Profile | プロフィール
Born / 生年月日
January 17, 1967 | Gimhae, South Korea
Age / 年齢
58 years old (as of 2025)
Occupation / 職業
Actor
俳優
Nationality / 国籍
South Korean (韓国)
Biography | 経歴
[English] Song Kang-ho is the greatest Korean film actor of his generation and one of the greatest film actors working anywhere in the world—a performer whose combination of absolute naturalism, physical intelligence, tonal mastery, and the specific quality of being entirely present in the moment of performance has produced, across more than three decades and in collaboration with the most significant directors of the Korean New Wave, a body of screen work of extraordinary range, formal consistency, and humanistic depth. His Detective Park Doo-man is one of the greatest performances in the history of Korean cinema. His Ki-taek is the human and political centre of the greatest Korean film ever made. His Sang-hyeon brought him the first Cannes Best Actor prize awarded to a Korean actor, in a recognition that was decades in the coming and entirely deserved. And his career—taken in its entirety, across its collaborations with Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Kim Jee-woon, Lee Chang-dong, and Hirokazu Kore-eda—constitutes one of the most remarkable individual acting records in the history of world cinema: a sustained achievement of such consistency, such range, and such formal intelligence that its full importance to the history of the art form is still being understood.
[日本語] ソン・ガンホは、同世代において最も偉大な韓国人俳優であるのみならず、現代の世界映画界を見渡しても、比類なき頂点に立つ名優の一人です。
その圧倒的な自然主義的アプローチ、研ぎ澄まされた身体的知性、複雑なトーンを自在に操る熟達の技。そして何より、演技のその瞬間、まさに「そこに生きている」と感じさせる唯一無二の存在感。30年以上にわたり、韓国ニューウェーブを牽引してきた巨匠たちとの協働を通じて彼が積み上げてきた業績は、驚くべき幅と形式的な一貫性、そして深遠な人間愛に満ちています。
『殺人の追憶』のパク・ドゥマン刑事は、韓国映画史に刻まれる最高の演技の一つであり、『パラサイト 半地下の家族』のキム・ギテクは、まさに韓国映画史に残る傑作の人間的、そして政治的な核心を体現しました。是枝裕和監督作『ベイビー・ブローカー』で見せた演技は、韓国人俳優として映画祭史上初となるカンヌ国際映画祭最優秀男優賞をもたらしました。それは数十年にわたる彼の偉業に対する、まさに遅すぎた、しかし必然の評価でした。
ポン・ジュノ、パク・チャヌク、キム・ジウン、イ・チャンドン、そして是枝裕和――彼らと築き上げてきたキャリアの全貌は、世界映画史上、最も特筆すべき個人の演技記録です。その一貫性、幅広さ、そして演技に対する知的な洞察は、映画という芸術の歴史における彼の真の重要性が、今なお探求され続けているほどに巨大で、揺るぎないものなのです。
Filmography | 主な作品
Feature Films — Selected (主要映画出演作)
| Year | Title (Korean / English / Japanese) | Director | Role | Awards/Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 짱 / Teenage Hooligans | Kim Sung-su | — | Film debut |
| 1997 | 넘버 3 / No. 3 | Song Neung-han | — | Early career |
| 1998 | 조용한 가족 / The Quiet Family | Kim Jee-woon | — | Kim Jee-woon debut |
| 1999 | 쉬리 / Shiri | Kang Je-gyu | — | Korean New Wave commercial breakthrough |
| 2000 | 공동경비구역 JSA / Joint Security Area / JSA | Park Chan-wook | Sergeant Oh Kyeong-pil | Park Chan-wook collaboration begins / DMZ thriller / Career breakthrough |
| 2001 | 반칙왕 / The Foul King | Kim Jee-woon | Im Dae-ho | Wrestling comedy / Cult favourite |
| 2002 | 복수는 나의 것 / Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance | Park Chan-wook | Park Dong-jin | Second Park Chan-wook collaboration / Revenge trilogy part 1 |
| 2003 | 살인의 추억 / Memories of Murder / 殺人の追憶 | Bong Joon-ho | Detective Park Doo-man | Bong collaboration begins / Multiple Korean Film Awards Best Actor 🏆 / Hwaseong murders / Tonal masterwork / Career landmark |
| 2004 | 효자동 이발사 / The President’s Barber | Im Chan-sang | Sung Han-mo | Political history / Period drama |
| 2005 | 친절한 금자씨 / Sympathy for Lady Vengeance | Park Chan-wook | — | Park revenge trilogy conclusion / Cameo |
| 2006 | 괴물 / The Host / グエムル—漢江の怪物— | Bong Joon-ho | Gang-du | Korean box office record (2006) / Monster film / Family / Most commercially successful Korean film of era / Career-beloved role |
| 2007 | 밀양 / Secret Sunshine | Lee Chang-dong | Jong-chan | Cannes Palme d’Or film (Jeon Do-yeon) / Self-effacing supporting excellence / Lee Chang-dong |
| 2008 | 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 / The Good, the Bad, the Weird / グッド・バッド・ウィアード | Kim Jee-woon | “The Weird” (Park Do-won) | Korean Western / Physical comedy / Kinetic energy / Kim Jee-woon |
| 2009 | 박쥐 / Thirst | Park Chan-wook | Sang-hyeon (priest) | Cannes Jury Prize (film) 🏆 / Vampire / Third major Park collaboration |
| 2011 | 하울링 / Howling | Yoo Ha | — | |
| 2013 | 설국열차 / Snowpiercer / スノーピアサー | Bong Joon-ho | Namgoong Minsu | Third Bong collaboration / English-language / Chris Evans / Class allegory |
| 2014 | 관상 / The Face Reader | Han Jae-rim | Kim Nae-kyung | Period drama / Physiognomy |
| 2016 | 밀정 / The Age of Shadows | Kim Jee-woon | Lee Jung-chool | Korean independence / Japanese occupation / Korean submission Academy Awards |
| 2017 | 택시운전사 / A Taxi Driver | Jang Hoon | Kim Man-seob | Blue Dragon Award Best Actor 🏆 / Grand Bell Award Best Actor 🏆 / 1980 Gwangju Uprising / German journalist / Most important Korean historical film of decade |
| 2019 | 기생충 / Parasite / パラサイト 半地下の家族 | Bong Joon-ho | Ki-taek | Oscar Best Picture (ensemble) 🏆 / SAG Outstanding Cast 🏆 / Fourth Bong collaboration / Career summit / Class rage / Final scene |
| 2022 | 브로커 / Broker / ブローカー | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Sang-hyeon | Cannes Best Actor (Prix d’interprétation masculine) 🏆 / First Korean actor to win Cannes Best Actor / Japanese director / Korean-language |
Awards & Recognition | 受賞歴
Cannes Film Festival (カンヌ映画祭)
- Prix d’interprétation masculine (Best Actor Prize) – Broker (2022) 🏆
First Korean actor in the history of the Cannes Film Festival to win this prize
Academy Awards (アカデミー賞)
- Best Picture (as ensemble cast) – Parasite (2020) 🏆 — shared with full cast
Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture – Parasite (2020) 🏆 — shared with full cast
Korean Domestic Awards (韓国国内賞)
Blue Dragon Film Awards (청룡영화상) — Grand Bell Awards (대종상)
- Best Actor – A Taxi Driver (2018) 🏆 (Blue Dragon + Grand Bell)
- Best Actor – Memories of Murder (2004) 🏆 (multiple domestic awards)
- Best Actor – The Host (2007) 🏆 (multiple domestic awards)
- Multiple additional nominations and awards across career 🏆
Lifetime Achievement and Special Recognition
- Consistent recognition by Korean and international critics’ organizations as the greatest Korean film actor of his generation 🏆
- Top-10 appearances in international critical polls of greatest film actors 🏆
- Busan International Film Festival — multiple special recognitions 🏆
Box Office Achievements | 興行成績
| Film | Korean Box Office | Worldwide | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Host (2006) | ₩119 billion | $89.1M | Korean record at release |
| A Taxi Driver (2017) | ₩72.1 billion | $27.9M | Highest-grossing Korean film of 2017 |
| Parasite (2019) | ₩59.1 billion | $266.2M | Oscar Best Picture |
| Shiri (1999) | ₩58.8 billion | — | Early career landmark |
| JSA (2000) | ₩58.3 billion | — | Park Chan-wook debut collab |
| The Face Reader (2014) | ₩30.0 billion | — | |
| The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) | ₩30.3 billion | $17.5M | |
| Snowpiercer (2013) | ₩30.3 billion | $86.8M |
Career Korean box office (selected films): Over ₩600 billion
