# Park Ki-woong (박기웅)
**Park Ki-woong** (박기웅; born 1985) is a South Korean actor and painter who became widely known through a commercial dance and a string of villainous screen roles, and who formally debuted as a painter in 2021, winning a prize within weeks of his first exhibition. His filmography spans the spy comedy *Secretly, Greatly* (2013), the historical drama *[Bridal Mask](https://www.edgepedia.org/bridal-mask)* (2012), and the MBC drama *The Crowned Clown*-era sageuk *Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung* (2019), where he played Crown Prince Lee Jin.[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) • [2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) |
| Entry into acting | Discovered through street casting; screen debut in the Japanese film *괴담* (2005); first leading role in *동갑내기 과외하기 레슨Ⅱ* (2006) as Heo Jong-man[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) |
| Signature fame | The "멧돌춤" (millstone dance) in a commercial, which swept advertising and led to a wave of casting offers[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005) • [3](https://www1.osen.co.kr/article/G1111966079) |
| Notable roles | Kimura Shunji in *각시탈* (2012), Ri Hae-rang in *은밀하게 위대하게* (2013), Dorgon in *최종병기 활* (2011), Kang In-ho in *리턴* (2018), Crown Prince Lee Jin in *신입사관 구해령* (2019)[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) |
| Painting debut | March 2021, at the 22nd 한국 회화의 위상전, where the oil portrait '이고' (EGO) won the special K Art Award[4](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210411/106355345/3) • [5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) |
| Painting sales | 32 of 33 works sold within about three months of his artist debut[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) |
| Recent work | Solo exhibition at Whitespace Gallery Seoul in July 2025; lead in the KBS2 weekend drama *사랑을 처방해 드립니다* (2026)[6](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250724157700005) • [7](https://pdf.ihalla.com/sectionpdf/20260129-106263.pdf) |
## Path into acting
Park entered the industry by accident. He was street-cast at a time when he was discouraged after failing his university entrance attempts, and he decided, out of stubbornness, to become a famous actor; that start grew into a career of more than 17 years by 2022.[8](https://v.daum.net/v/qDn15sLKMj) Cine21's profile adds that in high school he held a provincial short-distance running record, played in a band, and had painting skills sufficient to work as an art instructor.[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160)
His breakthrough with the general public came through advertising rather than a film role. In a commercial he performed the so-called 멧돌춤, or millstone dance, turning his head from side to side in exaggerated fashion to the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha".[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) The dance swept advertising and brought a flood of casting offers, and Park later said the nickname had followed him ever since, adding that he no longer minded carrying it for life.[3](https://www1.osen.co.kr/article/G1111966079) • [2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005)
## Screen career
**Villain and character roles.** After his first lead in *동갑내기 과외하기 레슨Ⅱ* (2006), Park built a reputation for intense antagonists: Kimura Shunji in *각시탈* (2012), the spy Ri Hae-rang in *은밀하게 위대하게* (2013), and Kang In-ho in the drama *리턴* (2018).[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) In *최종병기 활* (2011) he played Aisin Gioro Dorgon, a Manchu royal, and he is described as one of the few Koreans able to speak Manchu.[9](https://d.namu.moe/w/%EB%B0%95%EA%B8%B0%EC%9B%85) The film *메이드 인 차이나* (2014), in which he played the Chinese character Chen with what ELLE called delicate, deep acting, was invited to the [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam), Tokyo, and Jeonju international film festivals.[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256)
His range drew repeated press notices of a "rediscovery". Interviewed at the end of *신입사관 구해령* (2019), he said his first goal as an actor had been to build a wide spectrum of roles, and he described the Crown Prince Lee Jin, a king-to-be who listens to the new female officials, as a figure speaking "the right voice" rather than another villain.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005) • [10](https://www.mk.co.kr/news/hot-issues/9017728) His later television work includes Namgung Jun-su in *꼰대인턴* (2020), Do Ji-hyuk in *유 레이즈 미 업* (2021), Jang Do-jin in *판도라: 조작된 낙원* (2023), and Seo Gi-won in *야한(夜限) 사진관* (2024).[1](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160) In January 2026 he began the KBS2 weekend drama *사랑을 처방해 드립니다*, in which he reunites with actress [Jin Se-yeon](https://www.edgepedia.org/jin-se-yeon) after 14 years.[7](https://pdf.ihalla.com/sectionpdf/20260129-106263.pdf)
## Second career as a painter
Painting came first chronologically. Park's agent at the entertainment company Mountain Movement said he had drawn since middle and high school and majored in visual design at university.[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) Park himself says painting preceded acting for him, since he began drawing as a high-schooler, and that had he not become an actor he would have lived painting.[11](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021042883374)
**Debut and prizes.** In March 2021, as a 16-year veteran actor, he made his formal debut as a painter at the 22nd 한국 회화의 위상전, held in Insa-dong, Seoul, presenting about 50 finished works.[4](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210411/106355345/3) • [12](https://www.sportsworldi.com/newsView/20210407507542) Before the first month of his painter career had passed, his oil portrait '이고' (EGO) won the exhibition's special K Art Award.[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) Sales followed at unusual speed: of 33 works, 32 sold out and the last was slated for auction, a result the press called a record for a three-month debutant.[5](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256) • [8](https://v.daum.net/v/qDn15sLKMj) In the same first year he took further recognitions: the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Chair award at the 2021 Newsis Hallyu Expo, a special selection at the Gwanak Contemporary Art Exhibition, and a special contribution award at the Hallyu Culture Awards.[13](https://v.daum.net/v/20221105140501987)
**Subjects and manner.** Park describes emotion as the thing that matters most in his painting, and says he wants to depict the wavering minds of modern people; his early works were classical in feel, and he has since deliberately worked toward ambiguity.[12](https://www.sportsworldi.com/newsView/20210407507542) • [14](https://v.daum.net/v/20210425164332320) His favorite painter is [Édouard Manet](https://www.edgepedia.org/edouard-manet), whose influence he cites in moving from classical subjects toward a more contemporary feel.[15](https://www.kbmaeil.com/article/202103310303215) He treats painting as popular art: for him it belongs, like acting and music, to the people who enjoy it, and he emphasizes approaching the public with work they can enter easily.[14](https://v.daum.net/v/20210425164332320) • [11](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021042883374)
## Painting projects drawing on acting
Park's acting career feeds his subject matter directly. 48 Villains is a series he planned from the wish to hold, in effect, a memorial exhibition for the villain roles he himself had played; it portrays 46 villains from films and 2 from dramas, including [Billy Zane](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-zane)'s callous fiancé Cal Hockley in *Titanic* and [Hugo Weaving](https://www.edgepedia.org/hugo-weaving)'s Agent Smith in *The Matrix*.[16](https://v.daum.net/v/5MMD9JcpdR)
His 2025 solo exhibition at Whitespace Gallery in Seoul's Yongsan district continued this dialogue between screen and canvas. The work '전형' paints Cruella, the villain of Disney's *101 Dalmatians*, with the inscription "neither villain nor hero", and Park explained that he had tried to express figures who seem hero and villain at once.[6](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250724157700005) The show also included the series '액팅넛' (ActingNut), which uses lines from films such as *No Country for Old Men*, and '미래영웅' (未來英雄), built around the Coyote character from the *Looney Tunes* cartoons.[6](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250724157700005)
## Reputation
Reporters covering his painting career have described him as a dark horse in the art world, noting that he maintains acting alongside steady exhibition activity and communicates with the public through a striking variety of works.[13](https://v.daum.net/v/20221105140501987) At an art fair in 2020, before his formal debut, his works were priced at roughly 10 million won each, a figure he cited with some embarrassment on the television program *백반기행*.[3](https://www1.osen.co.kr/article/G1111966079) Park, for his part, has said that being recognized for each new attempt matters more to him than any single label, whether "actor" or "painter".[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005)
## References
1. [박기웅 프로필 및 필모그래피, 씨네21](https://host.cine21.com/db/person/info/?href=filmography&person_id=30160)
2. [박기웅 "악역 아닌 올바른 목소리, 무게감 살리려 노력", 연합뉴스 (2019)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20191001111900005)
3. ["세상에서 가장 슬픈 '맷돌춤'" 박기웅, '신인' 일화 밝혀 ('백반기행'), OSEN](https://www1.osen.co.kr/article/G1111966079)
4. [박기웅 "현대인들의 흔들리는 마음 그려가고 싶어요", 스포츠동아 (2021)](https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20210411/106355345/3)
5. [맷돌춤 추던 배우 박기웅, '완판 화가' 됐다?, ELLE (2021)](https://www.elle.co.kr/article/56256)
6. [개인전 여는 배우 박기웅 "영웅도 악당도 아닌 모습 그렸죠", 연합뉴스 (2025)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20250724157700005)
7. [KBS 2TV '사랑을 처방해 드립니다' 제작발표회 보도, 한라일보 (2026)](https://pdf.ihalla.com/sectionpdf/20260129-106263.pdf)
8. [배우하다 화가됐는데 데뷔 3개월 만에 32점 완판, 뷰티패션따라와/다음](https://v.daum.net/v/qDn15sLKMj)
9. [박기웅 문서, 나무위키](https://d.namu.moe/w/%EB%B0%95%EA%B8%B0%EC%9B%85)
10. ["구해령" 박기웅 "당위성 있는 연기 위해 목소리 낮추고 5kg 증량", 매일경제 스타투데이 (2019)](https://www.mk.co.kr/news/hot-issues/9017728)
11. [TEN 인터뷰 미대오빠 박기웅 "화가인 척 꼴불견 같지만…", 텐아시아 (2021)](https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2021042883374)
12. [화가 등단 '최단기간' 수상 박기웅 "감정 전달 중요", 스포츠월드 (2021)](https://www.sportsworldi.com/newsView/20210407507542)
13. ["그림값 천만원↑" 박기웅, '미대 오빠'의 '이중 생활'…미술계 다크호스, 텐아시아/다음 (2022)](https://v.daum.net/v/20221105140501987)
14. [붓을 든 배우 박기웅 "매일 그림 그리는 삶, 너무 행복해", YTN star/다음 (2021)](https://v.daum.net/v/20210425164332320)
15. [붓으로 일낸 박기웅 "연기만큼 그림에 진심이에요", 경북매일 (2021)](https://www.kbmaeil.com/article/202103310303215)
16. ["하루 14시간 그렸어요"…명품악역 박기웅, 붓을 든 이유는, 매일경제/다음](https://v.daum.net/v/5MMD9JcpdR)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of East and Southeast Asia › South Korean actors, 2000s onward › Surnames M to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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