment shows, which is why we look forward to his greater achievements in OTT platforms. Kim Hyungseok