Son Woo-hyeon commonly known as Son Woo-hyun (born Son Hyeon-seok on 30 November 1989)[1] is a South Korean actor, singer and songwriter.
Son Woo-hyeon | |
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손우현 | |
Born | Son Hyeon-seok (1989-11-30) 30 November 1989 (age 32)[2] Seo-gu, Daejeon, South Korea[lower-alpha 1] |
Alma mater | Kookmin University – B.A. in Theatre and Film |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2009-present |
Agent | King Kong by Starship (a subsidiary of Starship Entertainment) |
Notable work | Nokdu Flower, To My Star |
Awards | 2017 Seoul Film Festival (SFF) 2nd Place (Is Mr. Kim Dead) |
Musical career | |
Genres |
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Instrument(s) |
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Labels |
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Formerly of | X-5 |
Musical artist | |
Korean name | |
Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Son U-hyeon |
McCune–Reischauer | Son Uhyŏn |
Birth name | |
Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Son Hyeon-seok |
McCune–Reischauer | Son Hyŏnsŏk |
Website | Son Woo-hyeon |
Signature | |
First appear on television in 2011, as the leader of X-5 (a K-pop idol group) with the stage name "Ghun", Son quickly gathers public attention and gain popularity through his eye-catching performances along with the rise of Hallyu-wave.
In the same year, Son achieves his debut in acting when he is cast in the widely-acclaimed South Korean TV Series, Miss Ripley (2011). Having made his name, Son then appears in a variety of different roles from numerous successful South Korean films and television series.
Some of his most notable works include Spy Myung-wol (2011), Live (2018), The Nokdu Flower (2019), Touch (2020), Mouse (2021) and Golden Spoon (2022).
Son Woo-hyeon was born with the name Son Hyeon-seok on 30 November 1989 in the Seo district of the fifth largest city in South Korea, Daejeon.[4] Being raised in a family of four, Son is the youngest child in the family. Son receives elementary education at Daejeon Seowon Elementary School in Deajeon.[5][6] After gradaution, Son went to Daejeon Samcheon Middle School[7] and Chungnam High School for his secondary education.[5][8] Successfully enrolled into Kookmin University, Son furthers his studies at the Department of Theater and Film, Faculty of Performing Arts and earned his Bachelor's degree.[5]
In 2009, Son debut as a member in a trio band called the Three Musketeers under the record label of Open World Entertainment. During the promotion period, Son uses the stage name of "Hwarang". In early March 2010, the band made a comeback with a change of concept as a nursery rhyme dance group and the title song of "Eat Eat" (Hangul: "먹어 먹어"). The title track becomes an instant hit and is widely used in reality shows as background music whenever there are scenes involving the performers eating on-air, notably in Up To The King,[9] and in these days, it has become the representative background music of Delicious Guys.[10]
With the Open World Entertainment's decision to merge and rebrand the trio band, Son debuts as the leader of a K-pop idol group, X-5, under the stage name as "Ghun" on 19 April 2011.[11][12] Following the successful debut, X-5 gains significant attention and is popularly known as 'Tall Idols'. At the time, they also receives a lot of supports and publicity as the 'sibling-group' of The Boss, a boy band from the same agency.
On 22 April 2011, the single Xenos is released and the title song "Shohajima" is featured. During the premier stage, X-5 left a strong impression with the audience as they performed and danced while wearing sunglasses.[13][14] Six months later, on 9 December 2011, they release a mini-album Dangerous, featuring the title track of the same name.[15]
A month later in May 2012, Son made his acting debut when X-5 is cast in the critically-acclaimed television series, Miss Ripley (2011).[16][17] As a 2011 commercial success, it attracts publicity for and attention to the group.[18][19][20] In the following month, Son is again cast in another television series, Spy Myung-wol (2011).[21] Produced and aired by Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), one of the three leading television broadcasters in South Korea, the series achieves a viewership rating of more than 10 in its premier run.[22]
On 13 April 2012, a little under a year after the official debut, X-5 is forced to cancel all planned public appearances with future activities put on hold as a scandal surrounding the CEO of Open World Entertainment unfolds.[23][24][25][26][27] Following the arrest of the CEO in December 2012, X-5 officially disbands and Son ends his contract with Open World Entertainment, leaving the agency shortly thereafter.[28][29]
On 4 December 2012, to not cause any disruptions, Son quietly enlisted into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to serve his mandatory military service.[30] During the conscription, Son served as a sergeant in the Air Force Flight 722 of Republic of Korea Air Force. He is discharged from service in late 2014.
Following his discharge from the military, Son focused his career direction to acting and has since started to take on various roles on silver screen and television projects. Starting in 2015, Son receives multiple high-level endorsements from some, if not the largest Fortune 500 global brands like Apple,[31] Samsung,[32] LG,[31] Kia[33] and Nivea[34] for the roles he plays during the product launches and advertisements.[35] On top of that, Son also plays leading role in a South Korean government campaign, X-project, managed and run by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.[36]
In 2016, Son has his comeback on television series since his enlistment into the military. He is cast in Blow Breeze (2016), a romance comedy South Korean drama that surrounds a North Korean girl who is interested in dancing defects to South Korea where she meets a lawyer who will be her lover for life.[37][38] The series gathers an average nationwide viewership rating 15 for its runs of 50 episodes on MBC between August 27, 2016 to February 26, 2017.[39] Later in 2016, Son plays leading role in a short film, Butterfly Effect (2016) as he transitions from television series to the silver screen.[40][41]
In 2017, Son has his first silver screen debut when he is offered a supporting role in Excavator (2017), a war film that follows a paratrooper through series of events during the May 18, 1980 Gwangju Uprising also known as the "May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement".[42][43][44] In the same year, Son receives a leading role offer in an office-romance Web-series titled Love Intern Choi Woo Sung (2017) where he plays an office intern who finally realises the cold-hard reality of modern society.[45][46] Son also takes up a role in another 2017 Web-series, No Bad Days (2017) that tells a story of the female protagonist in her twenties who is trying to find a balance between work, love, and relationships.
2018 marks a smooth sailing year for Son as he continues to rise in the acting industry with Live (2018) taking precedence. Directed by Kim Kyu-tae and starring the hallyu star, Lee Kwang-soo, Live (2018) gathers much needed attention thanks to its release on both Netflix and cable television.[47] Son's role as a patrol police officer in the series puts him under spotlight when viewers are fond of his police-uniformed appearance.[48] A few months later, Son appears in Just Dance (2018), a life and sport genre television series based on documentary of the same name. It tells a story of a group of student at Geoje Girl’s Vocational High School with different dreams, trying all out to be better dancers despite their struggles in life.[49][50] About the same period, Son also resumes his original role in No Bad Days 2 (2018) as sequel to the 2017 Web-series, No Bad Days, he was previously cast in.[51][52]
Starting from 2019, Son sees an alleviation in his career in terms of public attention and role offerings resulting from his higher level of participation in mainstream television series produced and aired by leading South Korean broadcaster, notably the MBC, SBS and TvN. This is backed by the fact that television series made under the branding of leading broadcasters are often able to top the chart and dominate the Nationwide viewership ranking for their ability to gather significant publicity and interests from Hallyu audiences around the world.[53][54][55][56] Marking the start is Nokdu Flower, a SBS's 2019 historical television series that focuses on the true events of Donghak Peasant Revolution and the Battle of Ugeumchi which took place in 1894. In the series, Son portraits the role of a righteous, sympathetic Commander of Joseon Imperial guard who feels deeply for the uprising peasants and is willing to assist them in achieving their good cause despite the opposite stance he is in.[57][58] During its premier run, Nokdu Flower achieves a steady rating of 13.2 in Seoul metropolitan area alone and 11.5 nationwide.[59]
The same year, Son is cast in TvN's Drama Stage Season 3 (2019) in the chapter of "Woman with a Bleeding Ear", playing the role as a boyfriend to a woman named Kim Soo Hee.[60][61] Shortly thereafter, Son starred a YouTube exclusive Web-series, About Youth (2019) which tells an inspiring story of four youths trying to achieve dreams in their own ways while fighting social and cultural stigmas.[62][63] With Son's silver screen casting, he took up a supporting role in Crazy Romance (2019), the first commercial film directed by Kim Han Gyeol which also marks 16 years since Kim Rae-won and Gong Hyo-jin last collaborated in the classic Korean drama Snowman.[64]
In 2020, Son starred in youth action film Justice High (2020) directed by Chae Yeo-jun.
In 2021, Son signs an exclusive contract with King Kong by Starship a subsidiary of Starship Entertainment, which is often seen as a major player and a driving force behind the K-pop industry.[65][66][67]
On 4 December 2012, Son enlisted into the Republic of Korea Armed Forces to serve his mandatory military service.[30] During the conscription, Son serves as a sergeant in the Air Force Flight 722 of Republic of Korea Air Force.[68] He is discharged from service on 4 Dec 2014.
Year | Title | Original Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Butterfly Effect | 나비효과 | Joon-young | Lead role | |
2017 | Control | 컨트롤 | |||
Excavator | 포크레인 | College student | [69][70] | ||
Is Mr. Kim Dead? | 김씨는 죽었을까? | Lead role | |||
2018 | Bomberman | 봄버맨 | Min Jae-ho | [71] | |
2019 | Crazy Romance | 가장 보통의 연애 | Do-yoon | [72][73] | |
2020 | Justice High | 공수도 | Hae-sung | Lead role | [74] |
2021 | To My Star | 나의 별에게 | Kang Seo-joon | [75][76] | |
You Ghosted Me for a Week | 니가 일주일 넘게 연락이 없어서 | Joo-won | [77][78] | ||
We're not good at parting | 우리는 이별에 서툴러서 | Hae Rang [Seg. Relationship Forest] | [79][80] | ||
2022 | Jjamppong Bigwon | 짬뽕비권 | Park Soon-kyung | Special appearance - as a Constable | [81][82] |
Year | Title | Original Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Miss Ripley | 미스 리플리 | Himself | MBC | Special appearance as X-5, (Ep 3) | [18][19][83][84] |
Spy Myung-Wol | 스파이 명월 | Trainee | KBS2 | (Ep 9-10) | [85][86] | |
2016 | Blow Breeze | 불어라 미풍아 | Deputy Yoon | MBC | [87][88] | |
2017 | Love Intern Choi Woo Sung | 연애인턴 최우성 | Choi Woo-sung | Naver TV,Youtube | Lead role | [89][90] |
No Bad Days | 오늘도 무사히 | Park Jeong-woo | [51][52] | |||
2018 | No Bad Days Season 2 | 오늘도 무사히 2 | ||||
Live | 라이브 | Patrol police officer | TvN, Netflix | Special appearance | [48] | |
Just Dance | 땐뽀걸즈 | KBS2 | [49][50] | |||
2019 | About Youth | 어바웃유스 | Park Ha-woong | Youtube | Lead role | [62][63] |
Nokdu Flower | 녹두꽃 | Lee Gyu-tae | SBS, Netflix | Commander of Imperial guard | [57][58][91] | |
Cat's Bar | 고양이 바텐더 | Ik-hyun | Naver TV | |||
Drama Stage Season 3 | 드라마 스테이지 3 | Choo Jae-young | TvN | Segment: "Woman with a Bleeding Ear" (aired on Dec 7, 2019) | [60][61] | |
2020 | Touch | 터치 | Lee Hyun-joon | Channel A | Make-up artist at Cha Beauty | [92][93] |
Tale of the Nine-Tailed | 구미호뎐 | Jung Hyun-woo | TvN, Netflix | Security staff, (Ep. 2, 9, 16) | [94][95] | |
2021 | Mouse | 마우스 | Kim Joon-seong | TvN, Netflix | Close friend of Sung Yo-Han, (Ep. 3-4, 18) | [96][97] |
Revolutionary Sisters | 오케이 광자매 | Na Pyun-seung | KBS2 | [98][99][100] | ||
Doom at Your Service | 어느 날 우리집 현관으로 멸망이 들어왔다 | Siberia (Novelist) | TvN, ViuTV | Using 'Siberia' as pen name (Ep. 3) | [101][102] | |
To My Star | 나의 별에게 | Kang Seo-joon | TVING, Netflix, Naver TV, Wavve | Lead role | [103][104][105][106] | |
2022 | To My Star 2: Our Untold Stories | 나의 별에게 2 | TVING, Viki, Line TV | |||
Golden Spoon | 금수저 | Jang Moon-gi | MBC | Hwang Tae-Yong's bodyguard | [107] |
Year | Title | Album | Artist(s) | Ref. |
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2011 | "Dangerous" | Dangerous | X-5 [lower-alpha 3] | [108] |
2022 | "Nothing" | Beautiful Moment OST Special Track | Son Woo-hyeon and Song Ji-Yeon | [109] |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
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KOR[110] | |||
As Three Musketeers | |||
Eat Eat |
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— | — |
As X-5 | |||
Xenos |
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24 | — |
Dangerous (Mini Album) |
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7 | 2,468[111] |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album | Notes |
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KOR | |||||
Soundtrack appearances | |||||
"To My Star" | 2021 | — | — | To My Star (Original Webdrama Soundtrack) | |
"Every Single Moment" | 2022 | — | — | To My Star (Original Television Soundtrack, Pt. 2) | Collaborating with Kim Kang-min |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |
All credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association, unless stated otherwise.[112]
Year | Title | Album | Artist(s) | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Credited | With | Credited | With | Credited | With | ||||
2021 | "To My Star" | To My Star (Original Webdrama Soundtrack) | Son Woo-hyeon | Yes | — | Yes | — | No | Shaun Kim, BXN1, BXN2 |
2022 | "Every Single Moment" | To My Star (Original Television Soundtrack, Pt. 2) | Kim Kang-min and Son Woo-hyeon | Yes | — | Yes | — | No | Kwak Jeong-im, Hong Bo-ra |
"On A Starry Night" | Kim Da-eun | Yes | — | Yes | — | No | Kwak Jeong-im | ||
"TA-DAH!" | Young Ki | Yes | — | Yes | — | No | Kwak Jeong-im, Hong Bo-ra |
1st (tvN) 토일드라마(사랑의불시착<본>) 21.683%