Song Kang-ho

He won the Best Actor Award at the 38th Grand Bell Awards for this performance.

Song also starred in the first installment of Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed Vengeance trilogy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, which centers on a father's pursuit of his daughter's kidnappers.

Song Kang-ho (born January 17, 1967) is a South Korean actor.

Song Kang-ho was born on January 17, 1967, in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

He graduated from Gimhae High School and had aspirations of becoming an actor since his sophomore year at Garak Middle School.

At the time, there were only five theater and film departments throughout the country.

Despite failing once in the entrance exam, he eventually studied at Gyeongsang National University in Busan.

However, he was drafted for mandatory military service soon after.

After completing his service, Song did not return to college, but instead began acting in a local theater company in Busan at the age of 23.

In 1990, Song Kang-ho attended a performance of "Mr. Choi," a play by Yeonwoo Theater Company in Busan.

This experience ignited his passion for acting and inspired him to pursue his dream.

The following year, at the age of 23, he moved to Seoul with the sole purpose of realizing his ambition, and he immediately headed to Yeonwoo Theater without any concrete plans.

Song approached Ryu Tae-ho, the director of Yeonwoo Theater Company, and humbly pleaded for an opportunity to stay and contribute, even if it meant working as a theater cleaner.

Determined to make his mark, he visited the theater four times and left his contact information.

As fate would have it, he was eventually called upon to assist with an event organized by the theater due to a staff shortage.

During this event, Song had a fortuitous encounter with director Yi Sang-woo.

Impressed by Song's dedication, Yi Sang-woo offered him some valuable advice: "Yeonwoo Theater shouldn't be your ultimate goal. It should be a place where you immerse yourself to fulfill your own purpose."

Then, Yi Sang-woo welcomed Song Kang-ho as a member of the theater.

In 1991, Song made his stage debut in play of "Dongseung" (A Little Monk).

Over the next few years, he honed his craft on stage, earning a reputation as a remarkably talented actor.

In 1995 Song joined Theater Company Chaimu, founded by theater director Yi Sang-woo.

Director Yi Sang-woo said, “I saw Song Kang-ho and Yoo Oh-sung, who were drinking all the time at my officetel in 1995, and thought, ‘Everyone is going to be ruined like this.’” That was the beginning,” he explained.

Song became an early members of the troupe alongside Moon Seong-geun, Yu Oh-seong, Ryu Tae-ho, film director Yeo Gyun-dong, and drama writer Jeong In-ok.

Although Song was regularly approached to act in films, he always turned down the opportunity until he was in his 30s.

Song made his film debut in The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (1996), and came to national prominence with a series of critically acclaimed performances, including No. 3 (1997), Joint Security Area (2000), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), The Attorney (2013), and A Taxi Driver (2017).

In 1996, he finally accepted a role as an extra in Hong Sang-soo's 1996 film The Day a Pig Fell into the Well. After that, Song drew attention for his acting as Pan-soo as Pan-soo in Lee Chang-dong's Green Fish in 1997.

His portrayal of a gangster who wielded an iron pipe and jumped into the car Mak-dong (played by Han Seok-kyu) in an underground parking lot was so realistic that rumors even circulated that a real gangster had been cast.

The following year, Song played one of the homeless characters in Jang Sun-woo's documentary-style Bad Movie. Song gained cult notoriety for his performance as Jopil, a stuttering gangster who trained a group of young recruits in Song Neung-han's No. 3. Song became the most notable actor of 1997, sweeping the Best New Actor Award at the Grand Bell Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Director Kim Jee-woon opened a new path for Song, who had been cast mainly as bullies and gangsters, by casting him as Young-min, the eldest son of Park In-hwan and Na Moon-hee, in his debut film, The Quiet Family In this film, Song showed the essence of comic cruelty acting.

He then took on his first leading role as agent Lee Jang-gil, Han Suk-kyu's partner, in Kang Je-gyu's blockbuster thriller Shiri.

However, it was director Kim Jee-woon who elevated Song into leading actor status in his film The Foul King. The movie was released in cinemas in February 2000, with Song portraying Lim Dae-ho, a bank clerk turned professional wrestler, for which he did most of his own stunts.

Song's comic acting was topped with deep pathos, and his popularity increased.

He always said that this role was his hardest role as an actor.

Song's performance in the Myung Film production Joint Security Area as North Korean Army sergeant Oh Joong-pil established him as one of South Korea's leading actors.

In 2002, Song starred in another major production by Myung Films, YMCA Baseball Team, which is about Korea's first baseball team formed in the early 20th century.

In 2003, Song played a leading role as Park Doo-man, an incompetent rural detective, in another critically acclaimed hit, Memories of Murder, from young director Bong Joon-ho.

He has been named Gallup Korea's Film Actor of the Year four times (2013, 2017, 2019 and 2020).

Song rose to international prominence for his performance in Parasite (2019), which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture.

He was awarded Best Actor at the 75th Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Broker (2022).

In 2020, The New York Times ranked him #6 on its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.