Jo Seung-woo
Encyclopedia
Jo Seung-woo is a South Korean actor and musical star best known for his roles in Marathon
and Tazza: The High Rollers
.
he was persuaded to join auditions for Im Kwon-taek
's film Chunhyang
, and he ended up winning the part from among a field of 1000 actors. Chunhyang
would screen as the first Korean film in competition at Cannes
, although domestically it failed to attract much of an audience.
Jo did go on to appear in musicals after his film debut, acting in local productions Subway Line 1 and The Last Empress. Soon he was drawn back into the film industry, however, with a key supporting role in Wanee and Junah (2001), plus leading roles in Who Are You (2002) and Kwak Jae-yong
's popular The Classic
(2003). Particularly after The Classic
his popularity continued to grow, and in 2004 he appeared in Im Kwon-taek
's 99th film Low Life
, which flopped at the box office.
Jo's breakthrough would come in early 2005, when he played an autistic boy in the smash hit Marathon
. With over 5 million tickets sold to the film, Jo attracted great praise for his naturalistic performance and won Best Actor at the 2005 Grand Bell Awards
. In November he was even presented with a Best Actor award in the foreign film category of China's Hundred Flowers Awards
. Nonetheless, he continued to pursue his career in musicals, with critically acclaimed appearances in Hedwig
and Jekyll and Hyde
that had fans scrambling to find tickets. His success at pursuing both film and musicals make him an unusual case among contemporary actors.
Jo starred in Love Phobia
(2006) opposite then-girlfriend Kang Hye-jung
(the high-profile couple broke up in 2007). He then headlined Tazza: The High Rollers
, the 2006 film adaptation of Huh Young-man
's manhwa
, which went on to become one of the biggest Korean blockbuster hits of all time. He followed that with Go Go 70s
, about a rock and roll
band during the height of the Park Chung-hee
military regime, and The Sword With No Name, in which he played a fictional royal guard in love with Empress Myeongseong
.
After completing his mandatory army service, Jo made his comeback in the 2010 production of Jekyll and Hyde
. The musical is especially meaningful to Jo since the actor rose to stardom when the show premiered in Korea in 2004. Jo's much-anticipated return to the stage was marked with controversy following reports that his salary would be the highest for any musical theater actor in Korean history. While producers fear that demands for similarly high fees could follow (which could eventually put them out of business), others say that the fee is justified, based on the hope that Jo will help spark a renaissance in a once vibrant but now stagnant musical theater industry. And true enough, when tickets went on sale, the demand was so high that the online reservation server broke down after 15 minutes, with all of the performances in which Jo is scheduled to appear already sold out.
Jo and Ryu Deok-hwan play Siamese twin brothers in actress Goo Hye-sun's sophomore directorial effort The Peach Tree, which debuted at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival. He has been cast in sports movie The Perfect Game, which will revisit one of the most exciting matches in Korean baseball history, between Choi Dong-won of the Haitai Tigers and Sun Dong-ryeol
of the Lotte Giants
in the summer of 1987, which ended in a tie after being extended 15 innings; the rivalry between the two was further heated up by regionalism at the time with Choi representing the Jeolla Province and Sun, the Gyeongsang Province. Jo will star as Choi opposite Yang Dong-geun
as Sun. Jo will also be taking on the lead role in the musical Zorro
.
Marathon (2005 film)
Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
and Tazza: The High Rollers
Tazza: The High Rollers
Tazza: The High Rollers is a 2006 South Korean film based on Huh Young-man's manhwa . The story involves a group of grifters involved in the Korean card game called Hwatu ....
.
Career
Jo Seung-woo grew up in a musical family: his father Jo Kyung-soo is a singer, and his older sister Jo Seo-yeon acts in musicals. Jo himself also dreamed of becoming a musical actor from an early age, however in 1999 while a student at Dankook UniversityDankook University
Dankook University is a private university in South Korea. Dankook University has been constantly recognized as one of top universities in Asia ranked 148th in Asia by QS Asian Universities Ranking in 2010...
he was persuaded to join auditions for Im Kwon-taek
Im Kwon-taek
Im Kwon-taek is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success, and helped bring international attention to the Korean film industry.- Early life...
's film Chunhyang
Chunhyang (2000 film)
Chunhyang is a 2000 Korean film, directed by Im Kwon-taek and starring Lee Hyo-jeong and Jo Seung-woo. It was entered into the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
, and he ended up winning the part from among a field of 1000 actors. Chunhyang
Chunhyang (2000 film)
Chunhyang is a 2000 Korean film, directed by Im Kwon-taek and starring Lee Hyo-jeong and Jo Seung-woo. It was entered into the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
would screen as the first Korean film in competition at Cannes
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, although domestically it failed to attract much of an audience.
Jo did go on to appear in musicals after his film debut, acting in local productions Subway Line 1 and The Last Empress. Soon he was drawn back into the film industry, however, with a key supporting role in Wanee and Junah (2001), plus leading roles in Who Are You (2002) and Kwak Jae-yong
Kwak Jae-yong
Kwak Jae-yong is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He studied physics at Kyunghee University. He achieved success with his debut film Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day in 1989, but the failure of his next two movies led to eight years of unemployment before a comeback with the...
's popular The Classic
The Classic
The Classic is a 2003 South Korean melodrama / romance film directed by Kwak Jae-yong.- Plot :The film tells the parallel love stories of a mother and daughter. The story of the mother is told partially in flashbacks.The movie starts in the present day...
(2003). Particularly after The Classic
The Classic
The Classic is a 2003 South Korean melodrama / romance film directed by Kwak Jae-yong.- Plot :The film tells the parallel love stories of a mother and daughter. The story of the mother is told partially in flashbacks.The movie starts in the present day...
his popularity continued to grow, and in 2004 he appeared in Im Kwon-taek
Im Kwon-taek
Im Kwon-taek is one of South Korea's most renowned film directors. In an active and prolific career, his films have won many domestic and international film festival awards as well as considerable box-office success, and helped bring international attention to the Korean film industry.- Early life...
's 99th film Low Life
Low Life (film)
Low Life aka Raging Years is an internationally presented and award-nominated South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek.-Synopsis:...
, which flopped at the box office.
Jo's breakthrough would come in early 2005, when he played an autistic boy in the smash hit Marathon
Marathon (2005 film)
Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
. With over 5 million tickets sold to the film, Jo attracted great praise for his naturalistic performance and won Best Actor at the 2005 Grand Bell Awards
Grand Bell Awards
The Grand Bell Awards is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea....
. In November he was even presented with a Best Actor award in the foreign film category of China's Hundred Flowers Awards
Hundred Flowers Awards
The People's Hundred Flowers Film Festival or Hundred Flowers Awards, equivalent the China's Golden Globes, are considered, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards in China...
. Nonetheless, he continued to pursue his career in musicals, with critically acclaimed appearances in Hedwig
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
and Jekyll and Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
that had fans scrambling to find tickets. His success at pursuing both film and musicals make him an unusual case among contemporary actors.
Jo starred in Love Phobia
Love Phobia
Love Phobia is a 2006 South Korean film, directed by Kang Ji-eun and starring Kang Hye-jeong and Jo Seung-woo.- Plot summary :One sunny day, a young boy named Jo Kang meets a curious young girl, dressed in a bright yellow raincoat. Jo Kang befriends the girl, Ari, and falls instantly in love with...
(2006) opposite then-girlfriend Kang Hye-jung
Kang Hye-jeong
- Career :Kang Hye-jung began working as a model in her first year of high school, and throughout the late 1990s she appeared in small roles in TV dramas and sitcoms such as Jump and Nonstop 3. Her first film role was in Moon Seung-wook's arthouse/sci-fi film Nabi, for which she won a Best Actress...
(the high-profile couple broke up in 2007). He then headlined Tazza: The High Rollers
Tazza: The High Rollers
Tazza: The High Rollers is a 2006 South Korean film based on Huh Young-man's manhwa . The story involves a group of grifters involved in the Korean card game called Hwatu ....
, the 2006 film adaptation of Huh Young-man
Huh Young-man
Huh Young-man is a South Korean manhwa artist.-Early life:Huh Young-man was born Heo Hyeong-man in nowadays Yeosu, a far southern coastal city of South Jeolla province, South Korea in 1947. Huh was the third child of the eight children to father Heo Jong and mother Park Ok-jeong...
's manhwa
Manhwa
Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons . Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. The term, along with manga, is a cognate of the Chinese manhua...
, which went on to become one of the biggest Korean blockbuster hits of all time. He followed that with Go Go 70s
Go Go 70s
Go Go 70s is a 2008 South Korean musical film.-Plot:Set in the 1970s in South Korea under the rule of Park Chung-hee's dictatorship when indie rock band Devils led by Sang-kyu and his five members becomes famous after they perform at a U.S. military base and Go-Go clubs...
, about a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band during the height of the Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He seized power in a military coup and ruled until his assassination in 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth...
military regime, and The Sword With No Name, in which he played a fictional royal guard in love with Empress Myeongseong
Empress Myeongseong
Empress Myeongseong , also known as Queen Min, was the first official wife of King Gojong, the twenty-sixth king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea...
.
After completing his mandatory army service, Jo made his comeback in the 2010 production of Jekyll and Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
. The musical is especially meaningful to Jo since the actor rose to stardom when the show premiered in Korea in 2004. Jo's much-anticipated return to the stage was marked with controversy following reports that his salary would be the highest for any musical theater actor in Korean history. While producers fear that demands for similarly high fees could follow (which could eventually put them out of business), others say that the fee is justified, based on the hope that Jo will help spark a renaissance in a once vibrant but now stagnant musical theater industry. And true enough, when tickets went on sale, the demand was so high that the online reservation server broke down after 15 minutes, with all of the performances in which Jo is scheduled to appear already sold out.
Jo and Ryu Deok-hwan play Siamese twin brothers in actress Goo Hye-sun's sophomore directorial effort The Peach Tree, which debuted at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival. He has been cast in sports movie The Perfect Game, which will revisit one of the most exciting matches in Korean baseball history, between Choi Dong-won of the Haitai Tigers and Sun Dong-ryeol
Sun Dong-Yeol
Sun Dong-Yeol is a retired pitcher in the Korea Professional Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, and is New manager of Kia Tigers in the Korea Professional Baseball...
of the Lotte Giants
Lotte Giants
The Lotte Giants are a professional baseball team based in Busan, Korea, and one of the original franchises of the Korea Baseball Organization league. The Lotte Giants are owned by the Japanese-South Korean Lotte conglomerate....
in the summer of 1987, which ended in a tie after being extended 15 innings; the rivalry between the two was further heated up by regionalism at the time with Choi representing the Jeolla Province and Sun, the Gyeongsang Province. Jo will star as Choi opposite Yang Dong-geun
Yang Dong-geun
Yang Dong-geun or YDG is a South Korean actor and hip-hop artist. Yang majored in Theatrical Performance at Yong-in University He began to do his compulsory two year military service in May 2008.- Television drama :- Film :- Theatre :...
as Sun. Jo will also be taking on the lead role in the musical Zorro
Zorro (musical)
Zorro is a musical with music by the Gipsy Kings and John Cameron, a book by Stephen Clark and Helen Edmundson, and lyrics by Stephen Clark. It is based on the 2005 mock biography Zorro, the first origin story of the pulp hero Zorro, written by Chilean author Isabel Allende...
.
Filmography
- 2000 ChunhyangChunhyang (2000 film)Chunhyang is a 2000 Korean film, directed by Im Kwon-taek and starring Lee Hyo-jeong and Jo Seung-woo. It was entered into the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
- 2001 아미지몽 (我美之夢)
- 2001 Wanee and Junah
- 2002 Who R. U.?
- 2002 YMCA Baseball TeamYMCA Baseball Team (film)YMCA Baseball Team is a semi-historical 2002 South Korean comedy film.In 1905, there was a confluence of international events leading to the loss of Chosŏn Korean sovereignty, and by 1910, Japan formally annexed Korea outright...
- 2002 H
- 2003 The ClassicThe ClassicThe Classic is a 2003 South Korean melodrama / romance film directed by Kwak Jae-yong.- Plot :The film tells the parallel love stories of a mother and daughter. The story of the mother is told partially in flashbacks.The movie starts in the present day...
- 2004 Low LifeLow Life (film)Low Life aka Raging Years is an internationally presented and award-nominated South Korean film directed by Im Kwon-taek.-Synopsis:...
- 2005 MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
- 2006 Love PhobiaLove PhobiaLove Phobia is a 2006 South Korean film, directed by Kang Ji-eun and starring Kang Hye-jeong and Jo Seung-woo.- Plot summary :One sunny day, a young boy named Jo Kang meets a curious young girl, dressed in a bright yellow raincoat. Jo Kang befriends the girl, Ari, and falls instantly in love with...
- 2006 Tazza: The High RollersTazza: The High RollersTazza: The High Rollers is a 2006 South Korean film based on Huh Young-man's manhwa . The story involves a group of grifters involved in the Korean card game called Hwatu ....
- 2008 Go Go 70sGo Go 70sGo Go 70s is a 2008 South Korean musical film.-Plot:Set in the 1970s in South Korea under the rule of Park Chung-hee's dictatorship when indie rock band Devils led by Sang-kyu and his five members becomes famous after they perform at a U.S. military base and Go-Go clubs...
- 2009 The Sword with No Name
- 2011 The Peach Tree
- 2012 The Perfect Game
Musical theatre
- Blood Brothers
- The Last Empress
- Line 1 (2001, 2006)
- The Sorrows of Young WertherThe Sorrows of Young WertherThe Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787...
- CarmenCarmenCarmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
- Jekyll & HydeJekyll & Hyde (musical)Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
(2004, 2005, 2006, 2010-2011) - Hedwig and the Angry InchHedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
(2005, 2007, 2008) - RentRent (musical)Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
(2007) - Man of La ManchaMan of La ManchaMan of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
(2007) - I Am Sam (2008)
- ZorroZorro (musical)Zorro is a musical with music by the Gipsy Kings and John Cameron, a book by Stephen Clark and Helen Edmundson, and lyrics by Stephen Clark. It is based on the 2005 mock biography Zorro, the first origin story of the pulp hero Zorro, written by Chilean author Isabel Allende...
(2011-2012)
Awards
- 2002 Korea Musical Awards: Best New Actor
- 2004 Korea Musical Awards: Best Actor
- 2005 Baeksang Arts AwardsPaekSang Arts AwardsPaekSang Arts Awards, also known as BaekSang Arts Awards, is an awards ceremony held annually by IS PLUS Corp, since 1965. It is to honour outstanding achievements in the South Korean entertainment industry and to garner public attention upon the best in Korean films and dramas...
: Best Actor (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 Grand Bell AwardsGrand Bell AwardsThe Grand Bell Awards is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea....
: Popularity Award (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 Grand Bell AwardsGrand Bell AwardsThe Grand Bell Awards is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea....
: Best Actor (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 PremierePremiere (magazine)Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
Rising Star Award - 2005 Pusan Film Critics AwardsPusan Film Critics AwardsThe Pusan Film Critics Awards have been presented in South Korea since the founding of the prize by the Korea Pusan Film Critics Association. The winners of the awards are announced yearly just prior to the Pusan International Film Festival...
: Best Actor (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 China Golden RoosterGolden Rooster AwardsChina Golden Rooster Film Festival also known as Golden Rooster Awards are the most prestigious awards in film given in mainland China, equivalent the China's Academy Awards. The awards are given annually, beginning in 1981. The name of the award came from the year of the Rooster in 1981...
and Hundred FlowersHundred Flowers AwardsThe People's Hundred Flowers Film Festival or Hundred Flowers Awards, equivalent the China's Golden Globes, are considered, together with the Golden Rooster Awards, the most prestigious film awards in China...
Film Festival: Best Actor (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 Blue Dragon Film AwardsBlue Dragon Film AwardsThe Blue Dragon Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony that is presented annually by Sports Chosun for excellence in film in South Korea....
: Popularity Award (MarathonMarathon (2005 film)Marathon is a South Korean movie based on the true story of Bae Hyeong-jin, a runner who happens to have autism....
) - 2005 Korea Advertisers Association: Good Model Award
- 2006 University Film Festival of Korea: Man of the Year Award
- 2007 Korea Movie Star Awards: Best Actor (Tazza: The High RollersTazza: The High RollersTazza: The High Rollers is a 2006 South Korean film based on Huh Young-man's manhwa . The story involves a group of grifters involved in the Korean card game called Hwatu ....
) - 2007 Korea Musical Awards: Popularity Award
- 2008 The Musical Awards: Best Actor
- 2011 The Musical Awards: Best Actor (Jekyll & HydeJekyll & Hyde (musical)Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
)