Even before entering the entertainment industry, Song Joongki drew attention as a handsome guy from a prestigious university. He even saw his fan community created after appearing in a quiz show. Starting with the role of Notak, one of the bodyguards protecting the young and handsome king in Song’s debut film A Frozen Flower (2008), the actor mainly played the characters with a pretty boy image, such as one in Five Senses of Eros (2009) and Hearty Paws 2 (2010) and other TV dramas. After that, Song became a rising star through the TV drama series Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010).

In 2012, making hits both on TV and on screen, Song Joongki took the nation by storm. He became the talk of the town by appearing in a TV drama series that showed the epic story of a man who encompassed good and evil, and then received explosive responses with the film A Werewolf Boy (2012). Song played Chulsoo, an unidentified wolf boy with a superpower and the body temperature of 46℃. He vividly expressed the feelings from a wild beast to a boy with a sad love through few lines, mostly using his eyes and gestures. Although it was a fairytale-like fantasy, Song displayed such immersive emotional performance that it was even said that Song Joonki’s presence made the story make sense. A Werewolf Boy surpassed 7 million viewers, setting a record as the No. 1 Korean melodrama film of all time. The actor, who wanted to escape from a boy image after the film, proved to be an actor with not only good looks but also solid acting skills.

After finishing his military service, Song played Captain Yoo Sijin in the TV drama Descendants of the Sun, creating the second Song Joongki craze. Then he chose Director Ryoo Seungwan’s The Battleship Island (2017), playing a strong male character in military uniform again. The film is about an island where Koreans were forced into labor during the Japanese colonial era in 1945. In the film, Song played Park Mooyoung, an OSS agent affiliated with the Liberation Army who infiltrated the island on a crucial mission. The actor showed his determined eyes and action scenes in the film. In SPACE SWEEPERS (2020), working with Cho Sunghee who directed A Werewolf Boy, Song Joongki became a pilot of a space debris collector ship who discovered paternal love. Then, in the drama series Vincenzo (2021), the actor turned into a mafia lawyer, freely going back and forth between the charismatic image and the sloppy charms. SPACE SWEEPERS ranked No. 1 in the world after Netflix’s release, and Vincenzo is also receiving good responses in Netflix now. These works will serve as an opportunity to spread Song’s brand power all over the world.

While many handsome actors cannot help being overly conscious about whether their performances might be overshadowed by their appearance, Song Joongki was different from the start. He displayed his ability to freely control the intensity and tone of his performance. He has multi-layered charms as he can depict a nice guy who has a sly, sleek aspect as well as an innocent boyish atmosphere. This is what made Song Joonki a special and reliable actor. Jung Sujin