Uncle Samsik marks the first time in Song's (pictured right) decades-long career that he has starred in a drama series, and it has now been confirmed that Byun Yo-han (pictured left) has joined the cast. Song will play the titular character and Byun will be seen as Kim San.
Byan is known for his role in the South Korean romantic drama series Mr. Sunshine (2018), which can be seen on Netflix.
News of the series set in the 1960s first surfaced last year, but it was not yet confirmed which network or streamer would be behind it. Disney+ has confirmed that the series will launch globally this year, with Hulu doing the same in the US.
Slingshot Studios, which announced the project at BCWW last year under the title Uncle Sam Shik, is producing. Shin Yeonshick (Cobweb, Cassiopeia) is the writer and director.
Song started his career in theater productions before making his film debut in 1996 with Hong Sang-soo's The Day A Pig Fell Into The Well. His later credits include Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, Memories Of Murder, Snowpiercer and Parasite, which won four Oscars in 2020. He also worked with Shin on the 2023 films One Win and Cobweb.
He became the first South Korean male actor to win the Best Actor award at Cannes in 2023 for his role in Broker, a Korean-language film directed by Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda.
