Shin Sung-rok is the next actor in our spotlight series. He’s currently starring in SBS drama An Empress’s Dignity which is just wrapping up a successful run. It also earned Shin Sung-rok the Top Excellence Award, bestowed mid-production, for his role as the fictional monarch of Korea.
Shin Sung-rok was born in 1982, and debuted in 2002 after a brief career as a basketball player. Through Shin debuted first in TV, he found it difficult to get roles (some blame his height — he’s 6’3″) and began to focus on theatre, particularly musical theatre. This is where Shin Sung-rok found success as a performer, and later when he began to win more roles in TV and film, his background in theater served him well. Shin Sung-rok at his best is absolutely theatrical, and charged with charisma — it makes sense that he believes the stage is “where actors learn life and understand the meaning of acting. It is where I learned how to act and where I gained confidence.”
Here are some highlights from Shin Sung-rok’s drama career, followed by his full filmography.
You From Another Star (2013)
When I think of Shin Sung-rok in You From Another Star, the first thing that comes to mind is the nail ring. The ultimate signifier of plotting, deceiving, and calculating evil plans, Shin Sung-rok’s character fiddled with his ring constantly. It was obvious and funny, and almost unfair to Shin Sung-rok. He’s so good, he doesn’t need a prop to convince us that there is way more going underneath his blinding, artificial smiles. In You From Another Star, Shin Sung-rok played the hidden baddie to Jun Ji-hyun and her neighbor from the stars, Kim Soo-hyun. The drama’s huge success catapulted the entire casts’ career (even if they didn’t need it), and this role was definitely Shin Sung-rok’s making. The only downside to being a fantastic villain is that you’re a fantastic villain, and it’s hard to be seen as anything but.
Liar Game (2014)
If you haven’t seen Liar Game yet, this is the perfect time to stop reading this article — and anything else you are doing — and start marathoning it. Adapted from the Japanese manga, Liar Game told the story of a real-life game show where contestants had to solve puzzles, riddles, and other challenges in order to advance to the next round and win reward money. The drama kept you guessing, round after round, as Shin Sung-rok engaged in a battle of wits with Lee Sang-yoon, Kim So-eun, and other contestants. Liar Game capitalized on contrasting the glittery world of the game show with the gritty struggles and a psychologically dense stories occurring behind the scenes. Shin Sung-rok played the MC of the game show for whom there was more at stake than you’d think, and this role was a perfect fit for his dynamic screen presence and his game show host character had that underbelly of cheesiness that he often deploys.
On the Way to the Airport (2016)
This beautiful drama completely captured me and was one of those special dramas that has stayed with me long after it ended. In On the Way to the Airport, Kim Haneul played a flight attendant in a completely stifling marriage to the jerkface pilot played by Shin Sung-rok. Being married to a controlling, cheating, and pretty unlikeable man such as Shin Sung-rok’s character in this drama is no reason to cheat back — but On the Way to the Airport spares no expense drawing a parallel between Shin Sung-rok’s character, and the soulful dreamboat played by Lee Sang-yoon. Kim Haneul, understandably, is caught between these two. The story is subtly and beautifully told, and Shin Sung-rok shows off the strong and domineering side of his usual baddie. This drama also reunited him with Lee Sang-yoon as competitor/nemesis, though they didn’t face off quite to the same extent as in Liar Game.
An Empress’s Dignity (2018)
I hate to see Shin Sung-rok typecast as the baddie… But he’s so good at it! I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed him more than in An Empress’s Dignity. I might have come to the show because of Choi Jin-hyuk, but his performance has nothing on Shin Sung-rok’s (it’s not his fault, he just has a lot less to work with). In his role as the fictional Emperor of Korea, Shin Sung-rok has pretty much the perfect platform for everything he does best: that balance of conniving, creepy, and controlling, to the most cheesy and comedic. Starring opposite Shin Sung-rok is Jang Nara as the commoner he gets strong-armed into marrying, and Choi Jin-hyuk, his trusted bodyguard who’s secretly plotting (and slooooowly carrying out) revenge. This drama is action-packed and holds your interest while covering a ton of territory in a single episode. I feel like I’m getting the experience of watching a makjang weekend show, without actually having to commit to 100+ episodes (or admit to myself that I’m watching one).
Shin Sung-rok’s full filmography: