New Faces in Korean Cinema, from Indie Standouts to Stage Sirens
2020 was an unusually challenging year for film (and practically every other industry) but partly owing to the fact that so little came out over the past 10 months, we have quite a lot to look forward to in 2021. Provided some improvement in the pandemic materializes over the next few months, a lot of films that have been waiting in the wings will hit screens as the year progresses, and with them, a number of fresh faces set to become tomorrow’s stars.
From rising bit part and indie film players to established names transitioning from the worlds of TV and music to the silver screen, we take a deep dive in the cast lineups of next year’s films to find the new screen names that everyone will be talking about.
Read on to find out about tomorrow’s stars in KoBiz’s ‘Actors to Look Out for in 2021’ list.
GONG Myung
A member of the all-actor idol group 5urprise,
GONG Myoung has been busily working away on the small screen for several years and has already appeared in many films in supporting roles. Yet the time has come for this youthful, bright and cheerful young star to take center stage in a major film.
GONG recently completed work on
LEE Won-suk’s highly anticipated new film
Killing Romance (working title), in which he plays a young woman who will try to save
LEE Ha-nee’s former star actress from her husband, played by
LEE Sun-kyun. GONG has already worked with
LEE Ha-nee as he was part of the cast of
LEE Byoung-heon’s stratospheric hit comedy
Extreme Job, which became the second most successful Korean film of all time last year when it welcomed over 16 million viewers.
The actor’s first forays in cinema were in acclaimed indies, such as
Futureless Things (2014),
A Girl at My Door (2014) and
Su saek (2016). Last year, he also appeared in the period comedy
HOMME FATALE (2019). Beyond
Killing Romance, he’s next slated to appear alongside
RA Mi-ran in
Citizen Deok-Hee (working title).
IU (aka LEE Ji-eun)
Though already one of Korea’s biggest celebrities for over a decade after conquering the music world and TV dramaland,
IU is finally set to make her impression felt on the big screen next year when she makes her leading role feature film debut in
Dream (working title), the new project from
Extreme Job (2019) director
LEE Byoung-heon.
IU (aka LEE Ji-eun) was cast alongside
PARK Seo-jun in the sports drama about a disgraced soccer player who takes a job coaching a special team that aims to take part in the Homeless World Cup.
IU’s TV credits include hit shows like
Dream High (2011) and
The Producers (2015), while she more recently headlined the series
My Mister (2018) and
Hotel Del Luna (2019). While Dream will mark her first major big screen role, she previously had a cameo in the noir
REAL (2017) and she also headlined a special event anthology series on Netflix called
Persona (2019). Helmed by four established filmmakers -
YIM Pil-sung (
Hansel and Gretel, 2007),
LEE Kyoung-mi (
The Truth Beneath, 2016),
KIM Jong-kwan (
Josée) and
JEON Go-woon (
Microhabitat, 2018) - the series showcased
IU in four vastly different roles and served as a compelling demonstration of her screen confidence and charisma, not to mention her seeming ease at tackling a variety of different characters.
LEE Joo-young
Not to be confused with the other rising star
LEE Joo-young (of
Maggie [2019],
Baseball Girl and TV’s
Itaewon Class),
LEE Joo-young is one of the most unique new talents on the scene, who has steadily been making an impression in a series of scene-stealing turns.
Yet it was her magnetic performances as a death meth cooker in
Believer (2018) and a kooky hair stylist in
Miss Baek (2018) that made her stand out. She was a marvel in
KIM Jong-kwan’s Jeonju Cinema Project
Shades of the Heart in 2019 and this year she has been even more visible, playing a demented teacher in
LEE Kyoung-mi’s
The School Nurse Files on Netflix and a badass co-worker in the hit
SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS. She also appeared in the hit series
Live alongside her
The School Nurse Files co-star
JUNG Yu-mi.
The future appears bright for LEE, who has one project awaiting release, the horror film
Voice (working title) from brothers
KIM Gok and
KIM Sun, and another currently in production, the Korean Academy of Film Arts-produced road movie
Yoon Si-nae Has Disappeared (translated title).
PARK Bo-gum
Another major name on this list finally breaking into leading role film territory is
PARK Bo-gum, a recognizable face from many hit TV shows and countless ads. PARK, who is known for a pure image that has appealed to advertisers, actually debuted as an actor back in 2011 with a supporting role in the hit thriller
Blind. He followed that up with small roles in the crime comedy
Runway Cop (2012), the Cannes-screened thriller
A Hard Day (2014) and period naval epic
Roaring Currents (2014), the most successful Korean film of all time. His last big screen role was in the women’s gangster drama
Coin Locker Girl (2015), which gave him his biggest film role yet at the time.
PARK then became a huge name in TV dramas, with starring role in
Hello Monster (2015),
Reply 1988 (2015–2016),
Love in the Moonlight (2016) and
Encounter (2018), among others. He most recently appeared alongside
PARK So-dam in
Record of Youth.
After conquering TV, PARK is set to return to the world of film in a major way next year, as the lead of two very significant projects. Though initially scheduled to screen in December, the first of those will be
Seobok, a sci-fi action-drama in which he plays the world’s first human clone, who is escorted by an agent played by
GONG Yoo. He also recently filmed the big-budget fantasy drama
WONDERLAND for director
KIM Tae-yong, alongside
JUNG Yu-mi,
BAE Suzy,
CHOI Woo-shik and TANG Wei.
SON Sukku
After studying in America and China,
SON Sukku returned to Korea where he debuted on the stage. During this time, he also landed a couple of small film roles, including a bit part in
YIM Pil-sung’s
Scarlet Innocence (2014) and a supporting role in the indie film
Black Stone (2015). He then got his big break when he auditioned for a major supporting role in the second season of the WACHOWSKIS’ series
Sense8 on Netflix. His role as a Seoul cop who goes head-to-head with
BAE Doo-na put him on the map and he soon attracted the attention of Korean directors. He co-starred again with BAE in the TV show The Greatest Divorce and then he appeared as a tough prosecutor in
HAN Jun-hee’s
Hit-and-Run Squad (2019).
Yet 2020 looks set to be the year when his name really spreads wide as he has two major roles lined up. He’s playing the villain opposite
Don LEE (aka MA Dong-seok)’s tough cop in
The Outlaws 2, and he’s leading
JEONG Ga-young’s commercial film debut, the comedy-romance
Woo-ri, Ja-young alongside
JUN Jong-seo.