Joo Won (; born Moon Jun-won on September 30, 1987) is a South Korean actor best known for his roles in '' King of Baking, Kim Takgu'' (2010), ''

Ojakgyo Family ''Ojakgyo Family'' (; lit. ''Ojakgyo Brothers'') is a South Korean television series starring Uee, Joo Won, Ryu Soo-young, Choi Jung-yoon, Jung Woong-in, Yeon Woo-jin, Baek Il-seob, and Kim Ja-ok. The family drama aired on KBS2 from August 6, ...

'' (2011), ''

Bridal Mask ''Bridal Mask'' () is a 2012 KBS2 period drama based on the popular Korean manhwa by Huh Young-man. Set in Seoul, Korea, during the 1930s Japanese colonial era, the story follows a man named Lee Kang-to, a Korean police officer commissioned by ...

'' (2012), '' Good Doctor'' (2013), '' Fatal Intuition'' (2015), ''

Yong-pal ''Yong-pal'' () is a 2015 South Korean drama series starring Joo Won, Kim Tae-hee, Chae Jung-an and Jo Hyun-jae. It aired on SBS from August 5 to October 1, 2015, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 18 episodes. Originally slated for 16 ep ...

'' (2015), ''

My Sassy Girl ''My Sassy Girl'' ( ko, 엽기적인 그녀, Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo, That Bizarre Girl) is a 2001 South Korean romantic comedy film directed by Kwak Jae-yong, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun. The film is based on a true story told in a series ...

'' (2017), and ''

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

''(2020).

Early life and education

Moon Jun-won was born in Seoul, South Korea. He studied at Kaywon High School of Arts and continued his education on Theatre and Arts in

Sungkyunkwan University Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, found ...

. In 2013, Joo Won announced that he would be furthering his studies at Konkuk University.

Career

2006–2009: Beginnings

Upon making it into college, Joo Won's father came up with the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Joo Won for him as the

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...

pronunciation of the name sounds similar to "God-willing". With his love for singing, he became involved in ''Frees'', a co-ed television performance group formed by SBS as part of a children's TV program. The show premiered in 2006, but Joo Won left the show quickly thereafter. Joo Won later auditioned for the

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

Altar Boyz ''Altar Boyz'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and book by Kevin Del Aguila (based on an idea by Marc J. Kessler and Ken Davenport). Centering on a fictitious Christian boy band from Ohio, the ...

'', based on the American musical of the same name. This musical role was a first of many to come, as he later appeared in other musicals, namely ''Singles'', '' Grease'', ''Sinsangnam'' and most notably, '' Spring Awakening''. Originally, Joo Won was the

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

for Melchior in ''Spring Awakening''. However, the original actor who played Melchior left the musical midway through the production, thus allowing Joo Won to perform later on in the production. His performance in ''Spring Awakening'' caught the attention of his future agency, Sim Entertainment.

2010–2012: Rising popularity and breakthrough

Joo Won first appeared in the 2010 television drama '' King of Baking, Kim Takgu'' as the antagonist to the titular character. ''King of Baking, Kim Takgu'' recorded high viewership ratings of over 50%, earning "national drama" status, and Joo shot to fame. He went on to star in the

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

weekend family drama ''

'' in 2011, opposite

Uee Kim Yu-jin (born April 9, 1988), better known by her stage name Uee (sometimes romanized as U-), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known for being a former member of South Korean girl group After School from 2009 to 2017, and ...

. He took home the Best New Actor award at the

KBS Drama Awards The KBS Drama Awards () is an awards ceremony presented by the Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean te ...

and

Baeksang Arts Awards The Baeksang Arts Awards (), also known as the Paeksang Arts Awards, are awards for excellence in film, television and theatre in South Korea. The awards were first introduced in 1965 by Chang Key-young, the founder of the Hankook Ilbo newspap ...

. The same year, Joo made his big-screen debut in the action crime film '' S.I.U.'' alongside

Uhm Tae-woong Uhm Tae-woong (born April 5, 1974) is a South Korean actor. He made his acting debut in 1998, but initially struggled to emerge from under the shadow of his older sister, popular singer-actress Uhm Jung-hwa. After several years of small roles an ...

. However, it was Joo's third small screen project ''

'' that truly propelled him to mainstream popularity. He portrayed a pro-Japanese Korean police officer by day and a masked vigilante who fights for Korean independence by night. For his role in ''Bridal Mask'', Joo Won took home the Excellence award and Popularity award at the 2012

. The same year, he starred opposite

Park Bo-young Park Bo-young (, born February 12, 1990) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the hit films ''Scandal Makers'' (2008), '' A Werewolf Boy'' (2012) and ''On Your Wedding Day'' (2018), and the television series '' ...

in the horror thriller '' Don't Click'', and joined the second season of the popular variety program ''

2 Days & 1 Night ''2 Days & 1 Night'' (; also known as ''1 Night 2 Days''; abbreviated as ''1N2D'') is a South Korean reality-variety show that airs every Sunday at 6:25pm KST on KBS2 beginning August 5, 2007. ''1 Night 2 Days'' used to be one of the two segm ...

''.

2013–2017: Mainstream success

In 2013, Joo starred in MBC's drama '' 7th Grade Civil Servant'', based on the action-romance movie ''

My Girlfriend Is an Agent ''My Girlfriend Is An Agent'' (; lit. "7th Level Civil Servant") is a 2009 South Korean romantic action comedy film directed by Shin Tae-ra and starring Kim Ha-neul and Kang Ji-hwan. The film had 4,078,293 admissions nationwide and was the 4th m ...

''. The same year, Joo was offered his most challenging role; an

autistic savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calcu ...

who becomes a genius

pediatric surgeon Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. History Pediatric surgery arose in the middle of the 1879 century as the surgical care of birth defects required ...

for KBS's medical drama '' Good Doctor''. After four years of absence from the musical scene, Joo returned to the musical stage with the Korean version of '' Ghost the Musical''. Due to schedule conflicts, he has since stepped down from ''2 Days & 1 Night'' to concentrate on his acting career. In late 2013, Joo starred in the romantic comedy film '' Steal My Heart'' opposite

Kim Ah-joong Kim Ah-joong (born October 16, 1982) is a South Korean actress, model and singer. She is best known for playing the main character in the romantic comedy '' 200 Pounds Beauty''. Education Kim graduated from Korea University with a master's degr ...

. In 2014, Joo starred in '' Fashion King'', based on a popular

webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

of the same title. He returned to the small screen with ''

Naeil's Cantabile ''Naeil's Cantabile'' () is a South Korean television series adapted from the Japanese manga ''Nodame Cantabile'' by Tomoko Ninomiya. Starring Joo Won and Shim Eun-kyung with Park Bo-gum, Go Kyung-pyo and Baek Yoon-sik, it aired on KBS2 from Oct ...

'', the Korean adaptation of ''

Nodame Cantabile is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tomoko Ninomiya. It was serialized in Japan by Kodansha in the ''josei'' manga magazine ''Kiss'' from July 2001 to October 2009 and collected in 23 ''tankōbon'' volumes. A two-v ...

''. In 2015, Joo starred in action thriller ''

'', alongside

Kim Tae-hee Kim Tae-hee (; born 29 March 1980) is a South Korean actress. Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful actresses, she is best known for her roles in Korean dramas such as ''Stairway to Heaven'' (2003), ''Love Story in Harvard'' (2004), '' ...

. The drama garnered strong ratings and Joo won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the

SBS Drama Awards The SBS Drama Awards (), also known as SBS Awards Festival, is an awards ceremony presented annually by Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) for outstanding achievements in Korean dramas aired on its network. It is held annually on December 31. The hi ...

. He next starred in the thriller '' Fatal Intuition'', which opened at the top of the box office, earning more than 1 million ticket sales. On November 3, 2015, Joo received the "Most Welcomed Actor" award at the second Asian Influence Awards Oriental Ceremony held in China. He then starred in the Korean-Chinese film '' Sweet Sixteen'', a romantic drama based on an Internet novel will depict the love story of three men and one woman. Joo's final project before enlistment was ''

'', a historical remake of the 2001 hit film. The television series premiered in 2017.

2019–present: Comeback from military

In 2020, Joo returned to television in the SBS science fiction romance drama ''

''. In 2022, he starred in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

film '' Carter'' in the title role. In November 2022, Joo Won signed with Ghost Studio.

Personal life

Military service

Joo Won started his mandatory military service on May 16, 2017. In June 2017, the actor completed his six-week basic training and became an assistant instructor for the 3rd Infantry Division. During the military service, Joo Won emceed at the Armed Forces Festival 2017. He also participated at the 63rd

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

Commemoration Ceremony on June 6, 2018 On February 5, 2019, Joo Won was discharged from the military after completion of 21 months of mandatory military service.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Narration

Variety show

Music video appearances

Musical theatre

Discography

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

State honors

Listicles

Notes

References

External links

Joo Won
at Huayi Brothers {{DEFAULTSORT:Joo, Won 1987 births Living people South Korean male musical theatre actors South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors Male actors from Seoul Sungkyunkwan University alumni 21st-century South Korean male actors Konkuk University alumni Best New Actor Paeksang Arts Award (television) winners