Korean Star Gang Dong-won Signs With CAA (Variety)

Superstar Korean actor and producer Gang Dong-won has signed up with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for representation outside Korea.

Gang joins a string of Korean on-screen talent securing international representation as the country’s creative sector is propelled to the fore by films such as “Parasite” and “Peninsula” and by TV shows such as “Squid Game.”

He continues to be represented in Korea and Japan by Lee Gi Wook at YG Entertainment.
Gang, who has a mechanical engineering degree and was initially scouted as a model, transitioned to acting in 2004 with “Too Beautiful to Lie” and “Temptation of Wolves,” the latter of which earned him the best new actor award at the 24th Korean Association Critics Choice Awards.

Since then, he has had a string of hugely successful roles in hit films including crime tales “A Violent Prosecutor” and “Master,” as well as fantasy “Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard” and 2014 period actioner “Kundo: Age of the Rampant.”

Gang’s most recent big screen role was as the lead in hit “Peninsula,” a standalone film following on from breakout zombie horror “Train to Busan.”

He will next be seen in “Broker,” a drama film that marks the Korean-language debut of “Shoplifters” director Kore-eda Hirokazu. Produced by CJ Entertainment, the film has been submitted for consideration at this year’s Cannes film festival.

Gang is a fluent English speaker and in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, he is understood to have filmed scenes for “Tsunami LA,” a disaster movie backed by Hannibal Media and directed by Scott Mann. If completed, the film would mark Gang’s Hollywood debut.

Other high-profile Korean artists signed by CAA include Hoyeon (aka Jung Ho-yeon) the breakout female star of “Squid Game” and the show’s lead Lee Jung-jae. The agency has also taken on representation of Lee Myoungwoo, showrunner of K-drama series “The Fiery Priest.”

Originally posted on "Variety" by Patrick Frater.