Song Kang-ho to take lead role in new drama series 'Uncle Sam Shik'

Actor Song Kang-ho at the Cannes Film Festival in France in June [CJ ENM/JOONGANG ILBO]

Cannes’ Best Actor recipient Song Kang-ho will star in a drama series for the first time in his 32-year acting career.

Production company Slingshot Studio announced that Song will take the lead in a 10-part television series titled "Uncle Sam Shik." It added that the broadcaster and the date of release has not yet been decided.

"Uncle Sam Shik" is a show about the passions and friendships of two men — Sam Shik portrayed by Song and Kim San — in the early 1960s. The actor who will be playing Kim San has not yet been announced.

Director Shin Yeon-shick will lead the series. Song starred in Shin's films "One Win" and "Cobweb," both of which have finished filming but have yet been released.

"Uncle Sam Shik is the lead character of the series with a complex narrative," the production company said. "We expect that Song Kang-ho will certainly bring this character to life with great vivacity."

Song debuted in 1991 through a theatrical play called “A Little Monk” and made his silver screen debut in director Hong Sang-soo’s “The Day A Pig Fell Into The Well” (1996). He is best known for his performances in films "Parasite" (2019), "A Taxi Driver" (2017), "Snowpiercer" (2013) and "Memories of Murder" (2003).

In June, he was named Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in “Broker" a Korean film directed by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Song is also part of the cast of "Emergency Declaration," an action film that is currently showing in theaters. It is about an aviation disaster that occurs in the middle of a flight from Seoul to Honolulu.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]