Song Kang-ho

Song Kang-ho (Korean: 송강호; born 17 January 1967) is a South Korean actor. Regarded as one of the most influential actors in Korean cinema, he has appeared in critically acclaimed films across various genres. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award, three Baeksang Arts Awards, four Blue Dragon Film Awards, and five Grand Bell Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named him one of the greatest actors of the 21st century. Song first gained recognition with the crime thriller No. 3 (1997), and later rose to prominence with Park Chan-wook's critically acclaimed film Joint Security Area (2000). He is known for his collaborations with filmmaker Bong Joon-ho in Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), and Parasite (2019). Song rose to wider international prominence for his performance in Parasite, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Picture. He has also worked extensively with director Kim Jee-woon, starring in five of his films: The Quiet Family (1998), The Foul King (2000), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), The Age of Shadows (2016), and Cobweb (2023). His other notable films include Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Secret Sunshine (2007), Thirst (2009), The Attorney (2013), The Throne (2015), A Taxi Driver (2017), and Broker (2022). Song has been named Gallup Korea's Film Actor of the Year four times (2013, 2017, 2019 and 2020).