A Look Back at One of the Most Colourful and Successful Careers in Korean Film

In the summer of 2017, following one of the most impressive runs of all time at the Korean box office, the 100 million viewer club welcomed its third member, who followed in the footsteps of character actor Oh Dalsu and beloved star Song Kangho. Though less well known overseas compared to many Korean stars, that local box office titan was the genial everyman Hwang Jungmin, who has continued to deliver hits since making the list and will be back in theaters this month in a new action-thriller in which he plays himself, showing just how meaningful and bankable his screen persona has become to the Korean public.

Hwang belongs to a group of relatable middle-aged male stars that viewers flock to see in theaters, but his climb to the top was a long journey compared to many of his peers, and the tenacity, versatility, and unflappability that took to get him there is part of what makes him such as a big draw today.

Born on September 1, 1970, in Masan in South Gyeongsang Province, Hwang studied at the Kaywon High School of Arts before enrolling at the Seoul Institute of Arts. It was while in college that he got his first-ever role, playing a waiter in Im Kwontaek’s period gangster epic The General’s Son (1990). Though it was a small part, Hwang’s physicality and presence, and his ease in front of the camera, clearly shine through and call forward to a screen career that wouldn’t start in earnest for another decade.

After graduating from the Seoul Institute of Arts, Hwang kicked off his professional career on the stage, first appearing in the musical Line 1 in the mid-1990s and then featuring in plays and musicals in Daehak-ro, Seoul’s theater district, throughout the rest of the decade. It was during this time that he also joined the Hakchon theater troupe, alongside future names Sul Kyunggu, Kim Yunseok, Jang Hyunsung, and Cho Seungwoo.

Waikiki Brothers (2001) 

He returned to the film industry in 1999, when he played a minor role as an interrogator in Kang Jegyu’s Swiri, the film that ushered the Korean industry into the modern age. Hwang’s big break came in 2001 when he was cast in Yim Soonrye’s drama Waikiki Brothers as a drummer in a struggling nightclub band. In this quintessential character portrait, he was able to show off his rustic and expressive charm, and as his character succumbs to his vices, he could also demonstrate his dramatic flair.

Work started to pour in, and among his next few roles, his part as the lawyer in Im Sangsoo’s A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003) stands out. Unafraid to take on the daring role, Hwang shows a darker, not to mention more erotic side to his persona in the modern classic. Though Hwang was a bold performer, taking on any challenge required by his characters, when he later got married and became a family man, he decided to quit sex scenes.

A Bittersweet Life (2005)

Other big parts at this point of his career included a romantic turn in Lee Yoonki’s indie melodrama This Charming Girl (2004) and his unhinged performance as a gangster in Kim Jeewoon’s seminal noir A Bittersweet Life (2005). 2005 was a particularly big year for him, as he also appeared in the period action-comedy Heaven’s Soldiers, the omnibus drama All for Love and You Are My Sunshine, his first outright leading role.

In Park Jinpyo’s romantic drama, Hwang plays a kind-hearted and lovestruck farmer opposite Jeon Doyeon. The role earned him his first big prize, the Best Actor Award at the Blue Dragon Awards, and propelled him to the A-list. As a nascent leading man, Hwang lent his particular skills to a wide range of projects, oscillating between romantic fare and more hard-boiled thrillers, but also finding time for quirkier projects to which he was uniquely suited.

The Unjust (2010)

On the thriller side, there was the crime story Bloody Tie (2006), the horror Black House (2007), Ryoo Seungwan’s hit action-thriller The Unjust (2010), and the conspiracy thriller Moby Dick (2011), while on the romantic side, he appeared in Hur Jinho’s Happiness (2007) and Lee Seokhoon’s romcom smash Dancing Queen (2012). 

Hwang’s fortunes at the box office were mixed in this period, and some of the films that struggled the most were the ones that showcased his unique skills the best, including his turn as a delusional but endearing protagonist in Chung Yoonchul’s A Man Who Was Superman (2008) and his role as a bling swordsman in Lee Joonik’s Blades of Blood (2010). The most notable project from this time was probably The Unjust, a film that combined his hard-boiled thriller characters, his uniquely elastic brand of action, and his comic timing, and also kicked off his collaborations with Ryoo Seungwan.

Ode to My Father (2013)

In 2013, Hwang stole the show from his co-stars Choi Minshik and Lee Jungjae in Park Hoonjung’s gangster saga New World as a charismatic and unpredictable gangs boss, and after a handful of box office misses, he roared back to screens at the end of 2014 and captured the hearts of a nation in JK Youn’s gigantic success Ode to My Father, a blockbuster-sized melodrama that scored over 14 million sales as it reached the second spot on the all-time chart. Playing a man who travels to the world to earn money for his family and keeps a smile on his face despite the many tribulations he faces, the role concretized Hwang’s public persona, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Veteran (2015)

Ode to My Father kicked off the most impressive box office run for any actor in Korean film history. In 2015 he teamed up with Ryoo Seungwan again in the 13 million admissions smash Veteran, a no-holds-barred action-thriller with plenty of humor, in which he played a tough cop looking to take down a corrupt corporate heir. Later that year, he tugged on the nation’s heartstring once more in the expedition drama The Himalayas, produced by JK Youn and directed by Lee Seokhoon, which welcomed close to eight million viewers.

Hwang kicked off 2016 by conquering the Lunar New Year holiday in the prison revenge drama A Violent Prosecutor, which came within a hair’s breadth of entering the ten million viewer club. In spring, he went to the Cannes Film Festival for Na Hongjin’s horror The Wailing, in which he played a memorable shaman. The film was an unexpected hit with just under seven million admissions. 

Asura: City of Darkness (2016) 

Things settled somewhat after this, as despite his magnetic turn as a corrupt politician, Kim Sunggu’s ensemble thriller Asura: City of Darkness (2016) failed to meet expectations, and in 2017, Hwang’s third collaborations with Ryoo Seungwan, on the big-budget World War II prison escape action-drama The Battleship Island, also fell short of expectations amid several controversies, yet nevertheless reached almost seven million viewers.

The prolific actor has slowed down in recent years, but everything he appears in continues to draw major crowds. He got some of the best notices in his career for Yoon Jongbin’s acclaimed espionage drama The Spy Gone North (2018), which reached five million spectators after screening at Cannes, and then in Hong Wonchan’s action noir DELIVER US FROM EVIL (2020), which, with over four million admissions, is far and away the most successful film to have been released during the pandemic.

Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021)

In this summer’s Hostage: Missing Celebrity, produce by Ryoo Seungwan’s production company, Hwang plays himself, an actor kidnapped after attending a movie premiere. He eventually succeeds in evading his captors, but as he endures a dangerous escape, he learns that starring in action films has ill-prepared him for the real thing.

Looking forward, Hwang has partnered with Yim Soonrye again on the Afghanistan-set hostage drama The Point Men with Hyun Bin, and he will next shoot Yoon Jongbin’s Netflix crime drama Suriname.