Hoon Tae Nam

From Clumsy Media

Hoon Tae Joong (born June 22, 1986), better known by his stage name Hoon Tae Nam or previously known as Hoon Tae Min, is a South Korean actor. He was scouted by accident when the company was holding auditions in a school looking for student performers and as a studnet research teacher, he was discovered instead. After training for a year he made his first official debut in the 2012 romance film Heart Thief. Despite controversies due to its open discussion of homosexuality in Korea, the sleeper hit gained critical acclaim and rised him to fame.

Following the sucess, he appeared in another two dramas Golden Time and Answer Me 1997, both becoming commerical hits and drew in strong ratings, pushing his popularity to the peak once again. The public, including critics were all in favour of his acting. He later made his debut in the mainland China industry through the popular teeange drama series iPartment4 as a international Korean student and successfully established his name in the 2013 boxoffice recording breaking film Tiny Times.

Contents

Background Information

Hangul: 훈태민 / Hoon Tae Nam / 勲泰南
Nationality: South Korean
DOB: June 22, 1986
Height: 175 cm
Graudate: Seoul National University (2007-2010) ||
Management: Clumsy Media (2011-current) ||

Early life

Born as Hoon Tae Joong and raised in a self described "upper-middle class" family, Hoon described his childhood as "a normal but likeable" process. His father, Hoon Joon is a respected major general (known as sojang) in the Republic of Korea Air Force and his mother, Lee Nam is a secondary Korean history teacher.

Throughout his educational years he maintained his results as one of the top achievers and was admitted into Seoul National University in 2007. He chose to become a teacher after the influence from his parents, believing it would be a 'safe and rewarding occupation' and majored in secondary history and geography. He graduated with top class honors in 2010.

Career

2010-2011: Accidental scouting and change of career path

The company was scouting for acting talents in a series of private auditions held around middle and high schools around Seoul back in 2010 and came across Hoon, who was on work experience as a trial first year student teacher. Officials tried to scout him to become an actor but he refused as he wanted to concentrate in the field he's truly passionate of, instead, he sugguested them to give one his students, Jeanie a chance to audition. The officials made her perform a freestyle right on the spot. Impressed with her, they took her in on the day and offered her with an exclusive contract and and with this she began her music career, whiched started off with two years of formal training. She made her debut in 2013.

During this period the company approached him several times, 'no less than once a month', and sometimes through the words of Jeanie, trying to convince him a career in the entertainment industry. Around July 2010, he was able to graduate from university and was offered a permanent teaching position at a local middle school. Feeling satisfied with the completion of his degree, he decided to sign an exclusive three-year contract in order to give himself 'a study break' and go on 'a journey of self-discovery'. In an interview he revealed the inital contract was five years long but he refused to sign until the duration was reduced, "I wanted to be able to leave if I eventually discover this isn't the road for me." He was trained for a total of one year and two months in acting, singing, modelling and the languages of Chinese and Japanese before making his official debut.

2012-2013: Debut, rising popularity and expansion into China

Hoon made his debut in the romance drama film Heart Thief in 2012 alongside label mate Kei Nangon and Shin Jeon Mum. Filming started the year before and was released on Valentine's Day, originally marketed at a commerical targeted audience. Just one day after the screening, the film was rated to be unsuitable for a young audience due to homosexual references and was deemed to be suitable for audiences with the age seventeen and above. One week later the film was removed from all cinemas and eventually a DVD release was banned. Despite these setbacks the film was a 'sleeper hit' and Hoon's performance received critical acclaims. He received the new supporting actor award at the 49th Grand Bell ceremony for this role.

Following the rise of his popular he made his television debut in the medical drama Golden Time as a young aspiring surgeon. The drama was a hit during its airing time and the last episode had an Seoul audience viewing of 16.6%, peaking at third place. With this drama he grabbed the best male debut award at the MBC Drama Awards. He made a cameo appearance in another hit teenage romance trend drama Answer Me 1997 soon after and successfully secured his fan base in Korea.

During this time his popularity was steadily growing in China and in response his officials announced he will be making an official debut in China. Towards the end of the year, Hoon advanced into the Chinese entertainment industry through the popular drama series iPartment4 as a international Korean student. The show, which had a large following, successfully established his name in the foreign market. He filmed another drama Scarlet Heart 2 and two films; the box-office record breaking film Tiny Times and the critically acclaimed Hong Kong film The White Storm before returning to Korea. In November 2013 Hoon announced his intention to return to activities in Korea and confirmed his casting in the romance film Cat Funeral.

2014-2016: Military enlistment and two year hiatus

On March 23, 2014 it was announced that Hoon will star in SBS's Angel Eyes, becoming his second medical drama. The show received moderate commercial success but the cast's acting were universally praised, earning the drama critical reception. On April 18 it was reported of his casting in the action thriller film Shoot My Heart which would eventually become his last project in two years along with the news that Hoon received the official government summon fulfill his mandatory two year military service. Upon receiving his physical examination results (having placed third out of his testing group) he began his duties as an active marine and commenced his two week training on July 28. He announced his official hiatus and officially enlisted on August 17, 2014. After a service period of one year and ten months, he was discharged in June 2016. His discharge was announced by his agency the following month although no date of return or whether or not he was considering new projects were announced.

2017-current: Return

Filmography

Dramas

Movies

Variety Shows

Award

2012
Retrieved from "http://editthis.info/clumsy_media/Hoon_Tae_Nam"
Personal tools