Actor Ha Jung Woo Profile, Movies, Drama, Facts, and TMI

Ha Jung Woo Profile

Birth Name: 김성훈 (Kim Sung Hoon)
Stage Name: 하정우 (Ha Jung Woo)
Nationality: South Korean
Date of Birth: 1978.03.11
Zodiac Sign: Pisces
Chinese Zodiac: Horse
Height: 183.7 cm (6’02”)
Weight: N/A
Blood Type: A
Agency: Workhouse Company
Personal Social Media: N/A

Ha Jung Woo Facts & TMI

Ha Jung Woo was born as Kim Sung Hoon.
He was born in Seoul and grew up in the neighborhood of Gangnam.
His family consists of father Kim Yong Gun and younger brother Kim Young Hoon (born 1980), both are actors.
He is Christian.
He uses the stage name Ha Jung Woo because he wants people to acknowledge him as Ha Jung Woo himself instead of veteran actor Kim Yong Gun’s son.
His father recommended the stage name Geum Sung Hoon, be he refused to use the name.
Besides acting he had directed several movies including ‘Fasten Your Seatbelt’ and ‘Chronicle of a Blood Merchant’.
Ha Jung Woo debuted in a 2002’s movie titled ‘Madeleine’.
He made his very first TV appearance through SBS sitcom ‘Honest Living’ in 2002.
At the moment, Ha Jung Woo is widely known as an actor representing Chungmuro (South Korea’s equivalent to Hollywood) in the 21st century.
Since his debut, he has been continuously releasing movies every year without rest except when he served in the army.
He enlisted in the army at the age of 22 as an active-duty soldier.
Ever since his debut, he has been consistently receiving praises for his acting.
As of August 2018, Ha Jung Woo has recorded a cumulative viewers number of 100 million, making him the youngest actor to reach a 100 million viewers milestone.
He was the president of the student body in his junior high school. It said that he was a popular student back in his school days.
On the talk show ‘Healing Camp’ he shared that during his school days, he received offensive remarks from his homeroom teacher implying that he’s got a bad grade because of his father, so he studied hard to raise his grades. Afterward, the homeroom teacher was fired from the school and arrested by the police.
He failed his CSAT exam but eventually made it to the Theater and Film Department, Chung-Ang University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the college.
Ha Jung Woo was roommates with actors Joo Sang Wook, Kwon Yul, and Jung Kyung Ho during his college days.
His parents divorced when he was 20, but since childhood, his father Kim Yong Gun almost raised him alone due to the poor relationship with his mother.
His parents eventually divorced because his mother’s business went bankrupt during the 1997 financial crisis and all his family’s property was seized.
Because there were not enough rooms at his home, he even had to sleep on the veranda. Ha Jung Woo had to pay off his family’s debts by working at numerous places for seven years.
He also did a lot of acting tutoring in the past.
When he appeared in a supporting role in the drama ‘Lovers in Prague’ in 2005, there were reports that he was the son of veteran actor Kim Yong Gun. Since he was not very famous back then, so the news was overlooked.
As his popularity increased significantly in 2008 after starring in the movie ‘The Chaser’, it was widely highlighted by the public that he was the son of Kim Yong Gun.
In December 2019, Ha Jung Woo was blackmailed by a hacker that threatened to leak his pictures, conversations, and other personal information from his cellphone for 1.5 billion won. Instead of fulfilling the hacker’s wish, Ha Jung Woo calmly responded to him and bought time for police to capture the hacker. The hacker was eventually captured and sentenced to prison.
In 2020, Ha Jung Woo was caught for buying propofol under his brother’s name. The court ruled him guilty in August 2021. The actor then released his official apology to the public.
He also showed a lot of interest in visual art. Ha Jung Woo started painting in 2007 and began taking part in art exhibitions in 2010.
On the night of November 12, 2012, he became a victim in a hit-and-run accident of a drunk driver when he crossed the crosswalk at Garosu-gil. He chased and arrested the suspect with his bare hands and reported it to the police.
Ha Jung Woo participated in the production of military promotional video during his military service, and he was credited under his real name.
He is a mania of a pc/ mobile game called Pro Baseball Manager.
Ha Jung Woo is a supporter of the baseball team LG Twins.
Many fans adore him for his witty remarks in interviews.
Ha Jung Woo is a big jokester. He constantly jokes around with co-actors and staff on the filming set. Ha Jung Woo’s playful and unique speech became a hot topic in community forums.
Ha Jung Woo is one of the most famous meme-material actors. A lot of his memes went viral among South Korean netizens.
Local fans would jokingly make fun of his head-to-body proportion because of his somehow big-looking head and nicknamed him “handsome big head”.
He auditioned for the role of Trevor Slattery in the first installment of ‘Iron Man’, which was released in 2008. As the scenario changed, the character’s appearance was canceled.
His nickname was “Giant feet” because his feet were exceptionally big. His foot size is 295 mm.
He auditioned 1,600 child actors for his movie ‘Chronicle of a Blood Merchant’.
Ha Jung Woo is considerably popular in China.
It is said that while filming ‘The Yellow Sea’, Ha Jung Woo, who has poor skin, became interested in skincare as he gained popularity.
He really likes to walk so he would walk around downtown Seoul on his day off.
In 2018, he was selected as a model taxpayer and won the Presidential Commendation. Along with co-winner Kim Hye Soo, he was appointed as an honorary ambassador for the National Tax Service.
His younger brother debuted in a rap duo called ‘Yes Brown’ in 1997 using the stage name Cha Hyun Woo. His brother later changed his career as a theater and movie actor.
In December 2018, it was reported that he bought a building in Hwagok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul for 7.3 billion won. It is a three-story building with one basement floor and three ground floors where Starbucks occupies all floors.
He was managed by the entertainment agency Fantagio for a long time. After his contract expired in October 2016, he signed a contract with Jung Woo Sung and Lee Jung Jae‘s agency Artist Company in January 2017. He is said to have held some of the shares of Artist Company at that time.
Ha Jung Woo left Artist Company to establish a new agency Workhouse Company in November 2018. His younger brother Cha Hyun Woo acts as the CEO of the company.
He maintains close friendships with Jung Woo Sung, Lee Jung Jae, Ju Ji Hoon, Cha Tae Hyun, and Kim Nam Gil.
He dated model Go Eun Ae from August 2008 to January 2012.
Ha Jung Woo was listed in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list in 2010 (17th), 2015 (27th), 2016 (23rd), 2017 (31st), 2018 (34th), and 2019 (38th).

Movie

‘Madeleine’ as Joon Ho (2003)
‘Superstar Mr. Gam’ as Kim Yoo Weol (2004)
‘She’s on Duty’ as Detective Jo (2005)
‘The Unforgiven’ as Yoo Tae Jeong (2005)
‘Time’ as Ji Woo (2006)
‘The Fox Family’ as Son fox (2006)
‘Never Forever’ as Kim Ji Ha (2007)
‘Breath’ as Yeon’s husband (2007)
‘Forever the Moment’ as Blind date man (2008)
‘The Chaser’ as Je Yeong Min (2008)
‘Beastie Boys’ as Jae Hyun (2008)
‘Our School’s E.T.’ as Handsome doctor (2008)
‘My Dear Enemy’ as Jo Byung Woon (2008)
‘Like You Know It All’ as Sculptor/ Cheon Soo’s neighbor (2009)
‘Boat’ as Hyung Gu (2009)
‘Take Off’ as Cha Heon Tae/ Bob (2009)
‘Parallel Life’ as Jang Soo Young (2010)
‘The Yellow Sea’ as Gu Nam (2010)
‘Come Rain, Come Shine’ as Other man (2011)
‘The Client’ as Kang Sung Hee (2011)
‘Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time’ as Choi Hyung Bae (2012)
‘Love Fiction’ as Goo Joo Wol/ Detective Ma Dong Wook (2012)
‘577 Project’ as Himself (2012)
‘Behind the Camera’ as Himself (2013)
‘The Berlin File’ as Pyo Jong Seong (2013)
‘The Terror Live’ as Yoon Young Hwa (2013)
‘Kundo: Age of the Rampant’ as Dolmuchi/ Dolchi (2014)
‘Chronicle of a Blood Merchant’ as Heo Sam Gwan (2015/ also director, screenwriter, producer)
‘Assassination’ as Hawaii Pistol (2015)
‘The Handmaiden’ as Count Fuijiwara (2016)
‘The Tunnel’ as Jung Soo (2016)
‘Suh Suh Pyoung, Slowly and Peacefully’ as Narrator (2017)
‘Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds’ as Gang Rim (2017)
‘1987: When the Day Comes’ as Choi Hwan (2017)
‘Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days’ as Gang Rim (2018)
‘Take Point’ as Ahab (2019/ also producer)
‘Ashfall as Jo In Chang (2019)
‘The Closet as Sang Won (2020)
‘Boston 1947 as Son Ki Cheong (TBA)
‘Night Trip’ (TBA)

TV Series

‘Honest Living’ as Ha Jung Woo (SBS/ 2002)
‘Age of Warriors’ as Lee Ji Gwang (KBS/ 2003-2004)
‘Lovers in Prague’ as Ahn Dong Nam (SBS/ 2005)
‘H.I.T’ as Kim Jae Yoon (MBC/ 2007)
‘Entourage’ as Himself (tvN/ 2016/ Cameo, episode 1)
‘Suriname’ as Kang In Gu (Netflix/ TBA)

As Filmmaker

‘Fasten Your Seatbelt’ (2013/ Director, screenwriter)
‘Single Rider’ as Producer (2017/ Producer)

Theater & Play

‘Othello’ (2003)
‘Waiting for Godot’ (2002)
‘The Glass Menagerie’ (2002)
‘The Good Doctor’ (2001)
‘Carmen’ (2001)
‘Be Strong, Geum-soon!’ (2000)

MV

‘Betrayal‘ by Big Mama (2007)

Variety Show

‘YaSimManMan’ (SBS/ 2006/ Guest)
‘Come to Play’ (MBC/ 2009/ Guest)
‘Knee Drop Guru’ (MBC/ 2009/ Guest)
‘Healing Camp’ (SBS/ 2012 & 2015/ Guest)
‘Ha Jung Woo Brothers’ (tvN/ 2013/ Host)
‘I Live Alone’ (MBC/ 2015/ Special appearance)
‘News Room’ (JTBC/ 2016/ Guest)