Choi Si-won

Choi Si-won (born 7 April 1986 ), known mononymously as Siwon, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, model, and actor known for his work as a member of South Korean boy group Super Junior.

Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea, on 7 April 1987.

He has one younger sister, Ji-won.

His father was the former CEO of Boryung Medicine, a pharmaceutical company.

Choi was scouted by a talent agent from SM Entertainment when he was 16 as he was waiting for friends in front of his high school.

The agent recommended him to audition for the company's Starlight Casting System.

He auditioned without his parents' approval; his parents were notified only after he passed the auditions.

Although his parents allowed him to sign a contract with SM Entertainment, they did not give him any help because they wanted him to take responsibility for his actions.

He later moved into dormitories with fellow trainees and was trained in areas of singing, acting, dancing as well as languages.

He was featured in a music video of The Grace's Dana whilst he was being trained as a solo singer in 2003.

A year after, Choi made a brief appearance in family drama Precious Family, and again in 2005 in the KBS romance comedy drama Eighteen, Twenty-Nine as young Kang Bong-man, while in 2006 he played the supporting role of Park Sang-woo in romance melodrama Spring Waltz.

Not long after Choi's first television appearance, SM Entertainment released an announcement that he would debut as one of the twelve members in a boy band.

A few months before the debut of Super Junior 05, Choi made his first media appearance with bandmate Han Geng as one of the runway models in a fashion show by Bum Suk.

Choi debuted as part of 12-member rotational project group Super Junior 05 on 6 November 2005 on SBS' music program Popular Songs, performing their first single, "Twins (Knock Out)".

Their debut album Twins was released a month later on 5 December 2005 and debuted at number three on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.

In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation.

However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations.

Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior.

The re-polished group's first CD single "U" was released on 7 June 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009, which helped them achieve global success.

In 2006, Choi was cast in the Hong Kong epic film A Battle of Wits, playing the role of the Liang Prince.

This also marks his film debut.

Choi received praise from co-star Andy Lau, who stated that Choi sets a good example for Hong Kong actors.

In 2007, Choi starred in Attack on the Pin-Up Boys along with other Super Junior members.

The same year, he was cast in MBC's two-episode mini series Legend of Hyang Dan.

After a three-year hiatus, Choi returned to the screen with SBS' romantic comedy Oh! My Lady.

In April 2008, Choi was put into seven-member sub-group Super Junior-M, a Mandopop subgroup of Super Junior for the Chinese music industry.

They debuted in China at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards, simultaneously with the release of their first music video, "U" on 8 April 2008.

This was followed by the release of the debut Chinese-language studio album, Me in selected provinces in China on 23 April and 2 May in Taiwan.

The same year, he starred in the big-budget spy series Athena: Goddess of War, a spin-off to the 2009 hit drama Iris.

He plays a data analyst and rookie elite agent.

He played lead roles in the Korean dramas Oh! My Lady (2010), Poseidon (2011), Revolutionary Love (2017), My Fellow Citizens! (2019), and Love Is for Suckers (2022) and had supporting roles in Athena: Goddess of War (2010), The King of Dramas (2012), She Was Pretty (2015), and Bloodhounds (2023).

Choi has also participated in various Chinese language films such as Helios, To the Fore and Dragon Blade.

In 2011, Choi headlined KBS' action drama Poseidon.

The same year, he starred in his first Taiwanese drama Skip Beat! with Ivy Chen and fellow band member Donghae.

The series is a live-action adaptation of Japanese shōjo manga titled Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura.

In 2012, Choi starred in SBS' comedy satire drama The King of Dramas, based around Korean television production.

He plays Kang Hyun-min, a top celebrity with a prickly personality.

Choi was a special representative for UNICEF Korea from 2015 to 2019, before being chosen as an UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office ambassador in November 2019.

Aside from being a member of Super Junior, Choi has also ventured into solo activities, mainly acting.

Choi starred in multiple projects in 2015.