Born in 1972, PARK Su-young went through difficult times as a teenager following the untimely passing of his father. Unable to go to university due to tuition fees his widowed mother couldn’t afford, he had no choice but to get a job and start earning a living right away. As luck would have it, his aunt and her husband were running a ship management company in Busan and offered to hire him and teach their trade. On his commute to work, he spotted the Gamagol Little Theatre...More

Born in 1972, PARK Su-young went through difficult times as a teenager following the untimely passing of his father. Unable to go to university due to tuition fees his widowed mother couldn’t afford, he had no choice but to get a job and start earning a living right away. As luck would have it, his aunt and her husband were running a ship management company in Busan and offered to hire him and teach their trade. On his commute to work, he spotted the Gamagol Little Theatre, home to playwright LEE Yun-taek’s experimental company Street Theatre Troupe, and before long he became one of their regular audiences and started hanging out with its members, in particular OH Dal-su. After a year working on boats while learning acting, one day he was asked to replace a sick actor at Gamagol right before a performance, as he was the last remaining actor available. That day, PARK resolved to quit his job and focus all his attention on acting. After his 2-year long mandatory military service, PARK went back to Street Theatre Troupe, but the company had trouble staying afloat and the constant worries about his main line of livelihood eventually convinced PARK quit acting. After running a small restaurant with his family for a short while, he was determined again to pursue a stage career, while doing all kinds of part-time jobs to survive. In spite of constant worries about his future, he kept rehearsing and practicing, and eventually in 2002 he was cast in a production from a Japanese director, <Sortie>, set against the backdrop of World War 2, as part of a Korea-Japan theatre exchange event. Since then, he has been a fixture in Deahangno, Seoul’s theatre district. He made small appearances on the big screen starting with <The Contact> in 1997, and with notable credits including LEE Chang-dong’s unanimously acclaimed <A Peppermint Candy> (1999), school kung-fu drama <Spirit Of Jeet Keun Do - Once Upon A Time In High School> (2003), and caper film <Tazza: The High Rollers> (2006). He also made brief appearances in the blockbusters <Secret Reunion> (2009) and <Woochi> (2009). PARK gained wider notice in 2011 with the drama series <If Tomorrow Comes> (2011) but also for playing the protagonist’s father in the surprise hit <Punch> (2011). In 2016, he made an impression as Korea’s last crown prince in the historical drama film <The Last Princess> (2016) and could be seen as well in Cannes’ Midnight Screenings-invited thriller <The Merciless> (2016). He has most recently appeared in the crime thriller <THE NEGOTIATION> (2018), starring SON Ye-jin and HYUN Bin.Less