Choi Si-won (최시원) (born February 10, 1987), sometimes mononymously credited as Siwon, is a Korean pop singer and actor. He is a member of super boy band Super Junior and its subgroup, Super Junior-M, where he is known by his Chinese name Shiyuan (Chinese language: 始源, meaning "Origin"). Aside from Super Junior related activities, Siwon is a successful male model and actor. Siwon is best known for his role in the 2006 Hong Konghistorical action film A Battle of Wits as young Prince Liang Shi, as well as the lead male in the Korean drama Oh My Lady! opposite actress Chae Rim and the data analyst and rookie elite agent from the 2010 spin-off to Iris (TV series), Athena: Goddess of War. Siwon can speak Korean, conversational Mandarin and English, very little Cantonese (Shown in his Hong Kong interview), as well as a little Japanese. He is also one of the first four Korean artists to be on Chinese postage stamps.Biography
Although Choi Siwon's registered birthday is February 10, 1987, he was actually born on April 7, 1986. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he was raised in an affluent, strict Protestant family. He was scouted by a talent agent when he was 16 as he was waiting for friends in front of his high school. He was recommended to audition for the Starlight Casting System to become an entertainer. Siwon's parents disapproved him pursuing in an entertainment career, so he had to secretly audition. He successfully passed auditions, and after consideration, his parents allowed him to sign under the talent agency SM Entertainment. Siwon said that although his father allowed him to sign the contract, he would not give any help to his son as he wanted his son to take responsibility in his actions.
He later moved into dormitories with fellow trainees and he was trained in areas of singing, acting, and dancing. Siwon stated that SM Entertainment saw potential for him in acting, and thus gave him training in the field. He made his first appearance in a music video of The Grace's Dana when he was still a solo singer in 2003. A year after, he made a brief appearance in the short drama, Precious Family. In 2005, Siwon made a brief appearance in the KBS drama Eighteen, Twenty-Nine as the young Kang Bong-man.
On July 22, 2010, Siwon was appointed as a UNICEF envoy.
Music career
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. This band later became officially known as Super Junior 05, the first generation of the rotational music group Super Junior. 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.
Super Junior 05 officially debuted on November 6, 2005 on SBS's music program Popular Songs, performing their first single, "TWINS (Knock Out)". Their debut performance attracted over 500 fans and also garnered oversea viewers from both China and Japan. A full studio album was released a month later, which debuted at #3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.
In March 2006, SM Entertainment began to recruit new members for the next Super Junior generation. However, plans changed when the company added in a thirteenth member and the company declared a halt in forming future Super Junior generations. The group dropped the suffix "05" and became officially credited as Super Junior. The re-polished group hit big after they released their first CD single "U" the following summer, which became Super Junior's most successful single in the music charts until the release of "Sorry, Sorry" in March 2009.
In late 2007, Siwon was put into Super Junior-M, the Chinese subgroup version of Super Junior. Super Junior-M is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of both Chinese and Korean descent, and brought an influence in the mainland music industry to produce multi-national music groups. The subgroup specializes in singing Mandarin songs, including versions of Super Junior's Korean songs, bringing the K-pop influence over to the Chinese music industry. Super Junior-M is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of both Chinese and Korean descent. Not long after Super Junior-M's debut, they became one of the most celebrated boy-bands in China. The band's popularity skyrocketed further after their highly anticipated Mini-album, "Super Girl" was released on September 2009.Super Junior-M debuted in China on April 8, 2008 at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards with the release of their first single music video, "U". The subgroup released their first Chinese-language studio album, Me, on May 2, 2008 to critical success. The album debuted on Taiwan's G-music combo charts as #2 and #1 on many of China's and Thailand's music charts. Siwon also appeared in Girl's Generation music video "Hoot".
Siwon's fans are called The Siwonest, a play on words referring to Siwon's name translating into "cool," and can therefore be seen as "The Coolest."
Acting career
After Siwon's appearances in Eighteen, Twenty-Nine and Precious Family, he was casted in a larger role for the mini-series Spring Waltz, playing the supporting role Park Sang-woo, the teenage cousin of a diligent and working young woman. Not long after Siwon's musical debut, he was casted in a large supporting role in the Hong Kong epic film A Battle of Wits as Prince Liang Shi, starring oppositeAndy Lau. The cast promoted the movie throughout China with a short tour of four cities in November 2006. 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 idols.
Half a year after the release of A Battle of Wits, Siwon starred in the high school mystery/comedy film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys with other Super Junior members. 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. Despite positive critical ratings, that film did not do well in the box-office, but all four versions of the film's DVD were all sold out and broke chart records. A few months later, Siwon was cast in mini-drama Legend of Hyang Dan as the lead role, Lee Mong-ryong.
In January 2010, Siwon starred in the 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 have custody of her child. This was Siwon's first lead role in two years. He also starred as Agent Kim Jun-Ho, a data analyst and rookie elite agent in the drama Athena, a spin-off of drama Iris. Both roles portrayed by him earned highly positive praises from critics, senior actors, and fans alike. There is speculation in whether the series will be reintroduced in a second season, with Siwon playing a much larger role.
His acting career also extends into various music videos for fellow label mates, such as SNSD's Hoot, and Zhang Liyin and TVXQ's Xiah's duet Timeless (Zhang Liyin song), where Siwon starred along with fellow Super Junior member Han Geng, which received critical praise. Siwon also made appearances in several commercial films, as well as guest appearing or hosting TV shows.
Siwon is scheduled in April 2011 to film Taiwanese drama Extravagant Challenge (Chinese: 華麗的挑戰) 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 to be shot in Taiwan.
On August 1, Siwon has been confirmed to be the male lead character on a new KBS drama POSEIDON. According to the production staff, Siwon will take part as a member of maritime police. POSEIDON will be broadcast in September to follow up ‘Myeongwol the Spy’ as a blockbuster drama which is about the commitment of maritime police. He has since attended script-reading sessions with other cast members.
As a Model
Siwon is best known for his "handsome appearance" and muscular physique. His looks have earned him spots on various idol "best" lists, such as being put at eleventh place in the show Idol Chart's "Most Flawless Body" list. His body if often referred to as the best by his fellow Super Junior members and many fans, and he is sometimes called "sculpture man" because his body appears "perfectly chiseled out." His fans also comically refer to his abdominal muscles frequently as "chocolate abs." He is also the tallest among Super Junior members along with Zhou Mi from Super Junior-M, standing approximately 183 centimeters tall.
Super Junior's leader Leeteuk jokingly mentioned in an episode of SBS's show Strong Heart (Korean TV show) that Siwon is purposely placed in the middle in most Super Junior photos because "putting him in the middle gives the illusion that all members of the group are really handsome." It was also mentioned that he usually sings the first verse to their songs so that the audience would see an "appealing visual." Apart from acting and Super Junior, Siwon has also appeared in various catalogs and commercials. He modeled along with Sulli of girl group f(x) in the March 3rd 2010 André Kimfashion show, receiving much praise and media attention. He has also been featured in notable magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, High Cut, and Men's Health, as well as modeling for large brand names such as Armani, Lacoste, Gucci, Evisu, and several other brands. Siwon also makes several prominent appearances in Korean brand Spao's catalogues along with SNSD and other Super Junior members. He also recently endorsed and modeled for the SK Telesys "Reaction" smart phone, also appearing in the phone's comical mock-action commercial, as well as Acer products. He has recently modeled for Burberry.
Personal life
Siwon continued his education after his debut with Super Junior in 2005. He graduated from Gu Jeong High School in February 2006 and later went on to attend Inha University. For continuity of his role in A Battle of Wits, his company arranged him to travel to Beijing, China along with labelmate Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation in 2004 to learn about the country's language and history. He studied there for three months before his return to Korea to prepare for his debut in Super Junior a year later. Siwon is extremely close to fellow Super Junior member Han Geng, with both of them claiming that they are "sworn brothers."
Siwon hails from a wealthy family. Siwon's father, Choi Ki Ho, is the CEO of Boryung Pharmaceutical Group, and has also worked for the Hanhwa Distribution Group and Korean Slim Fashion. Siwon was once asked on KBS's Win Win whether it was true that his family owned a helicopter, to which he solidly denied. His family's background has led him to be featured at the third spot in Idol Chart's Royalty in the Korean Idol World list, with fellow band mate Sungmin being featured at ninth place.
Siwon is known for being very religious, sometimes being referred to by fans as "God's #1 Fan," "Soldier of Light," and "Shisus." His fellow Super Junior members laughingly stated that he continuously tried to bring atheist member Heechul to church. Siwon later said in a CNN Talk Asia interview that after his career, he would like to become a missionary.
He is also a drummer, having performed with his senior label mates TRAX in September 2006 on SBS's music show Popular Songs due to the fact that their drummer, Rose, had left the band. He is skilled in Taekwondo and became the youngest in Korea holding the fourth rank in the black belt. He is also extremely proficient in sports. Siwon has been quoted that he has a very low metabolism, and thus gains weight relatively quickly, resulting in him having to exercise constantly.
Siwon is known and often teased by show hosts and fellow Super Junior members for his excessive use of hand gestures, his special way of greeting by holding only three fingers up, his ability to "send electrical currents through his eyebrows" (which are commonly known as "Shibrows" by fans), and his way of making mundane actions look like a commercial film. Among fans, he is known to have comical facial expressions when shocked or overly happy.
On May 18, 2010, Siwon underwent surgery to remove his inflamed salivary gland. He had been taking anti-inflammatory medicine for the inflammation during filming for the SBS drama Oh My Lady. However, his condition worsened and he had to undergo an operation for it.
Siwon has an active and verified Twitter account by the username 'siwon407'.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | A Battle of Wits | Prince Liang Shi (large supporting role) | This is the 2006 film. Not the unrelated 1912 film |
| 2007 | Attack on the Pin-Up Boys | Choi Siwon (a class president) | limited release in South Korea |
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Eighteen, Twenty-Nine | Kang Bong-Man (youth) | KBS | (16 Episodes) |
| 2005 | Precious Family | KBS | Cameo | |
| 2006 | Spring Waltz | Park Sang-Woo | KBS | supporting role (20 Episodes) |
| 2007 | Legend of Hyang-dan | Lee Mong-Ryong | MBC | lead role (2 Episodes) |
| 2008 | Stage of Youth | Himself | CCTV2 | Episode 12 |
| 2010 | Oh! My Lady | Sung Min-Woo | SBS | lead role (16 Episodes) |
| 2010 | Athena: Goddess of War | Kim Jun-Ho | SBS | large supporting role (20 Episodes & 1 Special) |
| 2011 | Poseidon | Kim Shin-Woo | KBS | lead role (16 Episodes) "Currently Airing" |
| 2011 | Skip Beat! | Dun Helian | GTV | lead role (13 Episodes) filming completed |
Music video appearances
| Year | Song Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "What is Love" | DANA |
| 2006 | "Timeless" | Zhang Liyin (Feat. Junsu of TVXQ) |
| 2008 | "I WILL" | Zhang Liyin |
| "The Left Shore of Happiness" | Zhang Liyin | |
| 2009 | "Fireflies" | Ariel Lin |
| "S.E.O.U.L." | Super Junior & Girls' Generation | |
| 2010 | "Hoot" | Girls' Generation |
Awards
| Year | Award | Nominated Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | SBS Drama Awards: New Star Awards | as Sung Min Woo for Oh My Lady! | Won |
| 2010 | 4th Men's Health Cool Guy Awards | Best Cover Model | Won |
