[2] Throughout his career, Park has been cast in two different types of roles: innocent-looking, boyish characters, or else men who hide a dark streak under a nice-looking exterior.

[7] 2006 saw him return to work with acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho in the big-budget monster movie The Host which went on to become the best-selling Korean film of all time.

Park played the role of a rich, hedonistic playboy who cannot care less that his country was colonized, then falls head over heels in love with a beautiful and mysterious independence fighter (Kim Hye-soo).

[17] In 2010, Park headlined Kang Woo-suk's blockbuster mystery thriller Moss, playing a young man who comes to a rural village after hearing about his father's death and later becomes embroiled in its hidden secrets.

[26][27] He returned to the big screen in A Muse, a film adaptation of celebrated author Park Bum-shin's sensational novel about an old poet who ends up falling for a 17-year-old girl named Eun-gyo.

Upon realizing his love for the teenager, the poet goes through emotional turmoil and self-destruction, while willing to give up his fame as one of the nation's most respected literary figures.

[28] After Yim Pil-sung's Weekend Prince was delayed,[29] Park starred instead in Song Hae-sung's ensemble black comedy Boomerang Family (2013),[30][31] and Zhang Lu's introspective romance drama Gyeongju (2014).