How it all started...
Growing up in a blended family of 9, Joey's life wasn't your average one. Throughout his life he moved with his parents and siblings from state to state to see medical specialists for his disabled little brother. When Joey was 11, his mother auditioned at the local community theater and was cast as Miss Hannigan in 'Annie'. During the play run that season, Joey was given the task of managing Sandy (Annie's dog). The local community theater group took him under their wing and showed him the thrill of acting. This sparked a flame for acting that would be realized later in Joey's adult years.
The Korean Acting Story
After completing university in 2014, Joey decided to pursue his dream of acting full time. He made his debut on a variety show called ‘Running Man’ in South Korea. From there, he studied acting on his own and started acting in supporting roles in Film and co-starring in TV series.
Joey dedicated himself to an intense daily training regiment through studying acting books like Uta Hagen's 'Respect for Acting' or Larry Moss's 'The Intent to Live', attending acting classes with top L.A. acting coaches, as well as participating in meet-ups with other actors for acting practice sessions.
Joey believes that everything should be earned and this is the driving force behind his flourishing and successful career. The skill set he has built and continues to work on has allowed him to become one of the most well-known foreign actors in the Korean Film Industry, but he wasn't satisfied there. Onto L.A.!
The LA Acting Story
Knowing he could achieve more, Joey decided to make the jump to L.A. in late 2021. He already had top acting coaches on his resume due to the pandemic moving most acting classes online. After studying with Lesly Kahn, UCB Improv L.A., and Killian, Joey landed and immediately started training with Howard Fine.
As soon as he got off the plane, he hit the ground running. Within 3 days of landing in L.A., he was booked to play the lead in a short film and was filming on set. That same week, he passed 2 more auditions for leading roles in 2 other short films.
While in classes, Joey managed to book 7 shorts in 70 days before returning to Korea for the holidays (5 of them leading roles, 2 of them supporting).
How the films performed as of September 1st, 2022
- Contraban: Won the Best Short Award at the Oscar qualifying BronzeLens Film Festival; as well as the Audience Choice Award for the Pan-Asian Film Festival
- The Stall: Official Selection at the Catalina Film Festival and another film festival
- Sunday in America: Official Selection at the San Francisco International Film Awards
- Private Audition: Semi-Finalist at the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival
* The films are still awaiting submission results from various film festivals.
After testing his skills in L.A., Joey went back to Korea and landed a recurring role in a huge global streaming service TV series. He spent 3 months in the Philippines and 3 more in South Korea working on this project. Immediately after finishing his contract at the end of July, he was booked in a supporting role in an American Feature Film.
Even after all this, Joey is still excited to continue acting classes and book challenging projects. He is currently working between Los Angeles and Seoul, but his end goal is to be a full-time working actor in Los Angeles. For Joey, it isn't a matter of if, but a matter of when. Step by step, he is getting there. It is only a matter of time.