The Robot Actor Jang Su-won!
If you’ve been watching a lot of Korean variety shows, you might be familiar with the flat expression of actor/Sech Kies member, Jang Su-won. Often, this characteristic and iconic expression of him became his trademark or an opening for teasing in the variety shows. But, who exactly is Jang Su-won? Why does he famous for his nickname, ‘robot actor’?
If you’re curious about those questions, you came to the right place as we will tell you everything that we know about him. Let’s deep dive!
Full Profile of Jang Su-won
- Stage Name: Suwon
- Birth Name: Jang Su Won (장수원)
- Position in Sech Kies’: Sub Vocalist, Maknae
- Active years: 1997-present
- Birthday: July 16, 1980
- Zodiac Sign: Cancer
- Height: 176 cm
- Weight: 52 kg
- Blood Type: A
- Instagram: @suwonjang
Jang Su-won Fun Facts that Will Surprise You
- He joined the open audition that is held by Daesung Entertainment
- Aside from being Sech Kies’ maknae, he also a member of Sech Kies’ subunit, White Kies
- He also formed a duo named J-Walk with Kim Jae-duck after Sech Kies’ disbanded in 2000
- He debuted as an actor in the idol edition of Love and War in which his acting was heavily criticized, he then earned the nickname of robot actor since then
- He can do taekwondo
- Watching movies is his hobby
- Ivory and white are his favorite colors
- His ex-girlfriend was a college student, which was 13 years his junior
- When describing his ideal type, he said “A small, cute girl who has a lot of charm.”
Jang Su-won Debut and Career with Sech Kies
Jang Su-won first began his career in the entertainment world by debuting in one of the 1990’s biggest Kpop boy group, Sech Kies. It was said that he joined the DSP audition because he was following his friend and only selected because he got lucky and answered honestly. At the Sech Kies’ audition, he answered honestly, “I don’t have anything.”. Later, it was said that he was chosen for his neat appearance and positive attitude. Although at At that time, Jang Su-won was also part of the school dance team, so he danced well although he is not strong in the singing skill.
When he debuted with Sech Kies’ in 1997, he was in his second year of high school. He filled the position of maknae in the group, and only got a little part in singing. But even in the days when lip sync was the mainstream, the group did a lot of live singing, without anxiousness. Jang Su-won even could pull off the live singing with ease. Jang Su-won also notorious for his considerate and kind personality, gaining him popularity amongst fans.
The group became the iconic Korean group in the 1990s and has released several major bobs. Unfortunately, the group decided to disband after releasing the fourth album in May 2000 until they decided to come back under YG Entertainment on their 20th anniversary in 2017.
Jang Su-won Journey with J-Walk
After Seck Kies was disbanded, Jang Su-won teamed up with fellow Sech Kies’ members, Kim Jae-deok, and formed a duo named J-Work in 2002. On his second debut, his vocal skills have improved significantly and many fans were surprised. J-Work then was loved by many for their stable, and attractive voice. They released their first album, Suddenly, in March 2002. The title track of the same name, “Suddenly” went as high as No. 2 on the music charts. And suddenly, their releases took first place in the songs ranking program. From then, J-Walk released performed many different ballads and light dance songs of medium tempo.
At that time when their third EP My Love (여우비) was released in 2008 with the help of Eun Ji-won, Kim Jae-duck started to enlist not long after, leaving Su-won all by himself to promote the album. In December 2009, Su-won enlisted in the military until October 2011.
Then, after both of them has discharged, they signed with new companies called A&G Modes and released a mini-album in 2013 titled Love…Painfully with “Strive” as the main track.
Jang Su-won Reputation as Robot Actor
With just one special drama appearance, Jang Su-won’s acting became an iconic moment that earned him the name of ‘robot actor’.
Jang Su-won made his acting debut in the idol edition of Love and War (2013) where he later was extremely criticized for his flat expression and poor acting. This appearance has earned him the nickname of ‘robot actor’ for his robotic acting, where his expression and tone hardly change no matter what line he is speaking or in any situation. At first, the public is baffled by Jang Su-won’s acting, especially when it was a known fact that he took an acting major in Kyung Hee University’s Department of Theater and Film.
However, seeing his nice attitude, the public stopped criticizing him and even said that his acting is unique. Thus, this became the trademark for Jang Su-won’s brand as an actor. He was then adjusting his actor image as a gag character. It started with an appearance in MBC’s Radio Star where he embraced his robot acting and then from there, he is frequently cast in various CF, entertainment, and comedy programs.
Thus, he became famous for this unique characteristic that earned him roles in various comedy skits, such as when he starred in the parody version of drama Misaeng, titled Misaengmool as the main character Jang Geu-rae. Funnily, when he showed an improvement in acting skill, many people were sad and said that they missed his robotic acting.
Check out also his appearance in the SNL Korea below!
Jang Su-won Entertainment Activity
During his early career, as he is known to be the silent and awkward type, he got teased a lot in the variety shows. His team members even said that he was in charge of silence at Sechs Kies’. However, after his image as a smoker and robot actor embarked, his popularity has increased significantly, and he is making a big success in entertainment for his flat expression and straightforward response.
He even became the host of his own variety show, Jang Su-won’s Food Diary on Delicious TV where one of his lines became famous (“Taste, is it okay?”) while consistently appeared with his robotic concept.
In 2016, he joined tvN ‘s new entertainment Actor School as a regular member where Park Shin-yang became the teacher. He also appeared in the Let’s Go Time Expedition Season 3, which airs from April 2016. He also appeared in many variety shows such as Law of the Jungle, Running Man, Radio Star, etc.
He was famous for delivering a savage comeback. Check out his few appearances in the clip below!
Jang Su-won Relationship History
In January 2015, Jang Su-won revealed his first-ever public relationship where he guested on the episode of Quiz to Change the World. He revealed, “My girlfriend is 13 years younger than me and a college student… I didn’t plan on making my relationship public, but while I was appearing on a cable program, Jun Hyun Moo asked me in private whether I had a girlfriend. I didn’t know it was filming, and I answered honestly.”
He then got responded by Shin Dong-yup. “There’s no reason you should worry about an age difference. Your girlfriend is 23. It’d be a problem if you’ve been dating her for 5 or 6 years.” while Rose Motel‘s Yook Joon-wan jokingly responded, “If I was dating a woman 13 years younger than I am, they’d call me a criminal.”
Although he didn’t reveal the name of his girlfriend at that time, the identity of the girlfriend was still exposed to some fans. His girlfriend even had a few controversies with the fandom, particularly when she was posting on her Instagram shortly after Jang Su-won’s controversial statement regarding the money that he made and whether or not he planned to marry. She posted a photo of Jang Su-won’s hands along with the caption, “My oppa’s hands that I like,” thus fueling the war between fandom.
She also defended Jang Su-won when he got into controversy due to his insensitive statement. She said “I’m too old to sit down and cry when I’m going through a hard time. I’m still too young to act like nothing’s wrong.” and “I’m having an important experience. The timing is superb. Please don’t hate my oppa because of me. I’ll be more careful.”
Unfortunately, his plan to marry his girlfriend in 3 years’ time was failed for the couple revealed that they had broken up in 2018 after 4 years together. Following this, Jang Su-won’s now ex-girlfriend deleted the Instagram posts that contained Jang Su-won from her page.
Jang Su-won Controversial Statement
In 2016, Jang Su-won’s statement regarding his girlfriend has caused a ripple amongst the fans. When he guested on the episode of Please Take Care of My Refrigerator and was asked about his marriage plans (following his public relationship revelation before), Jang Su-won responded with, “I need to make up for the money I didn’t make with Sechskies,” adding he wanted to marry within 3 years.”. This statement has made the fans angry with him, for he seems like he didn’t appreciate his fans and only thinking about money.
Some fans showed their disappointment to him. Many left comments such as “What he said really makes me not want to buy their album,” and “I guess he was really eager about the money.”
Responding to this controversy, Jang Su-won finally released a sincere apology on his Instagram.
He wrote in the caption:
“First, I’m very sorry that I’m just addressing the issue now, and I’ve thought a lot about what to say to console your hurt feelings. What I said on the broadcast. Meant I should and want to focus more on Sechskies’ activities for the time being. Plus I wanted to make it comical for the variety show. What I want to ask of you is that there’s no divide between the fans because of this event. I’m sorry, I love you, and goodnight. #Whoever told me to leave #I’ll find you #Feel like drinking tonight.”
He said that his joke might go too far and he didn’t mean to hurt his fans’ feelings. He handles this matter carefully and successfully, seeing that he now got his popularity and image back and is still actively promoting on TV.
We cannot wait to see his future activities!
So, those are all the things that you need to know regarding the Sech Kies’ members and ‘robot actor’ Jang Su-won! What do you think about him? Leave your opinion in the comment section below!
