5 things to know about Park Seo-joon, Marvel’s next Korean star about to appear in Captain Marvel 2
When the Marvel Cinematic Universe called his name, Park Seo-joon couldn’t believe it, he revealed to The Guardian . After the impressive lead role in Netflix’s Itaewon Class and a cameo in Parasite Oscar winner, he will raise his reputation to the global level by participating Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels with Brie Larson, Iman Vellani and Zawe Ashton.
He is the third Korean actor to join the MCU after Claudia Kim and Ma Dong-seok.
So what else do we know about the 33-year-old star?
1. King of K-romcoms
Park’s good looks and talent have turned his romantic movie characters into modern-day princes. That was evident in his first lead role in Witch’s Love (2014), just three years after his first role, where he played the sweet and lovable Yoon Dong-ha, who falls in love with a woman 14 years older than him.
He continued to steal audiences’ hearts as Ji Sung-joon, a magazine editor in
She Was Pretty (2015), “flower knight” Moo-myung / Kim Sun-woo in Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016) and a strong but loving taekwondo player in Fight for My Way (2017).
Most recently, his performance in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018) as the arrogant and narcissistic vice president Lee Young-joon – who becomes confused and humorous when in love – has been given the nickname “romcom master”.
2. Multi-talented person
Besides playing the role of Prince Charming in melodramas, Park has also acted in a variety of roles in drama, action and horror films. He played a police officer in Midnight Runners (2017), an MMA fighter in The Divine Fury (2019), an F&B entrepreneur in Itaewon Class (2020) and soon a football player in Dream.
He even sings and dances! He used to show off his gentle voice in movie soundtracks She Was Pretty and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth . He also showed off some graceful dance moves next to Got7’s JB in Dream High 2 (2012), a series about students who dream of becoming K-pop idols.
The actor can also speak Spanish. In reality show
Youn’s Kitchen, where Korean celebrities travel to different countries to run a small Korean restaurant, Park went to Spain and had some basic conversations with local customers. According to Soompi, he learned some phrases for serving food, grocery shopping and more from a Spanish friend while working to improve his English for his dream of expanding his career abroad.
3. Tommy Hilfiger’s first Asian male model
Thanks to his successful career, Park is one of Korea’s endorsement kings. In 2017, he was selected by Tommy Hilfiger as one of the company’s models, making history by becoming the first Asian man to be offered the job, according to AllKpop.
A year later, he became the first ambassador of Montblanc Korea. This year alone, he appeared in 20 TV, print and online commercials and was ranked “most loved by consumers” in 2018, Soompi reported.
Last year, he was chosen as Skechers’ regional brand ambassador.
4. One of Wooga Squad’s Hearts
Park is a member of Wooga Squad, a group of K-biz friends, including The Heirs ‘Park Hyung-sik, BTS’ V, Parasite ‘s Choi Woo-shik and singer Peakboy. They often hang out, travel and support each other.
Among them, Park has a special relationship with V and Choi. V performed the soundtrack for Itaewon Class while the actor often posts photos and videos of BTS to support the group’s promotional activities, according to Somag News .
Meanwhile, Park and Choi have repeatedly guested on each other’s projects and even had a contagious kiss on the sitcom. Shut Up Family where they first met.
5. A family man
Park is very close to his family, especially after his granddaughter was born a few years ago. Soompi reported, her appearance made him yearn for a family of his own.
“I’ve always wanted to get married, being alone makes me feel even more lonely,” he said. “Everybody says there’s a right time for everything, but I don’t want to get married too late.”
In a sense, he’s a real dad now and regularly shows off his adorable dog, Simba, with love on his social media accounts.
