Song Kang-ho
Song Kang-ho (Korean: 송강호; born 25 February 1967) is a South Korean actor who rose to international prominence for his performances in Snowpiercer (2013) and Parasite (2019),[1] the latter of which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture.[2] In 2020, The New York Times ranked him #6 on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.[3]
Song Kang-ho | |
|---|---|
 Song in 2016 | |
| Born | 25 February 1967 Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Spouse(s) | Hwang Jang-suk (m. 1995) |
| Children | 2 |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Song Gang-ho |
| McCune–Reischauer | Song Kangho |
Song made his debut as a movie actor in The Day a Pig Fell into the Well in 1996, and came to national prominence with a series of critically acclaimed performances, including No. 3, Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Memories of Murder, The Host, and A Taxi Driver.
Early life and education
Song Kang-ho was born in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea on January 17, 1967. He had wanted to be an actor since eighth grade.[4] He never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Gimhae High School. He earned a degree in broadcasting from Busan Kyungsang College.[5]
Career
Early career
Song joined Kee Kuk-seo's theatre company, which emphasized instinctive acting and improvisation. He made his stage premiere in 1991 in a play called A Little Monk and spent the next decade as a stage actor.[6] Although he was regularly approached to act in films, he always turned down the opportunity until taking a role as an extra in Hong Sang-soo's 1996 film The Day a Pig Fell into the Well[7] at age 30.[6]
The following year, after portraying one of the homeless in Jang Sun-woo's documentary-style Bad Movie,[8] he gained cult notoriety for his performance in Song Neung-han's No. 3 as a gangster training a group of young recruits, winning his first acting award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Following this, Song was cast in several supporting roles before his high-profile appearance as Han Suk-kyu's secret agent partner in Kang Je-gyu's blockbuster thriller Shiri.[7] In early 2000, Song's popularity increased with his first leading role in the box office smash The Foul King, for which he did most of his own stunts.
It was his award-winning 2000 performance in Joint Security Area as a North Korean sergeant that established him as one of South Korea's leading actors. Song also starred in Park Chan-wook's acclaimed followup, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, which centers on a father's pursuit of his daughter's kidnappers.[9] In 2002, Song starred in another major production by Myung Films, YMCA Baseball Team, about Korea's first baseball team which formed in the early 20th century.[10]
Prominence
In 2003, he played a leading role as an incompetent rural detective in another critically acclaimed hit, Memories of Murder, from young director Bong Joon-ho.[11] It was the first of several critically acclaimed movies they would make together, with commentators describing Bong's relationship with Song as a "great actor-director collaboration".[2]
In 2004, Song starred in The President's Barber by debut director Im Chan-sang, which imagines the life of South Korean president Park Chung-hee's personal barber.[7] The following year he also took the lead in Antarctic Journal, a big-budget project by debut director Yim Pil-sung about an expedition in Antarctica that performed weakly at the box office.[12]
In 2006, Song was thrust back in the spotlight, however, with a leading role in Bong Joon-ho's record-breaking creature movie The Host. The film helped to broaden international awareness of Song's talent, and in March 2007 he was named Best Actor at the inaugural Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong.[13]
More high-profile projects followed: The Show Must Go On about an aging gangster,[14][15][16] Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine,[17] Kim Jee-woon's western set in Manchuria The Good, the Bad, the Weird,[18][19] Park Chan-wook's vampire film Thirst in which he notably appeared full frontally nude,[20][21] the North–South spy thriller Secret Reunion,[22][23][24][25] the gangster love story Hindsight,[26][27][28][29] the suspense film Howling,[30][31] the English-language dystopian blockbuster Snowpiercer,[32] the period drama The Face Reader,[33][34] and The Attorney which was inspired by Roh Moo-hyun's early days as a human rights lawyer.[35][36][37]
Song has continued to star in a number of critically acclaimed films, including The Throne, a period film that presents a new spin on the relationship between King Yeongjo and Prince Sado;[38][39] period action film The Age of Shadows,[40][41] and A Taxi Driver, a film that depicts the 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement.[42][43]
More recently, he had a starring role in the critically acclaimed film Parasite, also directed by his frequent collaborator Bong Joon-ho, which became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d'Or, as well as the first to be nominated for and win Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Personal life
Song married Hwang Jang-suk (황장숙) in 1995,[44] with whom he has two children. Their son, Song Jun-pyoung, born in 1996, is a football player for Suwon Samsung Bluewings, despite Song's opposition.[45] Their daughter is named Ju-yeon (주연).[46]
Filmography
Film
| Year | English title | Korean title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Day a Pig Fell into the Well | 돼지가 우물에 빠진 날 | Dong-seok | |
| 1997 | Green Fish | 초록 물고기 | Pan-su | |
| No. 3 | 넘버3 | Jo-pil | ||
| Bad Movie | 나쁜 영화 | Homeless man (cameo) | [8] | |
| 1998 | The Quiet Family | 조용한 가족 | Kang Yeong-min (son) | |
| 1999 | Shiri | 쉬리 | Lee Jang-gil | |
| 2000 | The Foul King | 반칙왕 | Dae-ho | |
| Joint Security Area | 공동경비구역JSA | Sgt. Oh Kyeong-pil | ||
| 2002 | Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance | 복수는 나의 것 | Park Dong-jin | [9] |
| YMCA Baseball Team | YMCA 야구단 | Lee Ho-chang | [10] | |
| 2003 | Memories of Murder | 살인의 추억 | Detective Park Doo-man | [11] |
| 2004 | The President's Barber | 효자동 이발사 | Seong Han-mo | |
| 2005 | Antarctic Journal | 남극일기 | Choi Do-hyung | [12] |
| Sympathy for Lady Vengeance | 친절한 금자씨 | Hired Assassin #1 (cameo) | ||
| Madagascar | 마다가스카 | Alex (Korean version) | ||
| 2006 | The Host | 괴물 | Park Gang-du | [13] |
| 2007 | The Show Must Go On | 우아한 세계 | Kang In-goo | [14] |
| Secret Sunshine | 밀양 | Jong-chan | [17] | |
| 2008 | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 | Yun Tae-goo/The Weird | [18] |
| 2009 | Thirst | 박쥐 | Sang-hyun | [20] |
| 2010 | Secret Reunion | 의형제 | Agent Lee Han-gyu | [22] |
| A Little Pond | 작은 연못 | Police officer (cameo) | ||
| 2011 | Hindsight | 푸른소금 | Doo-hun | [26] |
| 2012 | Howling | 하울링 | Sang-gil | [30] |
| Day Trip | 청출어람 | Master | Short film[47] | |
| 2013 | Snowpiercer | 설국열차 | Namgoong Minsu | [32] |
| The Face Reader | 관상 | Nae-gyeong | [33] | |
| The Attorney | 변호인 | Song U-seok | [35] | |
| 2015 | The Throne | 사도 | King Yeongjo | [38] |
| 2016 | The Age of Shadows | 밀정 | Lee Jung-chool | [40] |
| 2017 | A Taxi Driver | 택시운전사 | Man-seob | [42] |
| 2018 | The Drug King | 마약왕 | Lee Doo-sam | [48] |
| 2019 | Parasite | 기생충 | Kim Ki-taek | [49] |
| The King's Letters | 나랏말싸미 | King Sejong | [50] | |
| TBA | Fifth Column | 제5열 | Kang Jong-deok | [51] |
| Emergency Declaration | 비상선언 | [52] | ||
| Broker | 브로커 | [53] |
Theatre
| Year | Production | Role | Theater | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English title | Korean title | |||
| 1990 | Teacher Choi | 최선생 | Extra | Yeonwoo Theater |
| 1991 | A Little Monk | 동승 | Old man | Yeonwoo Theater |
| Park Cheomji | 박첨지 | Yeonwoo Theater | ||
| 1992 | Fly birds | 날아라 새들아 | Yeonwoo Theater | |
| I have soup | 국물 있사옵니다 | Yeonwoo Theater | ||
| Kooni, Nara | 쿠니, 나라 | Yeonwoo Theater | ||
| 1993 | Women's rebellion | 여성반란 | Mayor | Sanwoolim Theater |
| 1994 | Giselle | 지젤 | Hilarion | Batanggol Theater |
| 1995 | Playland | 플레이랜드 | Hakchon Blue Performance Hall | |
| I'll be a star | 스타가 될거야 | President | Towol Theater | |
| 1996 | BE-AN-SO | 비언소 | Dongsoong Studio Theater | |
Awards and nominations
References
- "Song Kang-ho's Career Exceeds 100 Million Viewer Mark". Korean Film Biz Zone. 10 October 2016.
- Brzeski, Patrick (8 September 2019). "How 'Parasite' Actor Song Kang-ho Became South Korea's Everyman Superstar". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A.O. (25 November 2020). "The 25 greatest actors of the 21st century (so far)". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- 윤여수 (25 May 2009). "'박쥐' 주연 송강호는 누구?". donga (in Korean). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "송강호". Nate. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- Hart, Hugh (6 January 2020). "Song Kang Ho finds his 'Parasite' dad symbolic of those suffering in the class divide". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- Paquet, Darcy. "Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema: Song Kang-ho". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
- "Reality bites drop-outs in 'Bad Movie'". The Korea Times. 8 August 2004.
- "Park Chan-Uk – Song Kang-Ho Duo's New Movie, 'Revenge Is Mine'". The Donga Ilbo. 25 March 2002.
- "Don't Care about Social Status in Playing 'Bassball'!". The Donga Ilbo. 26 September 2012.
- "Preview: Premiere Memories of Murder". The Donga Ilbo. 17 April 2003.
- "'Antarctic Journal' Director Says His Film Explores Human Nature". The Korea Times. 11 May 2005.
- "Song Kang-ho Conquers Fear of Monsters". The Chosun Ilbo. 21 July 2006.
- "Actor Song's New Show Goes On". The Korea Times. 6 March 2007.
- "Song Kang-ho tests his versatility again". The Korea Herald. 29 March 2007.
- "It's Song Kang-ho's 'Show' All the Way". Oh My News. 29 January 2008.
- "'Secret Sunshine' Asks Existential Question". The Chosun Ilbo. 2 May 2007.
- "Kim Jee-woon Starts Shooting Western". Korean Film Biz Zone. 24 April 2007.
- "[Interview] Song Kang-ho, "The answer is to not do it if it's not the best"". Yahoo News. 29 May 2008.
- "Song Kang-ho Stars in Park Chan-wook's Vampire Film". The New York Times. 31 July 2009.
- "'Thirst' Stirs Audiences with Star's Private Parts". The Chosun Ilbo. 27 April 2009.
- "Veteran, young star team up in spy film". Korea JoongAng Daily. 19 February 2010.
- Beck, Una (4 March 2010). "Interview: Actor Song Kang-ho - Part 1". 10Asia. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- Beck, Una (4 March 2010). "Interview: Actor Song Kang-ho - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- Beck, Una (4 March 2010). "Interview: Actor Song Kang-ho - Part 3". 10Asia. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- "Song, Shin star in uncanny drama". The Korea Times. 11 August 2011.
- Ju, Sung-chul (7 October 2011). "Actor Song Kang-ho". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
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- Hwang, Hyo-jin (31 August 2011). "Interview: Actor Song Kang-ho - Part 2". 10Asia. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- Lee, Hyo-won (12 January 2012). "Song reprises detective role in Howling". The Korea Times. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- Lee, Jin-ho (13 February 2012). "Interview: Song Kang Ho Says He Won't be Embarrassed of Howling". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- "Song Kang Ho and Ko Asung Talk Snowpiercer, Working with Director Bong Joon Ho, Reuniting to Play Father and Daughter & Working with Hollywood Stars". Collider. 28 June 2014.
- "Song Kang-ho's first historical "The Face Reader"". Nate. 26 March 2012.
- "'Face Reader' a smart, gorgeous tale of destiny". Korea JoongAng Daily. 13 September 2013.
- "Song Kang-ho to Star in The Counsel". Korean Film Biz Zone. 11 January 2013.
- Lee, Jung-hyun (30 December 2013). "Song Kang-ho in The Attorney "It Is the Film and the Truth that Count, not the Debate and Politics"". Korean Cinema Today. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- Chung, Hyun-chae (27 December 2013). "The actor of his generation: How Song Kang-ho ruled Korean cinema in 2013". The Korea Times. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
- "SONG Kang-ho Boards New LEE Joon-ik Film". Korean Film Biz Zone. 9 April 2014.
- "New take on King Yeongjo and Prince Sado". Korea JoongAng Daily. 14 August 2015.
- "KIM Jee-woon Wraps Period Action-Thriller SECRET AGENT". Korean Film Biz Zone. 20 April 2016.
- "Korean star Song Kang-ho scores in The Age Of Shadows". Now Toronto. 21 September 2016.
- "SONG Kang-ho Takes Lead in TAXI DRIVER Depicting the Gwangju Democratization Movement". Korean Film Biz Zone. 26 February 2016.
- "Actor Song Kang-ho speaks about new film on Gwangju Uprising". Yonhap News Agency. 12 July 2017.
- "그는 이제 <변호인>의 송강호로 기억될 것이다" (in Korean). JoongAng Daily. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
- Guarnido, Javier. "Kang-ho Song Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- "비주얼 세상 훈훈하다는 송강호 아들" (in Korean). Dispatch. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
- "DAY TRIP Directors PARK Chan-wook, PARK Chan-kyong and Actor SONG Kang-ho". Korean Film Biz Zone. 4 January 2013.
- "SONG Kang-ho Becomes a DRUG KING". Korean Film Biz Zone. 24 November 2016.
- "BONG Joon-ho and SONG Kang-ho Take on PARASITE". Korean Film Biz Zone. 6 April 2017.
- "SONG Kang-ho and PARK Hae-il to Reunite for Period Drama". Korean Film Biz Zone. 19 March 2018.
- "SONG Kang-ho Climbs Aboard WON Shin-yun's FIFTH COLUMN". Korean Film Biz Zone. 26 May 2016.
- "SONG Kang-ho and LEE Byung-hun to Take Flight in EMERGENCY DECLARATION". Korean Film Biz Zone. 16 September 2019.
- Jeon Hyung-Hwa (1 February 2021). "[단독]아이유, 송강호·강동원·배두나와 '브로커' 호흡..고레에다 히로카즈 감독 내한 [종합]". star.mt (in Korean). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- "A Normandy Beachhead for Asian Films". Korea JoongAng Daily. 12 March 2001.
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- "Director's Cut Awards Diversity of Films". Korean Film Biz Zone. 28 December 2006.
- "'Host' eats rivals at Asian festival". Korea JoongAng Daily. 27 March 2007.
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- "6th Korean Film Awards Winners". Korean Film Biz Zone. 4 December 2007.
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- "Asia's rising stars gather for BIFF's showcase event". Yonhap News. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
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- 전국 청소년이 뽑은 인기 영화인은?. Naver (in Korean). News1. 7 October 2017.
- "1st Seoul Awards 2017 Winners in Film". The Seoul Awards. 27 October 2017.
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- "A TAXI DRIVER Takes Top Prize at Asia World Film Festival". Korean Film Biz Zone. 14 November 2017.
- 54회 백상 심사 채점 결과 공개, 어떻게 뽑았나. Ilgan Sports (in Korean). 8 May 2018.
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- "[디렉터스컷]'기생충', 봉준호 감독상+송강호 男배우상 포함 4관왕..女배우상 한지민(종합)". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 20 January 2020.
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- "2019 Awards". Phoenix Critics Circle. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
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- "[공식] '제56회 대종상 영화제' 오는 2월 25일 개최, 최종 노미네이트 작품 발표" (in Korean). 17 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Song Kang-ho. |
- Song Kang-ho at IMDb
- Song Kang-ho at HanCinema
- Song Kang-ho at Cine21 (in Korean)
- Song Kang-ho at the Korean Movie Database
Awards for Song Kang-ho | |||||||||
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