Park Bo-young is a well-known South Korean actress who has achieved acclaim in both film and television over the course of a decade-long career. Bo-young, noted for her natural beauty and charm, made her official acting debut in high school in films such as ‘A Werewolf Boy’ and ‘Scandal Makers’ and TV series such as ‘Oh My Ghostess.’ TV programs such as ‘The King and I’ and ‘Secret Campus’ were among her first projects. Her big break came with the 2008 South Korean film ‘Scandal Makers,’ which was one of the biggest hits of Korean cinema and catapulted her to fame and acclaim. She got engaged in various disagreements with a film production firm as well as the management agency she was associated with, culminating in a number of litigation, while basking in the success of the film and continuing with other projects. Such events led her work to be disrupted, and she was only able to return to popular success after a four-year hiatus. Her second act saw her appear in films such as ‘A Werewolf Boy’ and ‘The Silenced,’ as well as TV shows such as ‘Oh My Ghostess’ and ‘Strong Woman Do Bong-soon,’ bringing her back into the spotlight.
Childhood and Adolescence
Park Bo-young was born in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, on February 12, 1990, as the second of her parents’ three daughters. Her father was a Special Forces soldier for more than three decades.
She debuted in the acting industry when she was in middle school, playing Kim Da-mi in the 2005 short film ‘Equal.’ At the 7th Seoul International Youth Film Festival that year, it won the ‘Challenging Reality Award.’ Park received her primary schooling at ‘Jeungpyeong Elementary School.’ Dankook University awarded her a bachelor’s degree in theater and film.
Career of Park
In 2006, she made her acting debut in ‘Secret Campus,’ a high school TV series that aired on the EBS network, where she played Cha Ah-rang. In 2007, she appeared in three SBS programs, including ‘Witch Yoo Hee,’ ‘Mackerel Run,’ and ‘The King and I.’ One of her early major achievements was portraying Lee Eun-soo in the adolescent drama ‘Jungle Fish,’ which first broadcast on KBS2 on May 5, 2008. It went on to win a number of awards, including the Peabody Award in 2009.
She was in the supporting cast of the SBS TV series ‘Star’s Lover’ and the expanded cast of the 2008 South Korean historical drama ‘Strongest Chil Woo,’ which aired on KBS2. Meanwhile, on September 11, 2008, she made her cinematic debut with the South Korean comedy-drama ‘Our School’s E.T.’ ‘The ESP Couple,’ a South Korean supernatural romance, was her next film, which was released on November 27 of that year.
Despite having a few films under his belt, Bo-young shot to fame with the blockbuster hit South Korean film ‘Scandal Makers,’ which was released on December 3, 2008. The film was the highest-grossing film of the year and is now considered one of Korea’s all-time greatest hits.
Her outstanding performance as Hwang Jeong-nam/Hwang Jae in ‘Scandal Makers,’ starring Cha Tae-hyun, gained her acclaim from critics and audiences alike, as well as multiple accolades and nominations. ‘Variety’ praised her performance as “outstanding,” and she was dubbed “Nation’s Little Sister” in the South Korean entertainment business.
Her next job was the short film If You Were Me 4 (2009), directed by Lee Hyun-seung and based on the 2003 South Korean omnibus film If You Were Me. Her burgeoning career in the entertainment industry was derailed in 2010 when she became embroiled in a series of legal battles with her former management agency and a film production company. This caused her work to be disrupted for a while.
In 2011, she was named the ‘Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival’s promotional ambassador. Following that, she played Se-hee in the South Korean horror thriller ‘Don’t Click,’ which marked her return to the big screen. On May 31, 2012, it was released in theaters and grossed $5.29 million at the box office.
Her following picture, ‘A Werewolf Boy,’ in which she played Sun-yi / Eun-joo, was a box office smash, propelling her to new heights of stardom. After premiering in the “Contemporary World Cinema” section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2012, and screening at the 17th Busan International Film Festival, the film was released theatrically on October 31, 2012.
‘A Werewolf Boy’ became one of the most popular melodramas in Korean cinema history. It grossed a whopping $41.5 million at the box office, catapulting Bo-young back into the spotlight. In 2012, she was named Best Actress at the 4th Pierson Movie Festival, and in 2013, she was named 20’s Movie Star – Female at the 7th Mnet 20’s Choice Awards.
She appeared in the SBS reality-documentary series ‘Law of the Jungle’ in the episode ‘Law of the Jungle in New Zealand,’ which aired from March 8, 2013 to May 10, 2013. She appeared in the show alongside celebrities such as Kim Byung-man and Jung Suk-won, exploring and surviving in New Zealand’s jungles.
She appeared on a number of different reality and variety series as a guest star over the years. ‘Gag Concert’ (2008), ‘2 Days & 1 Night Season 3 (2014), and ‘Let’s Eat Dinner Together’ were among them (2017). On January 23, 2014, she starred in the South Korean teen romance comedy film ‘Hot Young Bloods,’ in which she played Young-sook, a rough and foul-mouthed head of a female high school gang, a far cry from the lovely and effervescent characters she had previously played.
Her next notable film, ‘The Silenced,’ a South Korean mystery thriller released on June 18, 2015, earned her multiple honors and nominations. The black comedy ‘Collective Invention’ and the workplace comedy ‘You Call It Passion,’ both of which were released in 2015, followed by the black comedy ‘Collective Invention’ and the workplace comedy ‘You Call It Passion,’ both of which were released in 2015.
Meanwhile, she returned to television after seven years with ‘Oh My Ghostess,’ a critically praised and financially successful romantic comedy series. From July 3, 2015 to August 22, 2015, it aired on tvN for 16 episodes. She earned a whopping $30 million (US$27,000) for her part as Na Bong-sun in ‘Oh My Ghostess,’ making her the highest-paid actress on tvN. She won multiple prizes for the series, and she was dubbed the “romantic comedy queen” by the Korean press.
She later starred as the title character in the JTBC television series ‘Strong Woman Do Bong-soon’, which ran from February 24 to April 15, 2017. Her agency stated that she would begin filming for her upcoming film ‘Your Wedding’ in October 2017. The film will be released in 2018.
Personal History and Legacy
Despite the lack of information about her personal life and love relationships, some sources claim that she began dating actor-singer Park Hyung-sik in 2017.
Estimated Net Worth
Park Bo-young is one of the wealthiest movie actresses and one of the most well-known. Park Bo-net young’s worth is estimated to be around $100 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.