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IMDbPro

Song Kang-ho(I)

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Song Kang-ho
A 1960s-set tale of two men, their pride, greed and bromance.
Play trailer1:57
Uncle Samsik (2024– )
39 Videos
99+ Photos
Song Kang-ho never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Kimhae High School. Later, he joined Kee Kuk-seo's influential theater company with its emphasis on instinctive acting and improvisation, which proved to be Song's training ground. Although regularly approached to act in films, he always turned down the opportunity until taking a role as an extra in Hong Sang-soo's The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996). In the following year, after portraying one of the homeless in Jang Sun-woo's docu-drama Bad Movie (1997), he gained cult notoriety for his scene-stealing performance in Neung-han Song No. 3 (1997) as a gangster training a group of young recruits, winning his first Best Actor award.

Since that time he was cast in several supporting roles before his high-profile role as Han Suk-kyu's secret-agent partner in Kang Je-kyu's blockbuster thriller Shiri (1999). In early 2000, Song became a star with his first leading role in the box office smash The Foul King (2000), for which he reputedly did most of his own stunts. But it was with his award-winning role as a North Korean sergeant in Joint Security Area (2000) that Song has come to the forefront as one of Korea's leading actors. Song also starred in Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), which centers around a father's pursuit of his daughter's kidnappers.

In 2002 Song starred in another major production by Myung Film titled YMCA Yagudan (2002), about Korea's first baseball team, which formed in the early 20th century. He came to international attention with the film The Host (2006), which reunited him with director Bong Joon Ho. With Snowpiercer (2013), his third collaboration with Bong, he made his debut in an English-language film with international theatrical distribution.

In 2008 he starred in Kim Jee-woon's film The Good the Bad the Weird (2008), where he played Tae-goo, the motorcycle-riding, walther-wielding counterpart to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"'s Tuco.

In 2015, Song Kang-ho works on 'The Throne', a period drama of palace intrigues par excellence and whose film is nominated that year for best non-English-language film and costumes at Satellite awards. Already in 2016 he makes his fourth collaboration with Korean director Kim Jee-woon and is none other than the critically acclaimed film "The Empire of Shadows." A period drama with a background of espionage intrigue with a very good technical bill.
BornJanuary 17, 1967
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BornJanuary 17, 1967
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 61 wins & 67 nominations total

    Asian Icons of Film and Television

    Asian Icons of Film and Television

    Celebrate some of the most iconic Asian actors from film and television, from Priyanka Chopra Jonas to Ke Huy Quan, plus many more.
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    Photos

    Photos167

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    Known for

    Memories of Murder (2003)
    Memories of Murder
    8.1
    • Detective Park Doo-man
    • 2003
    Ko Ah-sung in The Host (2006)
    The Host
    7.1
    • Park Gang-Doo
    • 2006
    Song Kang-ho, Jung Ik-han, Jung Hyun-jun, Lee Joo-hyung, Lee Ji-hye, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park Myeong-hoon, Park Keun-rok, Jang Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun, Choi Woo-sik, Park Seo-joon, Park So-dam, and Jung Ji-so in Parasite (2019)
    Parasite
    8.5
    • Ki Taek
    • 2019
    Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Octavia Spencer, and Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer (2013)
    Snowpiercer
    7.1
    • Namgoong Minsoo
    • 2013

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • Beef
      • Released
      • TV Series
      • 2025
    • Insiders
      • Lee Gang Hui
      • Post-production
      • TV Series



    • Uncle Samsik (2024)
      Uncle Samsik
      6.8
      TV Series
      • Sam-sik
      • 2024
    • Cobweb (2023)
      Cobweb
      6.6
      • Kim
      • 2023
    • One Win (2023)
      One Win
      6.0
      • Kim Woo jin
      • 2023
    • Broker (2022)
      Broker
      7.1
      • Ha Sang-hyun
      • 2022
    • Lee Byung-hun and Song Kang-ho in Emergency Declaration (2021)
      Emergency Declaration
      6.8
      • In-ho
      • 2021
    • The King's Letters (2019)
      The King's Letters
      6.4
      • King Sejong
      • 2019
    • Song Kang-ho, Jung Ik-han, Jung Hyun-jun, Lee Joo-hyung, Lee Ji-hye, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park Myeong-hoon, Park Keun-rok, Jang Hye-jin, Lee Jeong-eun, Choi Woo-sik, Park Seo-joon, Park So-dam, and Jung Ji-so in Parasite (2019)
      Parasite
      8.5
      • Ki Taek
      • 2019
    • The Drug King (2018)
      The Drug King
      6.2
      • Lee Doo-sam
      • 2018
    • Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver (2017)
      A Taxi Driver
      7.9
      • Kim Man-seob
      • 2017
    • Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Gong Yoo, and Han Ji-min in The Age of Shadows (2016)
      The Age of Shadows
      7.1
      • Lee Jung-Chool
      • 2016
    • Song Kang-ho and Yoo Ah-in in The Throne (2015)
      The Throne
      7.1
      • King Yeongjo
      • 2015
    • James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Randall Park in The Interview (2014)
      The Interview
      6.5
      • Soldier Watching the Interview (uncredited)
      • 2014
    • The Attorney (2013)
      The Attorney
      7.7
      • Song Woo-seok
      • 2013
    • Kim Hye-su, Lee Jung-jae, Song Kang-ho, Lee Jong-suk, and Jo Jung-suk in The Face Reader (2013)
      The Face Reader
      6.8
      • Nae-kyung
      • 2013
    • Ed Harris, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Octavia Spencer, and Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer (2013)
      Snowpiercer
      7.1
      • Namgoong Minsoo
      • 2013

    Videos39

    Bong Joon Ho Makes Oscars History
    Clip 3:24
    Bong Joon Ho Makes Oscars History
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'
    Clip 5:14
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'
    Clip 5:14
    Bong Joon-Ho Reveals Where He Got the Idea for 'Parasite'
    Thirst
    Clip 2:23
    Thirst
    Thirst -- "Can You Bend This?"
    Clip 2:04
    Thirst -- "Can You Bend This?"
    Thirst -- "Hospital Room"
    Clip 1:49
    Thirst -- "Hospital Room"
    Thirst -- "Shoes"
    Clip 1:08
    Thirst -- "Shoes"

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Height
      • 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
    • Born
      • January 17, 1967
      • Gim-hae, South Gyeongsang Povince, South Korea
    • Spouse
      • Jang-sook Hwang1995 - present (2 children)
    • Children
      • Song Jun-pyung
    • Parents
      • Song In-dae

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Voiced Alex the Lion in the Korean dub of Madagascar (2005), but was replaced in the sequels by Wang-yeong Seong.
    • Trademark
        Often works with directors Bong Joon Ho, Park Chan-wook and Kim Jee-woon

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