It’s finally Jung Kyung-ho’s turn in the spotlight. The actor is currently starring in tvN’s fantasy comedy When the Devil Calls Your Name which not only has a great premise (and even greater source material), but a cast that can easily carry it to its dramatic Faustian heights.
Acting and television were familiar territory for Jung Kyung-ho — his father is actually a famous TV director. Though originally discouraged from pursuing acting, he not only studied theatre at a highly respected school, but passed an early audition, signed with an agency, and was off to a rollicking start by 2004. That was the year the hit melodrama I’m Sorry, I Love You propelled the careers of several newcomers, including Jung.
Jung Kyung-ho’s acting career has been a nice balance of genres, though I favor his darker and more dramatic performances over the light and romantic — for example, Heartless City over Falling for Innocence (not that he can’t do both).
Let’s look at some drama highlights from Jung Kyung-ho.
I’m Sorry I Love You (2004)
Truth be told, I didn’t fall under the Jung Kyung-ho spell until I back-watched this Hallyu classic. Jung Kyung-ho’s character is mostly a weepy, spoiled pop star, but there was an earnestness in his performance, and later depth to the role, that makes it obvious why it was such an important one. Though relegated to more of a secondary role to the ill-fated lovers played by So Ji-sub and Im Soo-jung, I can’t imagine this drama without any of the three. That’s because stronger than the love triangle was the bromance between Jung Kyung-ho and So Ji-sub’s character whose fates were intertwined.
Heartless City (2013)
Heartless City (also known as Cruel City) was a great bit of K-drama noir, before it proliferated in dramaland. Though imperfect, this drama did so many things right, and I loved the examination of shifting loyalties and love, which were the perfect themes for a drama about mob bosses and madams and drug rings and law-enforcing cops. The cast was great here, with Yoon Hyun-min, Lee Jae-yoon as the police officer that was trying to expose the crime ring, and my favorite character here, the fantastic Kim Yoo-mi. Nam Gyuri was technically the female lead, but I found her character the most forgettable in this really great cast of characters. Perhaps because the bromance was so strong, the romance lagged. Anyway, it’s nice to take a break from romance every now and then and dig deep into loyalty and friendship instead.
Falling for Innocence (2015)
Okay, not his best drama by far, but I had to stick this one in here because he was just so much fun with Kim So-yeon (girl crush!). And, um, he reunited with Yoon Hyun-min here too, which is also great. However, if Heartless City was moody, dark, and noir, Falling for Innocence was trite and tropey. I admittedly dropped this drama about halfway through — even though I loved the cast. The transplant trope was a bit too much. Transplanted organs from one person’s beloved, inexplicable personality changes, love that crosses the space-time continuum… I guess done well it can be good, but here it was a bit overplayed.
Jung Kyung-ho’s full filmography: