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 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; 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.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. He trained extensively over two months in the art of Korean
traditional performance, including street opera, and acrobatic, rope
and mask dances. 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," and his
performance garnered acting recognition, including Best Actor at the
2006 Grand Bell Awards.
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 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; 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.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. He trained extensively over two months in the art of Korean
traditional performance, including street opera, and acrobatic, rope
and mask dances. 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," and his
performance garnered acting recognition, including Best Actor at the
2006 Grand Bell Awards.
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