Actor You Need to Know: Kang Ha-neul

The alchemy of Kang Ha-neul relies on two things: he is a crackerjack actor, and he is, as his industry admits, one of the kindest and most comfortable co-stars to work with. Kang’s mind’s eye is what you see when you see him on screen, per the insiders in Korean showbiz. A production specialist I know well shared, “Kang is all heart; he is pleasing, damn good-looking, humble, and people dote on him. When on camera, he can deliver amazing acts of transition. It is as if something gets inside of him and he is someone else between ‘action’ and ‘cut,’ he is cool!” she added.

That is visible. The actor can command attention with the draw of a role while simultaneously dashing expectations for them. Particularly persuasive in expressions, Kang’s performances go off the beaten path, creating distinct characters, picking up appreciation, and winning illustrious awards. The box office response to his most recent film, 30 Days with Jung So-min, has been humongous. Since its release on October 3, the romantic comedy has led the charts for seven days in a row—reported The Korea Times—as of Monday, October 9, it sold over 774,000 tickets and grossed a total of 7.65 billion won ($5.67 million).

In 30 Days, a divorcing couple is rendered amnesiac due to an accident. As their families strive to retrieve their memories so that the divorce may go forward, the couple finds a way back into love and each other’s hearts again. Kang is No Jeong-yeol, the husband and a lawyer married to Jung’s Hong Na-ra, a film producer. It should be interesting to watch how he distinguishes his character in the portrayal of events. I’m sure Kang lets every shot look fantastic, the romantic ones especially. In one of her interviews, Jung spoke about an intimate scene in 30 Days and how, much to her surprise, Kang’s dedication made it look incredibly passionate.

Kang, a theater and film alumnus from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea, got started working in musical theater and, as if he had been schooled in the art of acting, he was stealing the shows in succession, notably in Thrill Me (2010), Prince Puzzle (2011), Black Mary Poppins (2012), and Assassins (2012). Six years later, in 2018, Kang’s collaboration on the colossal military musical Shinheung Military Academy with Ji Chang-wook and Kim Sung-kyu (Infinite) marked something of a tipping point in his career. Kang’s portrayal of Paldo secured him an entry for Best Actor at the 7th Yegreen Musical Awards.

In the interim, he was already a household name in South Korea. That could be attributable to his TV dramas, including To the Beautiful You (2012), The Heirs (2013), and Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014), as well as his films like C’est si bon, Empire of Lust, and Twenty in 2015. But it could also be because he delves deep into a character’s spirit and circumstances in a story. And then he is highly inventive. So, you watch him act, and you feel as though he is creating cogent moments with candor. In his turn as Kyung-jae in Twenty, Kang captured the variances in his character’s severe timidity and his total flip while intoxicated with utmost precision, scoring a series of wins.

The artist’s acting credibility is also rooted in theater productions. Stage-acting methods are recognized to be invaluable for ensuring novelty in performance—a rationale in Kang’s ease of acting that gives him the edge to define each of his characters. While indulging in significant roles on screen, he made his stage debut the same year in Harold and Maude, a play with elements of existentialism, angst, and dark wit, with the acclaimed veteran actress Park Jeong-ja. In 2016, Kang had the titular poet, Yun Dong-ju, in the historical epic Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet and Lee Soo-ho, a young artist with deafness in the rom-com film Like for Likes, ahead of co-starring in the smash period K-drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo as Prince Wang Wook, which scooped an Excellence Award for Kang at the 2016 SBS Drama Awards.

Since I’ve probably seen most of Kang’s dramas and films, I can’t remember a single instance in which he gave a mediocre performance. His work and his emotional depth are just few and far between. His disarming authenticity and his eyes, tinted with despair and indignation as Jo Hyun-woo, whose life spins out of control in the film New Trial (2017), hit a nerve. We witness him getting charged with a murder he didn’t commit but being forced to plead guilty after experiencing abuse by authorities. A decade later, he looks for legal counsel to come clean. Kang’s being is imperative in the setting; even when he tends toward guardedness as an effect of injustice, his personality remains potent.

His roles in the next two movies in 2017—Midnight Runners and Forgotten—were quite diverse, yet they shared his flawless acting. Even more of a boost to his film career came from his partnership with Park Seo-joon in the action-comedy Midnight Runners. Kang accomplished an ideal nerd, Kang Hee-yeol, who weighs more while doing less, in a leading role beside Park Seo-joon‘s Park Ki-joon. The movie centers on them—the two students at the Korean National Police University. They spot an abduction of a girl while in Gangnam and notify the police, but to no avail, as the high-profile kidnapping of a business magnate’s grandson is given priority over the matter. Consequently, Hee-yeol and Ki-joon decide to resolve the situation on their own, embarking on a race against time.

Midnight Runners gained recognition through multiple accolades and became one of the highest-grossing Korean films of the year.

In Forgotten, Jin-seok (Kang) moves to a new home with his family and experiences oddities there. One stormy night, he sees his older brother’s kidnapping; days later, he reappears, unconscious of the incident. Jin-seok, shortly thereafter, starts discovering anomalies in his family and suspects that they are imposters masquerading as family members. He flees the house and calls the police for assistance amid unknowns, frets, and an urge for understanding. After hearing that he is 21 years old, a cop inquires as to what year it is at that time. Jin-seok responds, “It’s 1997,” but the officer says, “It’s 2017,” making Jin-seok 41 years old, thus intensifying perplexity and triggering his quest for the truth.

With the absurdity of his reality, his impasse, his frantic search for the facts, and every nuance that he weaves into Jin-seok to give him and the situation meaning, Kang thrills at all points in the movie.

That became the norm for the 33-year-old as he went on crafting more enduring characters in subsequent productions: When the Camellia Blooms (2019), Kang’s triumph at the coveted Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor—Television, Waiting for Rain (2021), The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022), and Insider (2022). A second thing that has been the norm for him is how he often takes on challenging roles; he chooses all of them, notwithstanding their intricacy. And thirdly, he never ceases pushing the envelope while also avoiding being too dismissive of himself and continuing to approach his work with objectivity. I guess that makes him phenomenal. Kang Ha-neul is a “personality” who fashions a “hero” out of whomever he portrays. I’m anxious to see him in 30 Days, and even more anxious to see him detonate in the imminent Squid Game Season 2.