Born in 1964 into a modest family, PARK Myung-shin had first chosen to study pharmacology as that would ensure her a steady income, but ultimately found her activity within the playgroup of the school much more interesting. After graduation, she had set up her mind and announced to her parents that she would pursue a stage acting career. And so, for the next few years, she did work in a pharmacy, but part-time so as to earn just enough to live while allowing enough time for r...More

Born in 1964 into a modest family, PARK Myung-shin had first chosen to study pharmacology as that would ensure her a steady income, but ultimately found her activity within the playgroup of the school much more interesting. After graduation, she had set up her mind and announced to her parents that she would pursue a stage acting career. And so, for the next few years, she did work in a pharmacy, but part-time so as to earn just enough to live while allowing enough time for rehearsing. In the early 90s, PARK joined a theater company named Han River that mostly produced original plays. When Han River closed, she decided to enter the dramatics college of the Korea National University of Arts, and later went on with a Master’s degree at Dongguk University.
After a first big screen appearance as part of the main cast of <Camel(s)> (2001), she received a string of small roles in some of the major Korean films of the decade, namely LEE Chang-dong’s <Oasis> (2002), <Secret Sunshine> (2007) and <Poetry> (2010), PARK Chan-wook’s <Old Boy> (2003) and <Sympathy For Lady Vengeance> (2005), BONG Joon-ho’s <Mother> (2009). She also had more notable roles in the indie favorite <Members of the Funeral> (2008), as well as in Ounie LECOMTE’s <A Brand New Life> (2009). In spite of being one of the busiest character actors in Korea, it was only in 2016 with smash hit zombie film <TRAIN TO BUSAN> that she grabbed the attention of the audience, thanks to her performance as a grandmother travelling in a first-class carriage who has a radical change of mind after witnessing other passengers ignoring the pleas of people in danger. Since then, she has been enjoying a continuous string of roles on the smaller screen, most notable among them <Legend of the Blue Sea> (2016-2017), and was recently seen in the hit historical drama <1987: When the Day Comes> (2017) and finance thriller <Money> (2018).Less