Park started his career as an actor in television drama
Sarang (1990). In the film
Cambo (1985). In 1987, for his performance as a college student in
Youth sketch of Mimi and Cheolsu, he won the best new actor award at the
Baeksang Arts Awards. In
Chilsu and Mansu (1988), Park gave a brilliant performance in acting as Chil-soo, who leads his life in agony in the society of that time; it created a shock to Korean society. His performance in
My Love, My Bride (1991) was highly esteemed in the
Asia Pacific Film Festival, and Park won the Best actor's award. Park went to the
United States in 1992 to enroll in the graduate school of
New York University, majoring in acting education. After getting his master's degree, he returned to Korea and appeared in
Two Cops (1993), a box office hit, which brought him and
Ahn Sung-ki the best actor award at the
Grand Bell Awards. His performance as a tough police officer in
Nowhere to Hide (1999) gave Park the opportunity to appear in a Hollywood film; the
film director Jonathan Demme watched this film at
Deauville Asian Film Festival, and offered him the role of an Asian villain in
The Truth About Charlie (2002), the remake of
Stanley Donen's
Charade. In 2006, Park reunited with his
Two Cops co-star Ahn Sung-ki in
Radio Star, portraying a rock star. He won the best actor's award of
Blue Dragon Film Awards with Ahn but missed Grand Bell Awards; only Ahn got the prize. From April 11–17, 2007, the event "Park Joong-hoon Mini Retrospective" was held at
Jacob Burns Film Center, presenting six films. It was the first time for an Asian actor retrospective to be held there. During the event, Park had talk sessions with Jonathan Demme and Ahn Sung-ki. Near the end of decade, Park came back into the limelight with
Haeundae (2009), Korea's first
disaster film that situates itself in a
tsunami coming to the popular beach of
Busan. Park is opposed to reducing
Screen quota, along with Ahn Sung-ki,
Choi Min-sik and others; he became second actor (the first is Ahn, and the third is Choi) of relay demonstration by actors and film directors, on February 5, 2006. ==Filmography==