Bong Joon-ho and Jung Sun-young's love story: 'Parasite' director met his future wife at college movie club
Bong Joon Ho has been named 'a genre unto himself.' The history-making South Korean director has been in the headlines since his 'Parasite' won the Oscar in 2020. In 2021, the 'Okja' director will make an appearance on the night of the Academy Awards as a presenter. Prior to the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, here's a look at the movie maker's inspiring love story with screenwriter, Jung Sun-young.
Bong Joon Ho's wife Jung sun-young became a viral sensation after Oscars 2020 as a clip from the winning moment showed how Sun-young could not stop her tears after the announcement declaring that her husband was the winner. Joon Ho shared how Sun-young has been his first critic for the span of last 26 years, two decades since their marriage.
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Bong Joon-ho and Jung Sun-young's love story
Speaking of their meet-cute moment, Bong Joon-ho shared, “I met my wife, a movie buff, at a college movie club,” Vanity Fair reported. The 51-year-old director shared how his wife of 25 years has been his close confidence, first critic, and the one who gets to take a look at Joon-ho's work first. “She was my first reader. I was always so afraid to show her my finished script,” he revealed.
Joon-ho didn't always have everything handed to him on a silver platter. Before his movie, 'Memories of Murder', Joon-ho was struggling financially. But his wife stayed by his side and provided rock-solid support, the South Korean movie-maker said, adding, “I gave her expenses for a year and asked her to give me one year for my film work. I will always be grateful for her who told me to go for it.”
Speaking of her wife Jung Sun-young, who worked as one of Joon-ho's staff for a while, the 'Snowpiercer' maker gushed, “She has a very human face” and talked about whenever he is overseas for movies, how he misses his other half and longs to go on 'vacations' once the movie promotions are over.
Bong Joon-ho's wife can't stop crying on stage after "Parasite" takes it all. pic.twitter.com/XvDJfINevm
— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) February 10, 2020
Before 'Parasite's grand victory of snagging Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay at Oscars 2020 and making 'Parasite' the first film not in English to win Best Picture, Joon-ho made his International mark with 'Okja' in 2017 which was selected for Cannes Film Festival. Joon-ho's 'Snowpeircer' is another critically acclaimed movie.
With Parasite's record-breaking success, Joon-ho also made his name in Metacritic's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century. In 2020, Bong was featured in Time's annual list of 100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg 50.
Catch Bong Joon-ho presenting at Oscars 2021. The 93rd Oscars will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021 at Union Station Los Angeles and the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and international locations via satellite. 'Oscars: Into the Spotlight' will air live on Oscar Sunday, April 25, on ABC at 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT. The Oscars will be televised live on ABC at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.
Check out the full list of nominations here.
