Kam Woo-sung

In this Korean name, the family name is Kam.

Kam Woo-sung (born October 1, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his portrayal of a court jester serving a despotic king in the hit period film The King and the Clown.

Kam Woo-sung
Born	(1970-10-01) October 1, 1970 (age 54) Okcheon County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea
Other names	Gam Woo-sung Gam Wu-seong Kam Woo-seong Karm Woo-sung
Education	Seoul National University – Oriental Painting
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present
Agent	Bright Entertainment
Spouse	Kang Min-Young ​ (m. 2006)​
Korean name
Hangul	감우성
Hanja	甘宇成
Revised Romanization	Gam U-seong
McCune–Reischauer	Kam Usŏng

Career

Kam Woo-sung majored in Oriental painting at the Seoul National University, then made his acting debut in the 1991 television drama Our Paradise. Through his roles on TV in the following decade, Kam became known for playing gentle and intellectual upper-middle-class men, notably in Hyun-jung, I Love You. Then in 2002, he successfully subverted this image in his first film, the critically acclaimed Marriage Is a Crazy Thing, in which he played a commitment-phobic professor having a passionate affair.

More characters followed in a variety of genres: a man trapped in a confusing and haunting sequence of events in Song Il-gon's mystery film Spider Forest;^[1] the PTSD-afflicted leader of a South Korean squadron in Vietnam who looks into the mysterious disappearance of 18 soldiers in the horror thriller R-Point; and a son struggling to fake Korea's reunification to fulfill an ailing father's wish in the comedy A Bold Family.^[2]

In late 2005, Kam reached a turning point in his 15-year career when he starred in The King and the Clown. Jang Hyuk was originally cast in the leading role of a court jester during the reign of Joseon Dynasty tyrant King Yeonsan, but after Jang was implicated in a draft-dodging scandal, Kam was brought in to replace him.^[3] He trained extensively over two months in the art of Korean traditional performance, including street opera, and acrobatic, rope and mask dances.^[4] The low-budget film unexpectedly broke box office records to become (at the time) the highest grossing Korean film of all time. Critics praised Kam's "powerful energy and wit,"^[5] and his performance garnered acting recognition, including Best Actor at the 2006 Grand Bell Awards.^[6][7]

He returned to television in Alone in Love (2006), which was lauded for its realistic portrayal of a divorced couple.^[8] Back on the big screen, Kam reunited with previous A Bold Family costar (and close friend in real life) Kim Su-ro in Big Bang (2007),^[9][10] followed by the ensemble romantic comedy My Love and crime thriller The Outlaw (2010).^[11] Kam was listed as one of the highest paid entertainers on the KBS network in 2011, earning ₩440 million for playing Geunchogo of Baekje in the 60-episode series The King of Legend.^[12]

Though appearing less frequently in projects, Kam has starred in melodramas My Spring Days (2014), Should We Kiss First? (2018) and The Wind Blows (2019) in recent years.^[13][14][15]

Personal life

After dating for 15 years, Kam married actress Kang Min-Young in Australia in 2006.^[16]

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"I Will"	2014	My Spring Days OST

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
2002	Marriage Is a Crazy Thing	Kim Jun-Yeong
2004	R-Point	Choi Tae-In
	Spider Forest	Kang Min
2005	A Bold Family	Kim Myung-Seok
	The King and the Clown	Jang-Saeng
2007	Big Bang	Park Man-Su
	My Love	Jang Se-Jin
2010	The Outlaw	Oh Jeong-Su

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Our Paradise	Art student
	Woohwangcheongsimhwan	Hyun	MBC Best Theater
1992	A Story of Long Distance Couple	Choi Wang-jae	MBC Best Theater
	Investigation of Memory	Choi Jong-gwan	MBC Best Theater
	Enchantment	Cho Hoon-bae
1993	At Our Last Winter	Geon-woo	MBC Best Theater
	Trumpet Flower	Chae I-eon
	Stormy Season	Choi Han-yeong
	Women's Generation	Kim Hyun-seok	MBC Best Theater
	A Tale of Childhood	Yong-sik	MBC Best Theater
	Jeremy	Jeremy	MBC Best Theater
1994	The White Journey	Cho Seong-gyu	MBC Best Theater
	A Verse of Sad Father	Cha Dong-hwa	Special drama
1995	A Three-color Friendship	Tae-hyung	Special drama
	To Make a Man	Meong Tae-min
1997	The Mountain	Choi Seong-gyu
	Instinct	Lee Jun-seob
1998	Shy Lovers	Choi Myung-il
	Song of the Wind	Song In-gyu
1999	Michiko	Han Dong-wook	Special drama
	I'm Still Loving You	Kim Hyung-jun
2000	Say It with Your Eyes	Jang Ki-woong
	Medical Center	Kim Seung-jae
2001	Stars Rise Even in the Day	Gab-soo	Special drama
2002	Hyun-jung, I Love You	Kim Beom-soo
2006	Alone in Love	Lee Dong-jin
2010	The King of Legend	King Geunchogo
2014	My Spring Days	Kang Dong-ha
2018	Should We Kiss First?	Son Mu-han
2019	The Wind Blows	Do Dae-cheol	[17]
2021	Joseon Exorcist[lower-alpha 1]	Kim Tae-jong	[18]

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Awards	Works
1999	MBC Drama Awards	Popularity Award	I'm Still Loving You
		Best couple Award (with Chae-Lim)
2002	Grimae Awards	Best Actor	Hyun-jung, I Love You
	MBC Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award (Actor in a Miniseries)
	Women Viewers Film Awards	Best Actor [19]	Marriage is a Crazy Thing
	Korean Film Awards	Best New Actor [20]
	Korea Best Dresser Swan Award	Swan Award (Actor in Film)
2004	Women Viewers Film Awards	Most Hopeful Actor Award	Spider Forest
2006	Grand Bell Awards	Best Actor	King and the Clown
	Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Actor [21]
	Blue Dragon Awards	Best Couple Award (with Lee Joon-Ki)
2008	National Tax Service	Prime Minister Commendation
2018	Ministry of Health and Welfare	Minister Commendation
	Korea Broadcasting Awards	Best Actor	Should We Kiss First?
	Korea Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award[22]
	SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)[23]
		Best Couple[24]

Notes

1. cancels complete broadcast of show due to history distortion and Chinese style props. The show faced a massive amount of criticism leading to sponsorships and advertisements pulling out.

References

1. Lee, Seung-jae (1 September 2004). "A Mystery Thriller: Spider Forest". The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
2. ""The Story Is on Unification!": Funny, But That's It". HanCinema. The Dong-a Ilbo. 2 June 2005.
3. Lee, Hoo-nam; Lee, Min-a (22 January 2006). "These kings of the cinema aren't clowning around". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
4. Kim, Tae-jong (20 December 2005). "Getting Serious About Clowning". The Korea Times via Korean Film Biz Zone. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
5. "The King and the Clown Bursts with Sheer Energy". The Chosun Ilbo. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
6. Noh, Jean (24 July 2006). "King And The Clown rings Korea's Grand Bell". Screen International. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
7. Chung, Ah-young (23 July 2006). "King and the Clown Wins 7 Grand Bell Awards". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
8. Han, Eun-jung (12 March 2006). "After Big Screen Success Son Ye-jin Returns to TV". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
9. Kim, Tae-jong (20 November 2006). "Two Friends to Co-Star in New Movie". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
10. "New Movie: Big Bang". The Dong-a Ilbo. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
11. ""My Love" Is Loathsomely Sweet". HanCinema. The Korea Times. 20 December 2007.
12. "KBS' Highest-Paid Stars Revealed". The Chosun Ilbo. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
13. Jin Eun-soo (18 July 2014). "Leads chosen for My Spring Days". Korea JoongAng Daily.
14. "'키스 먼저 할까요' 감우성 "4년 만에 복귀, 느낌이 좋아 선택"". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 20 February 2018.
15. Kim, Joo-hyeon (January 29, 2019). "감우성 측 "JTBC '바람이 분다', 검토하고 있는 작품 중 하나" (공식입장)". Beff Report (in Korean). Retrieved April 10, 2019.
16. 영화배우 감우성 아내 강민아. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). 18 June 2007. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
17. "Kam Woo-sung, Kim Ha-neul to Star in New TV Soap". The Chosun Ilbo. May 2, 2019.
18. "'조선구마사' 감우성 "재미와 활력 선사하는 작품 위해 노력할 것"". Chosun. November 18, 2020.
19. 제7회 여성관객영화상: 여성의 욕망에 꽃을 던져라!. Cine21 (in Korean). 23 December 2002. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
20. '감우성의 재발견' ... 드디어 충무로 정상에. Joins.com (in Korean). 21 July 2006. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
21. '왕의 남자' 감우성-'타짜' 김혜수, 춘사대상영화제 남녀주연상. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 27 October 2006. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
22. Jeon, Aram (October 2, 2018). [종합] '2018 KDA' 유동근, 대상 영예...'같이 살래요' 4관왕 '쾌거' [[Comprehensive] '2018 KDA' Dong Keun Lee, Grand Prize 'Let's live together' 4 crowns 'comfort']. Xports News (in Korean) – via Naver.
23. Lee, Jihyun (January 1, 2019). [SBS 연기대상] 감우성·김선아, 공동 대상..베스트 커플상까지(종합) [[SBS Drama Awards] Gam Woo-sung, Kim Sun-ah, co- grand prize.. Best Couple Award (Comprehensive)]. News1 (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
24. Lee, Jihyun (January 1, 2019). [SBS 연기대상] 감우성·김선아, 공동 대상..베스트 커플상까지(종합) [[SBS Drama Awards] Gam Woo-sung, Kim Sun-ah, co- grand prize.. Best Couple Award (Comprehensive)]. News1 (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

External links

• Kam Woo Sung at Bright Entertainment
• Kam Woo-sung on Twitter
• Kam Woo-sung at the Korean Movie Database
• Kam Woo-sung at IMDb
• Kam Woo-sung at HanCinema