Actor You Need to Know: Sung Hoon

Sung Hoon has pursued a variety of interests. The multi-faceted artist has had a successful career for over 10 years, appearing in a range of mainstream and independent shows and dramas. The well-known South Korean actor, model, singer, and DJ is cooler than he may come off onscreen. The knockout, who has killer looks and made a successful comeback to television in 2019, is soaking up praise and enjoying the ride to the fullest.

The erstwhile swimming star-turned-swimming coach made his acting debut in White Brown’s Because I Love You. At the 2011 SBS Drama Awards, he received the New Star Award for his groundbreaking performance in the mystical romance drama, New Tales of Gisaeng. It features Sung Hoon as Ah Da-mo, a pompous second-generation chaebol in love with Dan Sa-ran (Im Soo-Hyang), a member of Korea’s sole traditional gisaeng house catering exclusively to premium customers.

Sung Hoon has since dabbled in many genres, championed quality content, and tried to expand his repertoire as an artist. In 2012, the actor appeared in three consecutive projects: The Bodyguard, his first Chinese drama, in Faith as a villain, and in The Birth of a Family, a daily soap.

If the celebrity has one defining quality, it’s his willpower to persevere and work harder. His journey has been quite challenging. In I Live Alone aka Home Alone, a popular Korean variety show, Sung Hoon revealed that his frequent illnesses and several procedures put a stop to his illustrious career as a superb swimmer as well as his military service. But his unwavering resolve to persist paid off in the end, as he has repeatedly shown that strength doesn’t come from success but rather from overcoming obstacles, failing, and making the decision to never give up. As a result, both within the workplace and among his fans, his drive and passion have earned him widespread recognition as a Korean actor.

The Passionate Love (2013) hero rendered an impressive performance as a construction safety engineer who suffers an injury and winds up in a clinic full of enigmatic patients in the online drama, 6 Persons Room (2014). Then followed the popular romantic comedy web-drama series Noble My Love (2015), in which Sung Hoon portrayed Lee Kang-hoon, a super-rich heir, incredibly attractive yet snooty. On the other hand, Cha Yoon-seo (Kim Jae-kyung) is a beautiful and upbeat veterinarian who runs her own vet clinic. When the two meet amid an unforeseen situation, romantic feelings begin to emerge. Despite being riddled with old tropes, the narrative received praise due to its theme of Confucian values and its traditional family system, wherein South Koreans consider marriage as cementing the bond between two families rather than between two individuals.

Sung Hoon made a cameo as a mixed martial arts fighter in the superhit rom-com drama series Oh My Venus (2015) and his subsequent body of work signalled the start of his ascent to fame. In 2016, he had his television comeback with the weekend drama Five Enough, depicting a model-turned-accomplished golfer. His rapport with co-star Shin Hye-sun garnered attention from the media. Thereafter, he starred in My Secret Romance as a second-generation tycoon (2017), then as an entertainment-firm producer in The Idolmaster KR (2017), and shared screen-time with Kim So-eun in the romantic fantasy film Are You in Love? (2020).

The 39-year-old shines as a romantic lead, but the point about him is that while he may look his best when producing swoon-worthy moments with the heroine, he also excels at carrying off action sequences with skill, as evidenced in his debut action film, Brothers in Heaven (2018). Sung Hoon is a talented actor who knows how to take on a role and give it life by being authentic and effective. Whether it was in the sitcom The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot (2018), or the romantic comedies I Picked Up a Celebrity on the Street (2018), Level Up (2019) and My Secret Star (2020), he has proven his mettle by being captivating and engaging.

I believe Sung Hoon is a compelling actor who is not merely good at what he does. He gives every character he plays a lot of flair. I’ve always been a fan of his acting, and his current projects are no exceptions, including his portrayal of a lawyer struggling with marriage in Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce), which had seasons one and two in 2021 and season three in 2022, as well as his most recent role as Raphael in the rom-com Woori the Virgin, based on the American television series Jane the Virgin. In short, this guy is a star actor and a skilled artist, and it’s worth noting before concluding this account of his career that Sung Hoon is also a fantastic vocalist and a disc jockey who performs under the moniker Roiii.