Son of comedian couple changes surname, steps into theater world

Park Mi-sun and Lee Bong-won's son, actor Choi Sang-yeop

Jo Hye-ryeon praises him: 'Cute, good-looking and a great actor'

Broadcaster Park Mi-sun and Lee Bong-won. [Provided by MBN]

The son of comedian couple Park Mi-sun (59) and Lee Bong-won (62) has been revealed to be working as a theater actor.

According to the YouTube channel Rolling Thunder, a video released Monday featured comedians Park Mi-sun, Jo Hye-ryeon and Lee Gyeong-sil in a candid conversation about family and life.

Jo said Park's son had changed his surname and was working as a theater actor.

Jo recalled that two years ago, a young man had auditioned for the theater production "Saranghae Eomma" ("I Love You, Mom"), and she only later realized he was Park's son. "I didn't recognize him — he had changed his surname to Choi," she said.

She went on to praise Park's son, calling him "so cute, handsome and a really good actor."

Jo also recounted how his father, Lee Bong-won, came to watch a performance and could not spot his own son in the cast, asking where he was — a sign of how different the young man appears on stage.

"He was always so quiet, but his acting is so good that even his father couldn't recognize him," Jo said, marveling at the transformation of the otherwise introverted young man.

Park said she had mixed feelings about her son's career path. "Children don't always do what you want," she said. "I'd rather he hadn't become an actor, but there's nothing I can do about it."

She drew laughs when she revealed that her son had once dreamed of becoming a comedian. "So I gave him comedy training," she said. "Even when he fell down, I'd tell him, 'That's not how you fall' — I taught him everything, from facial expressions to body movements."

Park said she was hurt when he suddenly announced he was giving up on comedy. "We don't know anything about the acting world — I don't even know how to help him," she said. She added with pride that he was quietly making his own way without any help from his parents, even changing his name to do it.

Park's son, now working under the stage name Choi Sang-yeop, graduated from Incheon National University's department of performing arts and has appeared in the Daehangno theater productions "Hamlet Trial" and "I Love You, Mom."

Meanwhile, Park Mi-sun entered Hanyang University's department of theater and film in 1985, where actor Lee Gyeong-yeong was a classmate. While still a senior, she won a prize at the MBC Gag Contest, which steered her career toward comedy rather than straight acting. She married Lee Bong-won in 1993, and the couple have a son and a daughter.

jshan@heraldcorp.com