Biography
Hwang Jung min, born in 1970, graduated from the Seoul Institute of the Arts with a degree in acting. He got his first role in Im Kwon-taek’s “The General’s Son” (1990) and 4 years later he entered the Hakchon Theater. Despite his successes in the cinema, he will never abandon the theater. After another small role in the film “Shiri”, he took part in “Waikiki Brothers” by Yim Sun-rye. After a series of memorable performances in “Road Movie”, “A Bittersweet Life” and “A Good Lawyer’s Wife”, audiences and critics began to see him as one of the most promising emerging actors. With “You Are My Sunshine” he faces his first leading role in a melodrama. In 2014 “Ode to My Father” became the second highest-grossing Korean film in history and the same year the action thriller “Veteran” by Ryoo Seung-wan recorded 13 million admissions. Almost all of his films have since achieved impressive numbers such as the mountaineering drama “The Himalayas”. Na Hong-jin’s “The Wailing” allowed him to have international recognition at the Cannes Film Festival. Hwang then played the role of a spy in the critically acclaimed “The Spy Gone North” (2017). In the last year, in addition to taking part in the sequel to “Veteran,” “I, the Executioner,” he won Best Actor in a Leading Role at both the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards for his portrayal of General Chun Doo-gwang in “12.12: The Day.”
I, the Executioner (2024), Mission: Cross (2023), Kill Boksoon (2023), Narco Saints (2022), 12.12: The Day (2022), Hunt (2022), Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021), The Point Men (2023), Deliver Us From Evil (2020), The Battleship Island (2017), The Spy Gone North (2017), Asura: The City of Madness (2016), The Himalayas (2015), The Wailing (2016), A Violent Prosecutor (2015), Veteran (2014), Ode to My Father (2014), Man in Love (2014), In My End Is My Beginning (2013), Fists of Legend (2012), Dancing Queen (2012), New World (2013), Battlefield Heroes (2011), Moby Dick (2011), The Unjust (2010), Blades of Blood (2010), Five Senses of Eros (2009), Private Eye (2009), A Man Who Was Superman (2008), Black House (2007), Happiness (2007), Bloody Tie (2006), All for Love (2005), Heaven’s Soldiers (2005), You Are My Sunshine (2005), A Bittersweet Life (2005), This Charming Girl (2004), The Wolf Returns (2004), A Good Lawyer’s Wife (2003), Twentidentity (2003), Road Movie (2002), YMCA Baseball Team (2002), The She (2001), Waikiki Brothers (2001), Swiri (1999)
Critique
"All I did was add a spoon to a table that had already been prepared by others." With this statement, which gives the measure not only of an actor's gratitude to his first recognition, but also of the awareness of being part of a collective in the making of a film, Hwang Jung-min in 2005 accepted the Blue Dragon Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "You Are My Sunshine". From that moment on, his career will take off until he becomes one of the most beloved faces of Korean cinema. Taking a step back, getting to this point for Hwang Jung min was not easy. With a good face and an imposing physicality, the affirmation passes through a series of roles linked by the common thread of a great tenacity that has often challenged conventions. "You Are My Sunshine" comes after two complex roles, such as that of the homosexual homeless man in "Road Movie" and the womanizing and superficial lawyer in "A Good Lawyer's Wife". It is from then that a period that we could define as "experimental" begins, in which Hwang Jung-min builds his solid reputation by alternating genres and always showing himself, not only up to the height, but also the driving force of the various films in which he is involved. Examples are "Dancing Queen" and "New World". Before continuing to retrace the film career of this multifaceted performer, who will have an incredible peak of popularity in 2014 with "Ode to My Father", it is good to dwell on his devotion to the stage. The passion for theater is visceral for Hwang Jung-min. He began in high school as an actor and continued at university covering all the roles that presented to him and not only on stage, but also behind the scenes as a set designer and stagehand. He also measures himself with musicals, staging "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, "Tommy" by Peter Townshend and "Nine" inspired by the life of Federico Fellini. But the classics are the favorite testing ground: Macbeth, Oedipus, Richard III. The latter, the most terrible and complex of Shakaespeare's villains, seems to be an inspiration to Hwang Jung-min for the cruelest and most histrionic characters played in the cinema. From 2015 to 2018 he played important roles in auteur thrillers such as "Veteran" which marks the beginning of the collaboration with director Ryoo Seung-wan, "Asura: The City of Madness" (2016) and "The Wailing" (2016) which, the third direction of cult author Na Hong-jin presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Midnight Screening section, represents an opportunity to explore the unusual role of a shaman, attractive and ambiguous, in a sophisticated rural horror where belief and superstition converge. The following year the actor participated, as the absolute protagonist, in a project in which he was able to demonstrate again the variety of tones and registers that he was able to impersonate. Yoon Jong-bin's "The Spy Gone North", also presented at Cannes, sees Hwang Jung-min impersonate a spy so skilled that he manages to get close to the North Korean leader. Being, at the same time, anxious, brazen, humble, and courageous, as required by a character who already plays a role other than himself by necessity, made the film a milestone in the actor's maturity. In 2023 "12.12: The Day", directed by Kim Sung-su, a political thriller that traces the recent history of South Korea, sees the starring participation of Hwang Jung-min who alters his connotations to step into the role of General Chun Doo-gwang. As already happened for "Asura: The City of Madness", director Kim Sung-su captures the darker side to create a lucid and relentless character, a modern Richard III in fact. To balance the effort to immerse himself in the blind thirst for power of a future dictator, this year Hwang Jung-min returned to play the role of the lovable anti-hero Detective Seo Do-cheol in the sequel to "Veteran" "I, the Executioner". Unpredictability seems to be the constant even in the second part of the artistic life of this giant of Korean cinematography who, this year for "12.12: The Day", won the award for best actor in a leading role for both the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
- Caterina Liverani
