Park Si-hoo walks his long road back to cinema

The former drama sensation returns after 13 years with a Christmas tearjerker

Park Si-hoo (Hoo Factory)

"I'd been looking forward to this for almost 15 years," Park Si-hoo says Thursday in an office in central Seoul. Having spent years away from cinema, he missed the feel of a film set: Slower pace of shooting, the close-knit vibe among the cast and crew. "Then I got to Mongolia for the shoot — minus 38 degrees — and it was harder than any TV drama I've done."

The freezing location work was for "Choir of God," a made-for-the-holidays weepie about North Korean soldiers who form a fake church choir to scam foreign aid money and — as one might expect — find themselves transformed along the way. Think the uniformed heartthrobs of "Crash Landing on You" meets Sunday service, complete with enough Christian sermonizing to either move you or make you cringe.

Park plays the ice-cold officer leading the scheme. It's his first Korean film release in 13 years, and the road here has been anything but smooth. Then again, smooth is hardly the word used to describe his career.

He was once a fixture of Korea's golden age of network television when families used to gather around TVs at appointed hours. In 2012, he made his film debut as a sociopath in the R-rated thriller "Confession of Murder," which found an audience despite the marketing restrictions that come with adult-only ratings.

Then came 2013, and a sexual assault allegation that dominated tabloids for months. The accuser dropped the complaint and no charges were filed, but the damage had already been done.

Park Si-hoo stars in "Choir of God" (CJ CGV/Studio Target)

Years of overseas work and hiatus followed before Park clawed his way back with 2017's "My Golden Life," a KBS drama series that at one point hit 47 percent ratings across the country — numbers that no longer exist in the streaming era. He was back in the game, with more cable dramas and a growing fanbase.

Then he dropped out of sight, yet again. He'd spent nearly a year filming a Korean remake of "The Mentalist" for HBO Max, only for the network's plans to launch in Korea to fall through. The show remains in limbo, maybe arriving in 2026, maybe not.

"It was supposed to be this big thing," Park says. "There's talk Netflix might acquire HBO, so maybe it'll come out that way."

And then, this August, another allegation — that Park had brokered an extramarital affair for an acquaintance. He denied it at a press conference earlier this month and said he's pursuing legal action.

That's the sheer weight of baggage trailing "Choir of God," which opens Dec. 31. Park, a lifelong Christian whose uncle is a pastor, insists the faith angle wasn't what drew him.

"The script just had this power," he says. "My character's ruthless at first. Watching him change through these choir member, I thought that'd resonate with anyone, religious or not."

Park Si-hoo stars in "Choir of God" (CJ CGV/Studio Target)

At 48, Park looks like he's in his mid-30s, and the disconnect is striking in person. He credits that uncanny youthfulness to regular workouts and sticking to one meal a day outside of shoots. "Gain weight, and that youthful look's gone," he says. "Diet's everything."

Production dragged him to Mongolia for six weeks. The first day, cameras froze within five minutes. One scene had him walking barefoot through snow. "Five steps, that's your limit before you've got to stop and thaw out. The whole thing took half a day."

Being a musical of sorts, "Choir of God" also got Park to sing — something he'd been dreading all along. "I kept asking if we could cut my parts. The other actors are actual singers." In the end, he gave up on technique and trusted the feeling. "I figured, I'm an actor. Let me act through the song."

Asked about the setbacks — or bad luck, some might say — that dogged his career, Park shrugs it off. He's an optimist by nature, he says, happy to spend downtime traveling solo or camping.

"I don't stress about gaps between projects. If nothing clicks, I just wait — a year, two years. There's plenty to do in the meantime.

"Give me the chance, and I'll go all in. That much I know about myself."