Actor

1994-09-22 · Changwon, South Korea · Male

47 series in the catalog

Park Jin-young (Korean: 박진영; born September 22, 1994), known mononymously as Jinyoung, and formerly as Jr. and Junior, is a South Korean singer, actor, and songwriter. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Got7 and duo JJ Project.

As an actor, he gained recognition for his roles in the television series The Devil Judge (2021), Yumi's Cells (2021–2022), and Our Unwritten Seoul (2025), for which he received a Best Actor nomination at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards. He has also starred in the films Christmas Carol (2022) and Hi-Five (2025). He won the Best New Actor award at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards for Christmas Carol and received a Best New Actor nomination at the 46th Blue Dragon Film Awards for Hi-Five.

He is known for building his characters' emotions drawing from his personal experience rather than maximizing specific emotions or highlighting dramatic moments, and for conveying sorrow through a silent demeanor and deep, teary eyes.

Early life and education

Park is a native of Udo Island in Jinhae District, Changwon, where his grandparents reside, but grew up in Yongwon-dong, Jinhae District.

He had childhood ambitions to be an entertainer and appear on TV since his fifth year of primary school. His mother was against it and, when Park was attending his sixth year, she sent him to an audition for SM Entertainment, agreeing that, if he failed, he would give up; however, he made it to the third and final preliminary round and won the popularity award. As the family's opposition diminished, he started taking dance classes at Busan Dance School in Seomyeon and Haeundae starting from the winter vacation of his first year of middle school, although he didn't take it seriously for the first three months until his father reproached him.

After three months of intense practice, he was able to dance, and in 2009 he successfully auditioned for JYP Entertainment, winning first place at the open audition with Jay B over 10,000 applicants; he subsequently moved to Seoul alone, in the middle of his first year of high school. At that time he only liked dancing, but, thinking seriously about his future, he realized that he loved music as a whole. He attended Gyeonggi High School and Howon University.

Career

2011–2014: Dream High 2, JJ Project and debut with Got7

In 2011, after six months of acting classes, Park was cast in the role of Jung Ui-bong in the television drama Dream High 2. The drama began airing on January 30, 2012, on KBS. On February 29, he released the song "We Are The B" for the drama's soundtrack, along with Jinwoon, Kang So-ra and Kim Ji-soo.

In May 2012, Park and fellow trainee Jay B debuted as the duo JJ Project with the single album Bounce. On March 11, 2013, it was announced that he would be appearing as Ddol-yi on MBC's new drama When a Man Falls in Love, which aired for twenty episodes beginning April 3. On January 16, 2014, Park debuted as a vocalist in JYP Entertainment's new boy group Got7. Their first EP was released soon after on January 20 and Park made the choreography for one of the songs, "Follow Me".

2015–2017: Hosting and acting roles

In 2015, Park was cast in a supporting role in the drama This is My Love, which aired on JTBC from May 29 to July 18. His portrayal of the male lead's younger counterpart caught attention and he received favorable reviews for his natural acting of a teenage boy. His stable performance showcasing the typical bluntness, rough rebellion, and subtle excitement of a teen's first love was deemed unbecoming of a rookie and was noted to be completely different from Got7's soft boyfriend image. Although the previous roles hadn't sparked his interest in acting, while filming This is My Love Park realized that it was actually fun, and the memories of that time prompted him to continue working as an actor. The same year in March he was hired as official host for M Countdown alongside Shinee's Key, group member BamBam and CNBLUE's Jung-shin. Park left his position as MC in March 2016 to focus on activities with Got7, including the group's first worldwide concert tour.

In 2016, Park was cast as the male lead in the independent film A Stray Goat, directed by Cho Jae-min: in the film, he played a high school student who moves to the town of Goseong where he meets a girl, who is an outcast because of rumors and suspicions about her father. The film was theatrically released on March 1, 2017, and premiered at the 17th Jeonju International Film Festival. In September 2016, he was cast for a supporting role in the drama The Legend of the Blue Sea, where he portrayed the teenage version of Lee Min-ho's character, the male lead of the series. In February 2017, SBS announced Park, NCT's Doyoung, and Blackpink's Jisoo as the new fixed MCs of Inkigayo.

2018–2020: Transition to leading roles

In December 2018, Park landed his first lead role in the fantasy rom-com drama He Is Psychometric alongside Kim Kwon, Kim Da-som and Shin Ye-eun, receiving favorable reviews from viewers for his rough action scenes and heartbreaking tearful acting. Producer Kim Byung-soo stated that he had struggled five years to find the right guy in his early twenties to play Lee Ahn, and that Park caught his eye through This is My Love while he was looking for new faces. In 2020, Park starred in the television series When My Love Blooms alongside Yoo Ji-tae, Lee Bo-young and Jeon So-nee, and was cast in the film Yaksha: Ruthless Operations as the youngest member of a team of spies in foreign countries dedicated to overseas missions.

In August, he was confirmed as the main lead in the tvN legal drama The Devil Judge alongside Ji Sung as associate judge Kim Ga-on. Park auditioned for the role due to a fascination for Kim Ga-on's gradual change over the course of the series. Writer Moon Yoo-seok later shared that he had cast him for his defiant gaze and that, upon learning of Park's commitment to studying the role, he thought that he had found the perfect Ga-on, "sincere, competent and eager, but with an indistinct sense of resignation and anger". The drama premiered in July 2021, and Bryan Tan of Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore praised Park by writing, "[he] has been spectacularly pleasurable to watch. The young actor is extremely authentic in his portrayal of the tortured and righteous associate judge Kim Ga-on, and his ambiguous romantic feelings towards his friend Yoon Soo-hyun adds flavour to the side plot, and his presence adds a lighter and youthful dimension in contrast to Kang Yo-han's direct and merciless methods".

2021–2024: Departure from JYPE and solo activities

In January 2021, Park, along with the other six members of Got7, chose not to renew his contract with JYP Entertainment. On January 28 it was announced that he signed an exclusive contract with BH Entertainment. On July 22, 2021, he was confirmed to appear in the tvN drama Yumi's Cells as Yoo Ba-bi alongside Kim Go-eun. The series, based on the webtoon of the same title, premiered the following September. On July 29, 2021, Park released the self-written, self-composed digital single "Dive" as a gift for fans, along with a special performance clip published on 1theK Originals official YouTube channel. The song, based on the sound of the bands, debuted on Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart at number 12. In September, he starred in New York Fashion Week's digital fashion short film, Concept Korea New York S/S 2022, for Nohant, a unisex casual brand based in Seoul. The film was released through the New York Fashion Week official website and the Korea Creative Content Agency official YouTube channel.

On September 29, 2021, he released "Dive (Japanese ver.)". The following month, Park was confirmed to star as the lead in the crime thriller film Christmas Carol, based on the novel of the same name, about a guy who goes to a juvenile detention center to avenge his twin brother's death. The film, which was selected by the Busan Asian Project Market (APM), began…