Film
Jung was selected as an actor through street casting by former Sidus CEO Cha Seung-jae, who was the head of the production department at the film company Shin Cine at the time.[6] Jung made his film debut in a leading role in 1994's The Fox with Nine Tails, one of the first Korean fantasy movies and the first to use computer-generated imagery. He debuted with actress Ko So-young, who later co-starred with him twice including in his breakthrough 1997 film Beat.[7] Directed by Kim Sung-su, Beat is about a high school student forced into gang life. The movie brought Jung widespread fame and started his rise to Korea's A-list and made him one of the most sought-after commercial models.
In 1999, he starred in City of the Rising Sun, playing an unsuccessful boxer who befriends an unlucky swindler. His co-lead in the movie, actor Lee Jung-jae, became his lifelong friend. Jung later played a naval lieutenant in Phantom: The Submarine and a marathoner in Love.[7] 2001's Musa marked his third collaboration with director Kim Sung-su. In this epic blockbuster, Jung played opposite Chinese star Zhang Ziyi and received wide exposure in Korea and beyond.
After spending time in 2002 directing a series of music videos[8] and appearing in a large number of commercials, Jung took on the eccentric lead role in Mutt Boy, the fifth film by director Kwak Kyung-taek.[7] Jung's next roles were in highly romantic roles that used his established screen image. In the box office hit A Moment to Remember he played an architect whose wife (played by Son Ye-jin) is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and in the Netherlands-set Daisy, he played a hired assassin who falls in love with a street artist played by Jun Ji-hyun.[7] He portrayed a happily committed fireman in Sad Movie,[9] and a demon hunter seeking his lost love (played by Kim Tae-hee) in The Restless.[10][11]
Kim Jee-woon's "kimchi western" The Good, the Bad, the Weird inspired by Sergio Leone's work, would become one of Jung's most iconic roles. He used his physicality to great effect as the Clint Eastwood counterpart in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.[12] The film was screened out of competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, which also marked its world premiere. Jung attended the festival with his co-stars. He won Best Supporting Actor at the 3rd Asian Film Awards and Outstanding Achievement in Acting at the 2008 Hawaii International Film Festival for his performance. Shortly afterwards, Jung worked again with Kim Jee-woon on a short film for W Korea.[13]
Jung then starred alongside Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan in Hur Jin-ho's romance film A Season of Good Rain,[14][15][16] and Su Chao-pin's martial arts film Reign of Assassins with Michelle Yeoh.[17] In 2011, Jung was cast in the English-language 3D remake of John Woo's The Killer.[18] The film was to be shot in Los Angeles and reunite him with A Moment to Remember director John H. Lee and Reign of Assassins director John Woo acting also as producer.[19] The project was put on hold while John Woo worked on another film.[20]
In 2016, he starred in the noir crime thriller Asura: The City of Madness,[33] his fourth collaboration with director Kim Sung-su. Jung played a crooked detective who attempts to save his terminally ill wife while arresting a corrupt town mayor.[34] Asura premiered globally at the 41st Toronto Film Festival in September 2016, where it was shown in the Special Presentations section.[35] The actor's second movie shot in 2016 and released in 2017 was Han Jae-rim's political drama The King, whose plot revolves around a senior prosecutor being manipulated by an overambitious younger colleague connected to the mob.[36][37]
In 2017, Jung starred in Steel Rain as a former agent from North Korea's intelligence bureau.[38] In 2018, he played an officer of the elite police unit in the science fiction action thriller Illang: The Wolf Brigade. Based on the Japanese anime Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, the work was his second collaboration with director Kim Jee-woon.[39][40]
In 2019, he starred in the dramatic film Innocent Witness as a lawyer.[41][42] His performance earned him the Grand Prize in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards.[43] The same year, he starred in the thriller Beasts that Cling to the Straw.[44]
In 2020, Jung starred in the sequel to Steel Rain, titled Steel Rain 2: Summit.[45] Jung starred alongside Lee Jung-jae in the latter's directorial debut, the spy action film Hunt, which premiered at 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[46]
Television
In 1995 Jung appeared in his first major television role in SBS drama series Asphalt Man, playing an aspiring race driver who leaves to United States to realize his dream. The part not only expanded his popularity but also brought him critical acclaim with Best New Actor award at 32nd Baeksang Arts Awards and SBS Drama Awards.
In 2010 Jung returned to the small screen after 15 years' absence in the big-budget spy series Athena: Goddess of War, playing an NTS (National Anti-Terror Service) agent. Athena was a spin-off to the 2009 highly successful KBS2 drama IRIS.[47] With a budget of (US$17 million), the series was shot on location in Italy, New Zealand, Japan and the United States.[48] The aired in SBS channel, and its pilot episodes gathered 22.8% of the audience share.[49] Jung and another actor were injured during filming in January 2011, causing a week's postponement of one of Athena's episodes. The series was also edited into a two-hour movie version, and released in 2011 as Athena: The Movie.
Jung made his Japanese drama debut with a guest appearance in episodes 6 and 7 of ''Good Life ~Arigatou, Papa.
