Sol Kyung-gu (born May 14, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Sol studied Theater and Film at Hanyang University. Upon his graduation in 1994, he appeared in numerous theatrical productions, such as the hit Korean adaptation of the German rock musical Subway Line 1, and productions of Sam Shepard's True West and A. R. Gurney's Love Letters. He is best known for his roles in Public Enemy film series, Peppermint Candy, Oasis, Silmido, Hope and The Merciless.
Early Years
Sol was born in Seocheon, ChungcheongNam on May 1, 1968. He is the second son with one younger sister. He and his family moved to Dohwa-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul when his father, who was a civil servant, transferred to the Mapo-gu Office. Sol attended and then enrolled in and .
Sol's parents wanted him to go to an engineering college, thus guaranteeing him a stable job. However, Sol entered the Department of Theater and Film of Hanyang University with the idea of becoming a film director.
Career
Early Career: 1993-1997
Sol studied Theater and Film at Hanyang University (Class of '86). In May 1993, When Sol was in his 4th year of college, he directed play for the 1st Young Theatre Festival . At that time, Seol planned to enter The 3rd KBS Talent Recruitment, but he had no choice but to give up the recruitment due to his professor's request. He was also active in Dongsung-dong since the second semester of his senior year, including guest directing play Bison, a performance for the drama class at , as a part time job. Gradually, he naturally gave up his dream of becoming a film director, and debuted in 1993 with the play Simbasame as Sol joined Hanyang Theater Company, a theater company with alumni of the Department of Theater and Film at Hanyang University as majority of its members.
When Sol was in his 4th year of college, Sol received a full scholarship with straight A credits and went up to the department at once. Before graduating from Hanyang University, he received invitations from his advisor to study master at Hanyang University graduate school or Korea National University of Arts, but he refused. Sol continued his theatre activities in Hanyang Theater Company, however Sol didn’t want to be under the shadow of his school. After graduating, Sol left the company.
In May 1994, Sol asked a college senior who was the head of the planning department at the theater company . At for a part time job. He met Kim Min-ki and was cast in hit Korean adaptation of the German rock musical Subway Line 1. Sol participated in this work from the premiere in 1994 to 1996, playing all but two of the 80 roles, accumulating various experiences and acting skills and earned big success. In addition, he has been active as a theater actor and musical actor in Daehakro, appearing in plays such as Korean productions of Sam Shepard's True West and musical .
Since 1988, Sol began taking taking on minor roles in television. In the play, he was a star-actor who played 14 roles, but in television dramas, he was just an aspiring actor. In the mid 1990s, Sol began taking on minor roles in feature films. In 1996, Sol made his screen debut in his first film A Petal, playing the role of Woo-ri, a college student who is chasing the whereabouts of the female lead girl (Lee Jung-hyun) at the recommendation of director Shim Kwang-jin, a college classmate who was taking directing lessons from director Jang Seon-woo.
1998-2002: Career Breakthrough
In 1997, Sol met Cha Seung-jae, the CEO of Sidus FNH, the producer of the film Girls' Night Out, which released in 1998. Sol had minor role and his name was post in credit as a film actor. Sol played a cartoonist who spends a night with Yeon (Jin Hee-kyung), a hotel employee in the play, and his acting was short but impressive. He then signed management contracts with Sidus HQ and made his breakthrough, with major roles in Rainbow Trout, Phantom: The Submarine, and The Bird That Stops in the Air (1999).
In early 1999, Sol was selected for the lead role through an audition in director Lee Chang-dong's film Peppermint Candy. Initially, Sol failed at the first audition, but the director's wife, known as the playwright of the play Confession, saw him in the audition film she saw in the living room by chance, and recommended him, saying, "Here's Kim Young-ho" he is famous.