Who is Ji Chang-wook?
- Real Name: Ji Chang-wook
- Stage Name: Ji Chang-wook
- Date of Birth: July 5, 1987
- Nationality: Korean
- Instagram: @jichangwook
Ji Chang-wook was born on July 5, 1987, in Anyang, South Korea, as an only child. He has always been fond of watching movies, especially those of the thriller genre.
The actor is known for his multiple talents since a young age, as he is known to be pretty athletic, having participated in football, basketball, and swimming during middle school. He is also capable off playing the piano
He enlisted in the military on August 14, 2017 and was discharged on April 27, 2019.
In addition, Ji Chang-wook once revealed his ideal type to be “a fun girl” who he can communicate well with.
Career
- Early career + Rising new star:
Ji Chang-wook originally debuted as a musical theater actor before making his on-screen debut in the 2006 film “Days”. In 2008, he appeared on TV for the first time via the 2008 drama “You Stole My Heart”.
In 2009, the actor continued to assume minor roles in “My Too Perfect Sons” and “Hero”.
By 2010, Ji Chang-wook acquired his 1st leading role via the 159-episode TV series “Smile Again”, which earned him the “”Best Actor in a Daily Drama” Award at the KBS Drama Awards.
In 2011, Ji Chang-wook continued to extend his career with roles in “Warrior Baek Dong-soo” and “Bachelor’s Vegetable Store”, earning a New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards. He also took a villain role for the 1st time in the 2012 drama “Five Fingers”.
- Breakthrough + Overseas popularity:
In 2013, Ji Chang-wook garnered massive interest and critical acclaim with his role in the historical TV drama “Empress Ki”.
Additionally, he then enjoyed significant commercial success both in and outside of Korea with notable projects like “Healer” (2014-2015), “The K2” (2016), and “Fabricated City” (2017). It was via these 3 projects that Ji Chang-wook was hailed as an excellent action actor. At the same time, he also took on roles in Chinese drama thanks to his popularity in China.
However, Ji Chang-wook did not just want to be known as an action star, and so his following projects, including “Suspicious Partner”, “Melting Me Softly”, “Backstreet Rookie”, and “Love Struck in the City”, adopt lighter tone and focuses more on romance. At the same time, he still pursued action with the 2021 film “Hard Hit”, and even returned to musicals with Netflix’s “The Sound of Magic” in 2022.
While his projects during this period were not as well-received, Ji Chang-wook managed to rebound with the critically acclaimed “If You Wish Upon Me”, followed by the more commercially successful K-dramas “Welcome to Samdal-ri” and “The Worst of Evil”, alongside the movie “Revolver”.
Currently, the actor is starring in the historical series “Queen Woo”.
- Non-acting projects
Alongside his dramas and movies, Ji Chang-wook has released several songs, including the 2016 EP “Be With You” in Mandarin.
He also participated in the OST for many of his acting projects, especially the musical “The Sound of Magic”.
Controversies
Despite his huge popularity and long-standing career, Ji Chang-wook leads a clean life with little to no controversies.
However, he recently faced criticisms due to playing rather vulgar scenes in “Queen Woo” and most recently, got involved in a “personality controversy” regarding a “notebook-snatching” incident.
