ProfileWho is Ji Chang-wook, popular Korean actor and star of K-dramas The Worst of Evil on Disney+ and The Sound of Magic on Netflix?

Korean superstar Ji Chang-wook is on our screens in his first Disney+ original K-drama series, The Worst of Evil, and relishing his role as an undercover police officer in the underworld alongside Squid Game actor Wi Ha-joon. Although it’s a departure from his dramatic turns in recent shows such as The Sound of Magic and heartwarming drama If You Wish Upon Me, The Worst of Evil shows the magnetic actor’s range in what has been an eclectic 15-year career. Growing up in Gyeonggi, the province surrounding the South Korean capital, Seoul, Ji lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother. Initially he was an aimless student who was frustrated with his studies, but that all changed when he discovered the stage. Ji studied performing arts at Dankook University and, after graduating, began his career in musical theatre. He appeared in his first film, Sleeping Beauty, in 2008 and made his small-screen debut the same year in drama series You Stole My Heart. The Worst of Evil: Ji Chang-wook, Wi Ha-joon in Disney+ gangster saga Aside from his career, Ji is known for being a devoted mama’s boy. At the age of 36, he still lives with his mother. Why we love him With 25.7 million followers on Instagram, you could be mistaken for thinking Ji is the kind of actor who has gained a loyal following by being a dependable screen presence, reliably taking the same kinds of role. The truth is that he is always changing with the times. Although versatile from the outset, Ji first seduced viewers through a series of striking turns in period dramas. After seeing his popularity explode in China on the heels of the success of the drama Healer, he began to appear in Chinese-language dramas such as The Whirlwind Girl 2 and Mr. Right. When geopolitical tensions between South Korea and China affected the entertainment industry, curbing the flow of K-content into China, Ji had to adjust quickly. He has since embraced global streaming and is one of the few big Korean names to have already headlined K-drama series for both Netflix and Disney. Added to that, this year he broke away from his long-time talent management agency to set up his own, called the Spring Company, along with his manager of 10 years. Ji is loved not only for his screen presence, but also for his voice. Throughout his career he has appeared in popular stage musicals, and provided vocals for several songs used in various dramas. The star-making role Ji rose to prominence in 2010 when he was cast as a Korean-American short-track speed skater in the daily TV drama Smile Again, which topped the charts for 15 weeks and netted the young actor an excellence award in the KBS Drama Awards. A year later, he was turning heads as a dashing swordsman in the period action drama Warrior Baek Dong-soo. Solid ratings and another prize, the star award in the SBS Drama Awards, cemented his path to stardom. The iconic parts In 2013, Ji was once again headlining a major period drama, this time the scheming palace tale Empress Ki alongside Ha Ji-won. The series was a huge hit, with ratings that peaked just shy of 30 per cent. Ji picked another excellence award, this time in the MBC Drama Awards, giving him silverware from all the major Korean broadcasters. Ji then showed his action chops in the media conspiracy thriller Healer in 2014. Despite being only a modest success at home, the show was a runaway hit in China. Another action-thriller outing for Ji was The K2, in which he played a sharply dressed mercenary who has to flee Korea and clear his name after being framed for the murder of his lover. The series was partly shot in Barcelona, Spain. In 2020, Ji made a charming detour with the popular romantic comedy Backstreet Rookie, based on a webtoon. Ji plays a handsome but awkward convenience store clerk who is forced to hire a feisty young woman, played by Kim Yoo-jung, who first approached him as a teenager years earlier, asking him to buy her cigarettes. The unheralded performance Four years after the 2017 film Fabricated City, Ji returned to the big screen in the ticking time bomb thriller Hard Hit. Released at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the film was doomed to be seen by only a small audience, but those that did venture out to watch it were bowled over by the film’s gripping premise. A bank manager is called by a mysterious man, played by a ferocious Ji, and told that if he gets out of his car it will explode. Thus begins a tense battle of wills between the characters. Tomorrow’s turns The busy actor has a number of projects coming up. First, he will be seen as a weather forecaster opposite Shin Hye-sun in the JTBC romantic drama Welcome to Samdalri. Meet Kim So-hyun, My Lovely Liar star who started out as a child actress Following that, Ji will return to period dramas alongside Jeon Jong-seo (Ballerina) in Queen Woo for Tving, the third streaming platform for which he will have appeared in as many years. Beyond that, Ji is currently filming Revolver, the latest movie by respected filmmaker Oh Seung-wook (The Shameless), alongside actresses Jeon Do-yeon and Lim Ji-yeon.