Park Hae-il

In this Korean name, the family name is Park.

Park Hae-il (Korean: 박해일; RR: Bak Hae-il; born 26 January 1977) is a South Korean actor. He began his acting career in theater, but soon gained the film industry's attention in 2003 with Scent of Love and Memories of Murder. Park's film career took off, with leading roles in notable films, including Rules of Dating (2005), The Host (2006), Moss (2010), War of the Arrows (2011), Eungyo (2012), Whistle Blower (2014), The Last Princess (2016), The Fortress (2017), Decision to Leave (2022) and Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022).

Park Hae-il
Park in August 2018
Born	(1977-01-26) 26 January 1977 (age 48) Seoul, South Korea[1]
Education	Namseoul University – English
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Agent	Makestar
Spouse	Seo Yoo-sun ​ (m. 2006)​
Children	2
Korean name
Hangul	박해일
Revised Romanization	Bak Hae-il
McCune–Reischauer	Pak Hae-il

For his performances in War of the Arrows and Decision to Leave, Park received multiple Best Actor honors including the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Grand Bell Awards.

Career

Park Hae-il began appearing in theatre productions ever since childhood, and he first established himself on stage rather than on the screen. In 2000 he was awarded the Best New Actor award in the theatre category of the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in the play Cheongchun-yechan ("Ode to Youth"). His film debut was in a minor role of Yim Soon-rye's Waikiki Brothers, however he left a major impression in his second film Jealousy Is My Middle Name, in which he played a conflicted young man who develops a fascination/hatred for his boss, who has stolen two women from him. The film won the top prize at the Busan International Film Festival in 2002, and was released commercially the following spring.^[2]

Throughout his career, Park has been cast in two different types of roles: innocent-looking, boyish characters, or else men who hide a dark streak under a nice-looking exterior. After Jealousy, Park would take on his darkest role of all in the acclaimed smash hit Memories of Murder, where he portrayed a man suspected of committing serial murder.^[3] Yet the following year he was just as effective appearing in a romantic role opposite Jeon Do-yeon in time-travel drama My Mother, the Mermaid.^[4]

In 2005, he once again played characters of completely opposite temperament. In Rules of Dating, he plays a dirty-minded, scheming high school instructor who sets his mind on a pretty student teacher played by Kang Hye-jung,^[5][6] while in Boy Goes to Heaven he plays a young boy who suddenly finds himself an adult one day, like Tom Hanks in Big.^[7]

2006 saw him return to work with acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho in the big-budget monster movie The Host which went on to become the best-selling Korean film of all time.^[8][9]

Murder mystery Paradise Murdered was a surprise hit in 2007, with Kyu Hyun Kim of Koreanfilm.org calling Park "an inspired choice for the ostensible protagonist, projecting fatigued compassion and cold calculation in equal measure, his obsidian pupils glistening with streaks of chilling obsession."^[10][11][12]

In 2008, he starred in the period drama Modern Boy, a dramatic love story set in 1930s Gyeongseong or old Seoul, when Korea was under Japanese colonization (1910–45). Park played the role of a rich, hedonistic playboy who cannot care less that his country was colonized, then falls head over heels in love with a beautiful and mysterious independence fighter (Kim Hye-soo).^[13][14]

After small supporting roles in Shim's Family (also known as Skeletons in the Closet),^[15] and Good Morning, President,^[16] Park joined the ensemble cast of A Million as one of eight participants who take part in a TV reality show in Perth, Australia but discover that they must literally survive to win the prize of 1 million dollars.^[17]

In 2010, Park headlined Kang Woo-suk's blockbuster mystery thriller Moss, playing a young man who comes to a rural village after hearing about his father's death and later becomes embroiled in its hidden secrets.^[18][19][20] Park's casting was received enthusiastically by fans of the source material, Yoon Tae-ho's hugely popular online graphic novel series.^[21]

Heartbeat explores a familial love battle of wills, as Yeon-hee (played by Yunjin Kim of Lost fame) whose daughter is in desperate need of a heart transplant, tries to convince a brain-dead patient's son (Park) to sign off on the transplant, but he refuses and instead investigates his mother's fall.^[22] He then appeared in the low-budget indie End of Animal, because he found the script "very interesting."^[23]

Park next starred in War of the Arrows, a fictional tale set in the Joseon period, which follows Nam-yi (Park) on his search for younger sister Ja-in after she is kidnapped by Qing Dynasty soldiers during an invasion. As he slays enemy soldiers with his bow and arrow, he is confronted by Jushinta, a Manchu enemy commander also well known for his archery prowess. Arrow made headlines by selling to distributors from six countries at the Cannes film market^[24][25] and becoming the highest-grossing Korean film of 2011. Park won Best Actor honors at the prestigious Grand Bell Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards.^[26][27]

He returned to the big screen in A Muse, a film adaptation of celebrated author Park Bum-shin's sensational novel about an old poet who ends up falling for a 17-year-old girl named Eun-gyo. Upon realizing his love for the teenager, the poet goes through emotional turmoil and self-destruction, while willing to give up his fame as one of the nation's most respected literary figures. The 35-year-old actor took on the challenge of nearly eight hours of makeup daily, on top of learning the weary gait and gesture of a man in his 70s.^[28]

After Yim Pil-sung's Weekend Prince was delayed,^[29] Park starred instead in Song Hae-sung's ensemble black comedy Boomerang Family (2013),^[30][31] and Zhang Lu's introspective romance drama Gyeongju (2014).^[32]

In December 2022, Park decided not to renew his contract with the former agency.^[33] In April 2023, Park signed with Makestar.^[34]

In 2023, Park became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[35]

Personal life

Park married his longtime girlfriend Seo Yoo-seon on 11 March 2006;^[36][37] they have two children.^[38] Seo is a playwright and has also written an episode of KBS Drama Special titled Ji-hoon, Born in 1982.^[39][40]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2001	Waikiki Brothers	young Sung-woo
2002	Who R. U.?	Man in photograph	Bit part
2003	Scent of Love	Seo In-ha
	Jealousy Is My Middle Name	Lee Won-sang
	Memories of Murder	Park Hyeon-gyu
2004	My Mother, the Mermaid	Kim Jin-guk
2005	Rules of Dating	Lee Yoo-rim
	Boy Goes to Heaven	Bae Ne-mo
2006	The Host	Park Nam-il
2007	Skeletons in the Closet	Kyung-ho	Cameo
	Paradise Murdered	Jae Woo-sung
2008	Modern Boy	Lee Hae-myeong
2009	A Million	Han Ki-tae
	Good Morning, President	Man requesting a transplant	Cameo
2010	Moss	Ryu Hae-guk
	Second Half	Director Bong	Voice Cameo
2011	Heartbeat	Lee Hwi-do
	End of Animal	Baseball cap
	War of the Arrows	Choi Nam-yi
2012	Doomsday Book	RU-4 robot (voice)	Segment: "The Heavenly Creature"
	A Muse	Lee Jeok-yo
	Dangerously Excited	Dae-hee's brother	Cameo
	The Winter of the Year Was Warm	Radio critic	Voice cameo
2013	Boomerang Family	Oh In-mo
2014	Gyeongju	Choi Hyeon
	Santa Barbara	Reporter	Voice cameo
	Whistle Blower	Yoon Min-cheol		[41]
	My Dictator	Tae-sik		[42]
2015	Love and...	1st lighting technician		[43]
2016	The Last Princess	Kim Jang-han		[44]
2017	The Fortress	King Injo		[45]
2018	High Society	Jang Tae-joon		[46]
	Ode to the Goose	Yoon-young		[47]
2019	The King's Letters	Shinmi		[48]
2022	Decision to Leave	Hae-jun		[49]
	Hansan: Rising Dragon	Yi Sun-sin		[50]
TBA	Heaven: To the Land of Happiness	Nam-sik		[51]

Short film

Year	Title	Role
2003	Audition	Yoon Ji-seok
2009	The End	Hae-il
2011	Endless Joke

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1997	The Third Man		Special appearance
2004	How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird		Span Drama episode (TV, MBC)
2014	Plus Nine Boys	Nine victims	Cameo

Music video appearances

Year	Song title	Artist
2000	"Dan"	Kim Don-gyu
2002	"Forever"	G. Gorilla
2003	"Did We Really Love"	Brown Eyed Soul
2019	"Light"	Bek Hyun-jin

Theater

Year	Title	Role
2000	Ode to Youth
2003	Othello
	Family Baguette
2003	Generation After Generation

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Year presented, name of the award ceremony, award category, nominated work and the result of the nomination

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2000	36th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best New Actor (Theater)	Ode to Youth	Won
2003	40th Grand Bell Awards	Best New Actor	Scent of Love	Nominated
	26th Golden Cinematography Awards			Won
	4th Busan Film Critics Awards		Jealousy Is My Middle Name	Won
	11th Chunsa Film Art Awards			Won
	23rd Korean Association of Film Critics Awards			Won	[52]
	6th Director's Cut Awards			Won
	24th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best New Actor		Nominated
	8th Women Viewers Film Awards	Best Actor		Won
	2nd Korean Film Awards	Best New Actor		Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Memories of Murder	Nominated
2004	3rd Korean Film Awards	Best Actor	My Mother, the Mermaid	Nominated
2005	26th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Leading Actor	Rules of Dating	Nominated
	4th Korean Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
2006	42nd Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor – Film		Nominated
	9th Director's Cut Awards	Best Actor	The Host	Won	[53]
2007	3rd Andre Kim Best Star Awards	Best Star Award	—	Won	[54]
2008	16th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards	Best Actor	Modern Boy	Won
2011	15th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival	Actor's Award	—	Won	[55]
	27th Korea Best Dressed Swan Awards	Best Dressed	—	Won
	48th Grand Bell Awards	Best Actor	War of the Arrows	Won	[26]
	32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Leading Actor		Won	[27]
	19th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)		Won	[56]
2012	6th Asian Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
	48th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor – Film		Nominated
	7th Asia Model Awards	Asia Special Award	—	Won	[57]
2014	51st Grand Bell Awards	Best Actor	Whistle Blower	Nominated
	35th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Leading Actor		Nominated
	23rd Buil Film Awards	Best Actor	Gyeongju	Nominated
2015	2nd Wildflower Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
2017	37th Golden Cinema Festival	Best Actor	The Last Princess	Won
	Korean Screenwriter Association	Best Actor	—	Won	[58]
2022	27th Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Actor	Decision to Leave	Won	[59]
	31st Buil Film Awards			Won	[60]
	58th Grand Bell Awards			Won	[61]
	43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Actor		Won	[62]
	Asian Journalists Association	AJA Awards	Hansan: Rising Dragon, Decision to Leave	Won	[63]
	23rd Busan Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Decision to Leave	Won	[64]
	27th Florida Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor		Runner-up	[65]
	Cine21 Awards	Actor of the Year		Won	[66]
	42nd Golden Cinematography Awards	Best Actor		Won	[67]
	2022 Kinolights Awards	Actor of The Year (Domestic)	Hansan: Rising Dragon, Decision to Leave	1st	[68]
2023	21st Director's Cut Awards	Best Actor	Decision to Leave	Won	[69]
	16th Asian Film Awards			Nominated	[70]
	59th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor – Film		Nominated	[71]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Rank	Ref.
The Screen	2009	1984–2008 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies	43rd	[72]
	2019	2009–2019 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies	21st	[73]