Song Kang (
Korean: 송강; born April 23, 1994) is a South Korean actor. His notable lead roles in television series include Love Alarm (2019–2021),
Sweet Home (2020-2024), Navillera (2021), Nevertheless (2021), Forecasting Love and Weather (2022), and My Demon (2023). He is popularly known as the "Son of Netflix" because most of his series are aired on the platform.[2]
Career
2017–18: Beginnings
Song made his acting debut with a supporting role in the 2017
romantic comedy television series The Liar and His Lover.[3] The same year, he was cast in the family drama Man in the Kitchen.[4] He also appeared in two music videos: "Sweet Summer Night" by acoustic duo The Ade and "Love Story" by
Suran.[5][6] On July 8, 2017, his agency
Namoo Actors organised a fan meeting – "Introduction to Rookies" for Song alongside
Oh Seung-hoon and
Lee Yoo-jin.[7]
In 2019, Song played the supporting role of
Jung Kyung-ho's assistant in
tvN fantasy melodrama When the Devil Calls Your Name.[12] He next starred in the
Netflix original romantic series Love Alarm, based on the popular webtoon of the same name.[13] Song was cast in his first main role through auditions out of 900 people;[14] he played the role of a handsome high-school student who falls in love with a girl (
Kim So-hyun) who was his best friend's secret crush.[15]Love Alarm was ranked as one of Netflix's top releases of the year and was renewed for a second season. His final appearance that year was in the music video of Vibe's "Call Me Back".[16]
Song was propelled to stardom in 2020 when he starred in
apocalyptic horror Netflix original Sweet Home, based on the
eponymous webtoon.[17] He was auditioned for the cast on the recommendation of Love Alarm's director to the director of Sweet Home, Lee Eung-bok.[17] His role was Cha Hyun-su, a suicidal high school boy who, along with a group of fellow apartment residents, tries to survive a "monsterization" apocalypse.[18] Critical responses of the series were mixed,[19] but gathered a wide international audience.[20] One month after the release of the series, Variety revealed that it had been viewed by 22 million member households of Netflix.[21] At the
57th Baeksang Arts Awards Song received a nomination for
Best New Actor – Television.[22]
In 2021, he reprised his role as Hwang Sun-oh in the second season of Love Alarm which was released on Netflix on March 12. He next appeared in the
tvN series Navillera, adapted from the eponymous webtoon.[23] He played a ballet student who struggles due to unresolved issues about his father and tries to support himself by working as a part-timer. Song took
ballet lessons for six months in order to portray his character.[24] Later the same year, Song starred in another webtoon adaption Nevertheless,
JTBC's romance drama, alongside
Han So-hee.[25]
In terms of viewership record, the year 2021 is considered a success for Song as Sweet Home, Love Alarm and Nevertheless managed to rank as 5th, 6th, and 8th most watched K-dramas in Netflix worldwide, respectively.[26]
In 2022, Song starred in another JTBC drama, Forecasting Love and Weather, alongside
Park Min-young.[27] On March 4, 2022, Song held a fan meeting to communicate with fans around the world in real time via 'The Swoon', a YouTube channel dedicated to South Korea.[28] In May, it was reported that Song will hold a fan meeting on June 12, 2022, at the YES24 Live Hall.[29] in November Song has confirmed that the "2023 Song Kang Asia Fan Meeting Tour" will take place in six countries, starting with
Seoul, followed by
Tokyo,
Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and
Bangkok, which will take place sometime in 2023.[30]
In 2023, Song took on a role in the Netflix series My Demon, where he played the lead character alongside
Kim Yoo-jung.[31]
Personal life
Military service
On February 29, 2024, Namoo Actors announced that Song will enlist to fulfill his
mandatory military service as an active duty soldier on April 2.[32]
Endorsements
In 2020, Song was selected as brand ambassador for South Korean cosmetics brand
Banila Co..[33]
In 2021, Italian luxury fashion house
Prada announced that Song was selected as a brand ambassador.[34][35][36] In 2022, he was also selected as the brand ambassador for
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics in the
Asia-Pacific region.[37][38] In February 2022, Song was named as
Penshoppe's global ambassador.[39]
^
abKim, Jin-seok (April 5, 2019).
"[단독]송강, 이응복 감독의 '스위트홈' 주인공". JTBC News (in Korean).
Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
^Lee Seul-bi (February 18, 2022).
"송강, 3월 4일 단독 온라인 팬미팅...전 세계 여심 흔든다" [Song Kang, an exclusive online fan meeting on March 4th... Shake the hearts of women all over the world] (in Korean). Sports Donga.
Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Kang Seon-ae (May 18, 2022).
"대세 배우' 송강, 6월 12일 온·오프라인 팬미팅 개최" ['Top Actor' Song Kang, held online and offline fan meeting on June 12] (in Korean). SBS Entertainment News.
Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Kim Ye-eun (November 23, 2022).
"송강, 첫 亞 팬미팅 투어...6개국 개최 확정" [Song Kang, first fan meeting tour... 6 countries confirmed] (in Korean). X-port News.
Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022 – via
Naver.
^
abLee, Seung-gil (October 11, 2023).
"'마이 데몬' 김유정·송강 주인공 캐스팅...美친 비주얼의 만남 [공식]" ['My Demon' Kim Yoo-jung and Song Kang cast as main characters... Meeting of beautiful visuals [Official]] (in Korean). My Daily.
Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2023 – via
Naver.
^Kim Gayoung (June 15, 2022).
"'스위트홈' 시즌2·시즌3 동시 제작...송강→오정세 출연 확정 [공식]" ['Sweet Home' Season 2 and Season 3 Simultaneous Production... Song Kang → Oh Jeong-se confirmed to appear [Official]] (in Korean). Edaily.
Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Jeon Hyo-jin (March 7, 2018).
"[DAY컷] '이옵빠몰까'이상형 종합 선물 세트 포스터 공개" [[DAY Cut] 'I Oppa Don't Know' Ideal Type Comprehensive Gift Set Poster Released] (in Korean). Sports Donga.
Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022 – via
Naver.
^Lee Mi-ji (September 24, 2021).
"배두나·이시영·이제훈·송중기, 제3회 아시아콘텐츠어워즈 배우상 후보(공식)" [Bae Doo-na, Lee Si-young, Lee Je-hoon, Song Joong-ki, 3rd Asia Contents Awards Actor Award nominees (official)]. Herald POP (in Korean).
Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2021 – via
Naver.
^"ACA 2021Nominations 2021". asiacontentsawards (in Korean). September 24, 2021. Archived from
the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Kang Hyo-jin (October 7, 2021).
"아시아콘텐츠어워즈, '무브 투 헤븐'·'스위트홈' 3관왕→이제훈 올해의 배우상 '영예'[종합]" [Asia Contents Awards, 'Move to Heaven' and 'Sweet Home' 3 crowns → Lee Je-hoon Actor of the Year Award 'Honor' [General]]. Spotify News (in Korean).
Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021 – via
Naver.
^Choi, Ji-eun (April 27, 2021).
[톱포토] 김세정, 올킬 미모. Top Daily (in Korean).
Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
^Lee Jae-hoon (September 16, 2021).
"[2021 뉴시스 한류엑스포]송강 "부모님·팬들 감사...앞으로 더 열심히 하겠다" [[2021 Newsis Hallyu Expo] Kang Song "Thanks to my parents and fans... I will work harder in the future]. Newsis (in Korean).
Naver.
Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
^Jang, Jin-ri (December 30, 2023).
"'모범택시2' 이제훈-'악귀' 김태리, 공동 대상 "우열 못 가려"[종합](SBS 연기대상)" [Model Taxi 2's" Lee Ji-hoon and "Demon" Kim Tae-ri shared the Grand Prize for "Unequal" [Overall] (SBS Acting Awards)]. SpoTV News (in Korean).
Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Naver.
^Kim, Ye-seol (December 29, 2023).
"'마이 데몬' 김유정♥송강, 베스트 커플상 수상...김유정 나홀로 수상 "팬분들께 감사해" [2023 SBS 연기대상]" ['My Demon' Kim Yoo-jung♥Song Kang won Best Couple...Kim Yoo-jung won alone "Thank you to the fans" [2023 SBS Acting Awards] (SBS Acting Awards)]. Osen (in Korean).
Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023 – via
Naver.
^Lee Han-lim (August 20, 2021).
"서울드라마어워즈 2021', 한류드라마상 온라인 투표 진행" [Seoul Drama Awards 2021', online voting for Hallyu Drama Awards]. TheFact (in Korean).
Naver.
Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
^"Excellent Actor Prize". Twitter (in Korean). August 20, 2021.
Archived from the original on August 20, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
^Yeon Hwi-seon (October 21, 2021).
"김선호, 사생활 논란 속 '스타트업' 인정...'서울드라마어워즈' 올해의 캐릭터 선정" [Kim Seon-ho recognized as 'startup' amid controversy over personal life... Selected as character of the year at 'Seoul Drama Awards']. Osen (in Korean).
Naver.
Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.