Park Jung-min (actor)

In 2005, Park entered one of the three most prestigious universities in South Korea, Korea University's College of Liberal Arts, but left to focus on acting. He then majored in film making at Korea National University of Arts, but then changed his major to acting after his military discharge and graduated.[5]

In 2011, Park had his breakthrough with his debut feature, the critically acclaimed indie film Bleak Night, for which he was nominated for Best New Actor at the 20th Buil Film Awards.[6] When Park starred in the film, he uploaded several behind-the-scenes stories on the film’s promotional blog, which were met with great interest. Around three years later, Park started writing a monthly column for Topclass magazine and established a following of devoted readers. His column is called “Eonhee,” which means “to make others happy through words.” [5]

He gained mainstream popularity for his highly acclaimed performance in Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet (2015) as Song Mong-gyu, a cousin of the famous poet Yoon Dong-ju who wrote about their agony and resistance of Japanese rule (1910-1945). His portrayal won him five Best New Actor awards at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards, the 37th Blue Dragon Film Awards, the 36th Golden Cinema Festival, the Korea Film Actors Association Awards and the 16th Director's Cut Awards and a Best Supporting Actor award at the 22nd Chunsa Film Art Awards.[2][3][4]

Long known for his witty writings found online and in magazines, Park finally published his own book of essays in 2016, titled A Useful Person. The book became a best-seller due to his amusing writing style and humorous stories which were able to capture the hearts of many readers.[5] As of 2019, A Useful Person had its eleventh round of printing.

In 2017, Park returned to theater as Romeo in the Korean adaptation of the classic play Romeo & Juliet with Moon Geun-young playing Juliet. In 2018, he starred alongside Lee Byung-hun in film Keys to the Heart as a gifted pianist with savant syndrome, earning favourable reviews from its viewers. To execute this role, Park spent time with individuals with autism spectrum disorders and trained to play the piano for 6 months.[7] In the same year, Park headlined the film Sunset in My Hometown in which he plays a rapper. With the help of professional rappers, Park practiced rapping for a year, and wrote the lyrics for the songs that appear in the film himself.[8]

In 2019, Park starred in mystery thriller film Svaha: The Sixth Finger followed by lead roles in films Tazza: One Eyed Jack and Start-Up.[9][10] In 2020, he was part of the main cast of Netflix original film Time to Hunt which premiered at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, making it the first South Korean film to be screened in the Berlinale Special section.[11] Later that year, Park acted alongside Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae in film Deliver Us from Evil as Yui, a transgender woman who wishes to undergo sex reassignment surgery but cannot afford to do so. Upon accepting this role, Park met up with transgender individuals and did further research on the transgender community by reading books and watching videos. In post-film interviews, Park said he wishes to tell Yui to not lose hope and that a life worth living will come.[12] The film became the second highest-grossing South Korean film of 2020.[13]