Jang Dong-gun (born March 7, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the films Friend (2001) and Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War (2004). Jang is one of the highest-paid actors and celebrity endorsers in Korea, consistently topping surveys by industry insiders of most bankable stars. Early life Jang Dong-gun spent his childhood in Yongsan District, Seoul, and later went on to study at the Korea National University of Arts School of Drama, though he dropped out before obtaining a degree. Career 1992–2003: Beginnings and breakout Jang first entered the entertainment world in a talent contest in 1992. He began by acting in TV dramas such as Iljimae, The Last Match, co-starring Shim Eun-ha, and he eventually made his film debut in Repechage (1997) together with Kim Hee-sun. By the late 1990s he had become quite popular in Korea, but he also became one of the first Korean stars to garner a fan following in other parts of Asia, after several of his TV dramas were screened there in the late nineties. In 1999, after acting in the critically acclaimed Nowhere to Hide as Park Joong-hoon's younger partner, Jang moved on to star in a feature that was filmed on location in Shanghai. Titled Anarchists, this tale of five young terrorists from 1930s China helped to elevate his status even further. Jang's breakout came in early 2001 in Friend, which smashed the box office record set by Shiri to become (at the time) the biggest Korean film of all time. After playing the nice guy in almost all his previous roles, this portrayal of a tough-talking gangster from Busan led him to local stardom. The following year he starred in the popular action blockbuster 2009 Lost Memories set in a futuristic Great Japan, and appeared in the low-budget film The Coast Guard by controversial director Kim Ki-duk. 2004–2011: Overseas popularity and Hollywood debut In 2004, Jang took the lead role in Kang Je-gyu's Taegukgi, an epic film about two brothers set during the Korean War. The film broke Friend'''s record with an astounding 11 million tickets sold. By this time, Jang's name had become known widely throughout Asia. Jang followed this up with The Promise, a $30 million pan-Asian production by Chinese director Chen Kaige in which he played opposite Hong Kong star Cecilia Cheung. Meanwhile, he was cast in Typhoon as a