Choi Siwon

Choi Siwon
Background information
Birth name	Choi Si-won
Born	April 7, 1986 Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, actor, model
Instruments	Vocals, drums, keyboards, guitar
Years active	2005–Hiatus (Military Service)
Labels	S.M. Entertainment, Avex Trax
Associated acts	Super Junior Super Junior-M SM Town

Korean name
Hangul	최시원
Hanja	崔始源
Revised Romanization	Choi Si-won
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Siwŏn

For the noted Korean Confucian official, philosopher, and poet of the late Unified Silla period, see Choe Chiwon.

Choi Si-won (born April 7, 1986, officially registered on February 10, 1987) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and its Mandopop subgroup, Super Junior-M. He is one of the first four South Korean artists to appear on Chinese postage stamps.^[1]

Aside from being a member of Super Junior, Siwon has also ventured into solo activities mainly in acting. He played the lead roles as Sung Min-Woo in the Korean drama Oh! My Lady (2010) and as Kim Sun-Woo in Poseidon (2011). He played supporting roles in the dramas She Was Pretty, The King of Dramas and Athena: Goddess of War. In 2015, he has participated in Chinese language films such as Helios, To the Fore and in the historical action film Dragon Blade starring Jackie Chan.

Early life

Siwon was born on April 7, 1986 (officially registered on February 10, 1987)^[2] in Seoul, South Korea. He has one younger sister, Ji-won. His father is currently the CEO of Boryung Medicine, a pharmaceutical company.^[3] He graduated from Gu Jeong High School in February 2006 and from Inha University in February 2012. Siwon is a devout Protestant Christian, and has said in an interview that after his career, he would like to become a missionary.^[4]

Career

Pre-debut

Siwon was scouted by a talent agent from SM Entertainment when he was 16 as he was waiting for friends in front of his high school. The agent recommended him to audition for the company's Starlight Casting System. He auditioned without his parent's approval; his parents were notified only after he passed the auditions. Although his parents allowed him to sign a contract with SM Entertainment, they did not give him any help because they wanted him to take responsibility for his actions.^[5]

He later moved into dormitories with fellow trainees and was trained in areas of singing, acting, and dancing. He was featured in a music video of The Grace's Dana whilst he was being trained as a solo singer in 2003. A year after, Siwon made a brief appearance in short drama, Precious Family and again in 2005, KBS drama Eighteen, Twenty-Nine as young Kang Bong-man and played the supporting role of Park Sang-woo in drama Spring Waltz in 2006.

2005-2006

Not long after Siwon's first television appearance, SM Entertainment released an announcement that he would officially debut as one of the twelve members in a boy band. A few months before the debut of Super Junior 05, Siwon made his first official media appearance with band mate Han Geng as one of the runway models in a fashion show by Bum Suk.

Siwon officially debut as part of 12-member rotational project group Super Junior 05 on 6 November 2005 on SBS's music programme Popular Songs, performing their first single, "Twins (Knock Out)".^[6][7] Their debut album SuperJunior05 (Twins) was released a month later on 5 December 2005 and debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.^[8]

In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. Following the addition of thirteenth member Kyuhyun, the group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior.^[9] The re-polished group's first CD single "U" was released on 7 June 2006, which was their most successful single until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.^[10] In the fall of 2007, the group released their second official album, Don't Don, which became Super Junior's best-selling album and Korea's second best-selling album of the year.^[11]

2007-2008

After his musical debut, he was cast in a large supporting role in the Hong Kong epic film A Battle of Wits as Prince Liang Shi, starring opposite Andy Lau. He promoted the movie throughout China with fellow cast members in November 2006.^[12] While the film received mixed reviews, Siwon garnered positive notices for his performance. He also received praises from co-star Lau, stating that Siwon is a wonderful actor and that he sets a good example for young Hong Kong actors.^[13]

In 2007 Siwon starred in the high school mystery/comedy film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys with other Super Junior members, released on 26 July. He played one of the lead roles as a controlling and severe class president who was one of the popular possible subjects of being attacked by mysterious forces.^[14] A few months later, Siwon was cast in mini-drama Legend of Hyang Dan in the lead role of Lee Mong-ryong.

In April 2008, Siwon was put into seven-member sub-group Super Junior-M, a Mandopop subgroup of Super Junior for the Chinese music industry. They debuted in China at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards, simultaneously with the release of their first music video, "U" on 8 April 2008. This was followed by the release of the debut Chinese-language studio album, Me in selected provinces in China on 23 April and 2 May in Taiwan.^[15]

2010-2011

In January 2010, Siwon starred in SBS drama Oh! My Lady. It is a romantic comedy about a top star who finds himself living with his manager, a 35-year-old woman who is trying to earn money to get custody of her child.^[16] He also featured in music videos for fellow label mates, such as Girls' Generation's "Hoot", and Zhang Liyin and TVXQ's Xiah's duet "Timeless", where Siwon starred along with fellow Super Junior member Han Geng.

Siwon has also appeared in various catalogs and commercials. He modeled in the 3 March 2010 André Kim fashion show. He has been featured in notable magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, High Cut, and Men's Health, as well as modeling for brand names such as Armani, Lacoste, Gucci, Evisu, Burberry. Siwon also appeared in Korean brand Spao's catalogues along with SNSD and other Super Junior members; and for the SK Telesys "Reaction" smart phone, as well as Acer products. He is also the main model for Mamonde, a cosmetic brand alongside Kwon Yuri of Girls' Generation.

In April 2011, Siwon filmed Taiwanese drama Skip Beat! with Ivy Chen and fellow band member Donghae as the three main characters. It is a live-action adaptation of Japanese shōjo manga Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura. The filming took place in Taiwan and was broadcast in December 2011.^[17]

Siwon joined the cast of SBS drama Athena: Goddess of War, a spin-off of 2009 action drama Iris in June, as Agent Kim Jun-ho, a data analyst and rookie elite agent.^[18] This was followed by KBS drama Poseidon in August 2011. He was cast in the role of Kim Sun-woo, as part of Intelligence Investigation Team of the Maritime Police, with Lee Si-young. It was originally set for broadcast in July 2011, starring Eric Mun of Shinhwa and Kim Ok-bin in the roles of Kim Sun-woo and Lee Soo-yoon, respectively. However they dropped out when production was halted after the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong incident in November 2011, and Siwon and Lee Si-young were re-cast in their roles.^[19]

2012-2013

Siwon graduated from Inha University in February 2012 alongside fellow member Ryeowook.^[20] In March 2012, it was announced that Kwon Yuri of Girls' Generation will join him as the main model of Mamonde.

In June 2012, Siwon reunited with his Super Junior band mates for their sixth studio album, Sexy, Free & Single for released on 4 July. On 26 June Siwon's teaser photo was released showing him with long blonde hair under a dip-dyed hat that matches his green eyebrows.^[21] In September, Siwon is to return to television in SBS drama The King of Drama, based around Korean television production. He plays 'Kang Hyun-min', a top celebrity with a prickly personality, along with Kim Myung-min as production CEO and actress Jung Ryeo-won. It aired at the conclusion of Faith.^[22]

On January 7, 2013, Super Junior-M released their second album, Break Down, along with the music video for the lead single of the same name. A press conference took place in Beijing on January 7, and they will promote the album in China.^[23]

2014-present

In March 2014, Super Junior M had a comeback after one year and three months. They released their third EP Swing, where they all were shown as office workers. Though Siwon was featured in the MV and song, he did not participate in the promotional cycle as he was busy filming for his upcoming drama The Heirs. Siwon wrapped up filming and moved on to the next film. He then featured in the film Dragon Blade alongside Jackie Chan and Adrien Brody. Siwon also participated in the film To the Fore acting alongside Eddie Peng as a cycling athlete.

In August, it was announced that Super Junior would release their 7th album, Mamacita where Leeteuk and Heechul would rejoin them, their first album after their military service. The MV for "Mamacita" was released August 28 and the album was released online a day later and in stores September 1.^[24]

On 16 July 2015 at midnight, Super Junior has dropped their tenth anniversary special album part 1 “Devil,”^[25] followed by special Album Part 2 "Magic" released on September 17 at 12 p.m. KST.^[26] After promoting the album, Siwon starred in the MBC drama "She Was Pretty" as the second male lead Kim Shin-hyuk.^[27]

Personal life

Choi Siwon enlisted as a conscripted policeman on 19 November 2015.^[28][29]

Discography

Soundtrack and Single contribution

Year	Track	Album	Artist
2010	Worthless	Oh! My Lady OST	Siwon
2015	You're the Only One	She Was Pretty OST	Siwon

MV Appearances

Year	Song	Artist(s)	Ref.
2003	"What is Love"	Dana
2006	"Timeless"	Zhang Liyin & Junsu
2008	"I Will"	Zhang Liyin
	"The Left Shore of Happiness"
2009	"Firefly"	Ariel Lin
	"S.E.O.U.L."	Super Junior & Girls' Generation
2010	"Hoot"	Girls' Generation
2014	"Motorcycle"	Donghae & Eunhyuk

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Country	Ref.
2006	A Battle of Wits	Prince Liang Shi	China, Hong Kong
2007	Attack on the Pin-Up Boys	Student Body President	South Korea
2012	I AM.	Himself	South Korea	[30]
2015	Dragon Blade	Yinpo	China, Hong Kong
	Helios	Park Woo-cheol	Hong Kong, China
	To the Fore	Zheng Ji-won	Hong Kong, China	[31]

Television Dramas

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes	Ref.
2004	Precious Family	N/A	KBS	Cameo
2005	Eighteen, Twenty-Nine	Kang Bong-man		Young version
2006	Spring Waltz	Park Sang-woo	KBS 2TV
	Mystery 6	Himself	Mnet
	Super Junior Mini-Drama
2007	Legend of Hyang-dan	Lee Mong-ryong	MBC
2009	Stage of Youth	Shi Yuan	CCTV2	Cameo
2010	Oh! My Lady	Sung Min-woo	SBS
	Athena: Goddess of War	Kim Jun-ho
2011	Poseidon	Kim Sun-woo	KBS
	Skip Beat!	Dun He Lian Ren Tsuruga	FTV Main Channel GTV Variety Show
2012	Fall In Love With You Again	Song Chen Yi	Hunan TV		[32]
	The King of Dramas	Kang Hyun-min	SBS
2015	Billion Dollar Heir	Yue Xi Wang	TBA		[33][34]
	Masked Prosecutor	Thief	KBS2	Cameo (Episode 1)	[35][36]
	She Was Pretty	Kim Shin Hyuk	MBC
2016	Dramaworld	Himself	Viki	Cameo

Variety Shows

Year	Title	Network	Notes	Ref.
2010	Running Man	SBS	Ep. 22, special guest (with Kim Min-jong)	[37]
2012			Ep. 75, special guest (with Hyo-rin, Min-ho, So-hee and Sulli)	[38]
2013			Ep. 135, special guest (with Jackie Chan)	[39]
2014	Happy Together	KBS2	Special guest (with Jackie Chan, Jessica and Narsha)	[40]
2015	We Are In Love	MBC JSTV	(with Liu Wen)	[41]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2010	SBS Drama Awards	New Star Award	Oh! My Lady	Won
	4th Men's Health Cool Guy Awards	Best Cover Magazine	Himself	Won
2012	Mnet 20's Choice Awards	20′s Social Artist	Himself	Nominated	[42][43]
2015	MBC Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	She Was Pretty	Nominated
		Popularity Award, Actor		Nominated
2016	11th Annual Soompi Awards	Best Bromance (with Park Seo-joon)	She Was Pretty	Won	[44]
		Idol Actor of the Year		Won
		Second Lead Syndrome		Nominated

References

1. "Super Junior-M to appear on postage stamps". Newsen (in Korean). 2008-12-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
2. Mark Russell (29 April 2014). K-Pop Now!: The Korean Music Revolution. Tuttle Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4629-1411-1.
3. "Siwon's father identified as a CEO". Allkpop. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
4. CNN's Talk Asia interview
5. An episode of Behind Story
6. "2005 Super Junior's official debut" Ent.hunantv.com. Retrieved 2011-12-25 (Chinese)
7. "SM Unveils 12-Membered Boy Group Named Super Junior" Arirang.co.kr. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 2011-12-25
8. "Album Sales of December 2005". Recording Industry Association of Korea (in Korean). p. 1. Archived from the original on February 25, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
9. "Super Junior adds new member, transformed into 13-person super group" Sina.com. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-08 (Chinese)
10. "SuperJunior releases third studio album" Epaper.jinghua.cn. 14 March 2009. Retrieved 2011-12-25 (Chinese)
11. "Super Junior, SG Wananbe first and second place in 2007 album sales". Moneytoday (in Korean). 12 December 2007. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
12. "Actor Choi Si-won Set to Become Next-Generation Korean Star". KBS Global. 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
13. 崔始源《墨攻》受关注 刘德华赞其后生可畏 [Choi Siwon A Battle of Wits receives attention, receives praise from Andy Lau]. Sina.com (in Chinese). 23 November 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
14. Cathy Rose A. Garcia "Super Junior Hits Big Screen" Korea Times. 8 July 2007. Retrieved 2012-04-03
15. "Super Junior-M出道中国 新碟引爆内地歌坛" [Super Junior-M debuts in China new album sweeps music scene]. Sina.com (in Chinese). 6 May 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
16. Hong, Lucia (9 February 2010). "Chae-lim to make a comeback to the small screen". 10Asia. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
17. 華麗4月開麥拉 敲定陳意涵 [Skip Beat! in production in April. Ivy Chan in lead role]. UDN News (in Chinese). 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
18. Hong, Lucia (18 June 2010). "Choi Si-won to join the cast of "IRIS" spin-off". 10Asia. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
19. "Choi Si-won, Lee Si-young embark Poseidon" 10Asia. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-05
20. "Super Junior’s Choi Siwon graduates from Inha University". Star News. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
21. Hong, Grace Danbi (26 June 2012). "Super Junior’s Choi Siwon and Kyuhyun’s Comeback Photos Unveiled". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
22. Ho, Stewart (11 September 2012). "Super Junior’s Choi Siwon to Return with SBS’ The King of Drama". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
23. Jeon, Su Mi (January 3, 2013). "Super Junior-M to Release Second Studio Album in China". Retrieved January 3, 2013.
24. Hea, Jung Min (28 August 2014). "[Photo] Super Junior Talks Comeback with ′Mamacita′". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
25. "Super Junior Is Back With Action-Packed "Devil" MV". soompi.
26. "Super Junior Releases Fun and Groovy Magic MV Teaser". soompi.
27. "K-Drama support characters who shine brighter than the lead". allkpop.
28. "Super Junior′s Eunhyuk, Donghae, Choi Siwon and TVXQ′s Max Changmin Confirm Enlistment Dates". CJ E&M enewsWorld. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
29. "Super Junior's Siwon, Donghae, Eunhyuk And TVXQ's Changmin Have Confirmed Military Enlistment Dates". kdramastars. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
30. "Documentary Shows Top K-Pop Singers Behind the Scenes". Chosun Ilbo. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
31. Choi Si Won's new movie To The Fore releases trailer. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
32. 转身说爱你 Fall in Love With You Again.
33. Super Junior' Siwon To Film Chinese Drama, 'Billion Dollar Heir'. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
34. Super Junior's Siwon and Hong Soo Ah film a romantic kiss scene for Chinese drama 'Billion Dollar Heir'. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
35. "Siwon to cameo in first episode of 'Masked Prosecutor' as a comical thief". allkpop. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
36. "‘복면검사’ 최시원, "뜨개질 미쳐버리겠다" 허당 절도범으로 깜짝 등장!". 스타서울TV. Retrieved 25 May 2015.(Korean)
37. 런닝맨 ‘아테나’ 김민종·최시원 예능감 과시 ‘크리스마스’ 특집. Arts News. Retrieved 2011-02-02. (Korean)
38. 설리·효린·소희·시원·민호 ‘런닝맨’에 다 모였다. Daily Sports. Retrieved 2012-01-01. (Korean)
39. 청룽(성룡), ‘런닝맨’과 만났다..직접 미션 수행. Edaily. Retrieved 2013-02-19.(Korean)
40. Jackie Chan to Appear on “Happy Together” with Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, and Brown Eyed Girls. Soompi. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
41. Choi Siwon to Appear on Chinese “We Got Married” with Top Model Liu Wen. Soompi. Retrieved 2015-04-03.
42. Lee, Nancy (8 June 2012). "20’s Choice Awards Nominees Announced, Voting Open". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
43. Lee, Nancy (28 June 2012). "20′s Choice Awards: Who Won at the 20’s Choice Awards?". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
44. Announcing the Results of the 11th Annual Soompi Awards 2015. Soompi. Retrieved 2016-02-24.

External links

• Choi Siwon on Twitter
• Choi Siwon on Instagram