Park Bo-young is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in the hit films Scandal Makers, A Werewolf Boy and On Your Wedding Day, and the television series Oh My Ghost and Strong Girl Bong-soon.
Career
Pre-debut
Before her official acting debut in 2006, Park appeared in a short film titled Equal in 2005 when she was in middle school. The short film won Challenging Reality Award at the 7th Seoul International Youth Film Festival.
2006–2010: Debut, breakthrough and hiatus
Park made her official acting debut in the 2006 high school television series Secret Campus alongside fellow newcomer Lee Min-ho. Among the notable projects during the early stage in her career are the historical epic The King and I and Peabody Award-winning teen drama Jungle Fish with Kim Soo-hyun, based on a true story that depicts the pressures placed on students to achieve and gain admission to prestigious colleges and universities. Park rose to fame after starring opposite Cha Tae-hyun in comedy Scandal Makers, which drew 8.3 million viewers to become the number one top grosser of 2008 and one of Korean cinema's biggest hits. Described by Variety as "excellent" in her role as a spunky teenage mom, Park's much-praised performance swept Best New Actress awards in 2009. She has been dubbed as "Nation's Little Sister" because of its success. She then starred in a short film directed by Lee Hyun-seung, human rights-themed omnibus If You Were Me 4 in 2009. However, in 2010 she became involved in a series of legal disputes with her then-management agency and a film production company, causing the actress to be tied up in lawsuits and unable to work for the next few years.
2011–2014: Return to big screen and mainstream success
After she was designated the promotional ambassador for the 2011 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, Park finally ended her four-year absence from the limelight by headlining the 2012 horror thriller Don't Click. Later that year, she starred alongside Song Joong-ki in fantasy romance film A Werewolf Boy, which surpassed 7 million admissions to become one of the most successful Korean melodramas of all time. The song her character sings in the film, "My Prince", was released as a digital single and included in the movie soundtrack. In 2013, Park joined the cast of Law of the Jungle, a reality-documentary program featuring comedian Kim Byung-man and several celebrities as they explore and survive the New Zealand wilderness. In a departure from her previous sweet, innocent characters, Park played the tough, potty-mouthed leader of her high school gang in Hot Young Bloods, a teen romantic comedy set in the 1980s. Park, who was born in North Chungcheong Province, said she had fun swearing in southern dialect, though she found it difficult to master, being a mixture of Jeolla and Chungcheong dialects.
2015–present: Television comeback and continued success
In 2015, she headlined the mystery thriller The Silenced, set in a girls' boarding school during the Japanese occupation. This was followed by dual roles in romantic comedy Oh My Ghost, Park's first television series in seven years. Her salary of per episode made her the highest-paid actress to appear on cable channel tvN. The series was a commercial and critical hit, and garnered the Best Actress award for Park at the 4th APAN Star Awards. She was also dubbed as the "romantic comedy queen" by the Korean press. Park next played the selfish love interest of a mutant in the black comedyCollective Invention, and an entertainment news cub reporter in the workplace comedy You Call It Passion. In June 2016, Park was cast as the title role in JTBC's series Strong Girl Bong-soon, premiered in February 2017, where she played a character with superhuman strength. The series became one of the highest rated Korean dramas in cable television history. Due to its popularity, it earned her Korea Reputation Center's highest brand value among Korean TV actors and the highest consumer participation rate in February and March 2017. In September 2017, Park began filming the romance film On Your Wedding Day which premiered in August 2018. She was reunited with Kim Young-kwang, whom she previously acted with in the 2014 film Hot Young Bloods. The film was a box office hit and received positive reviews. In August 2018, Park was cast in tvN's series Abyss, where she plays a beautiful prosecutor who transforms into a plain-looking girl after being revived by a mysterious orb. It premiered in May 2019. In December 2019, Park parted ways with her ten-year agency Fides Spatium. Two months later, she signed an exclusive contract with BH Entertainment.
Personal life
Park was born in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong Province. She is the second of three daughters. Her father served for 34 years as a soldier in the Special Forces. She is known for her natural beauty after her childhood photos surfaced on an online community. Park's ankle ligaments were torn during a workout before shooting began for TV series Strong Girl Bong-soon. In April 2017, the hospital advised her to wear a cast but she had to use ankle tape and started out with physical therapy instead, due to the ongoing filming. Two months after wrapping up the series, she underwent a twenty-minute minor surgery. On September 6, her agency stated that the actress was in the final stages of rehabilitation and would start filming On Your Wedding Day later that month. In November 2019, Park announced temporary hiatus to recover from arm injury. She also received surgery to remove scar on her arm.
