Rain was born in Seoul, South Korea, on June 25, 1982 with the birth
name Jung Jihoon. He was extremely shy in elementary school, stating in
interviews that he barely spoke a word. He caught the desire to become a dancer
when, at a school talent show in sixth grade, no one from his school stepped
forward to dance so he gave it a try, imitating the moves he saw on TV. The
applause was extremely gratifying and he decided on the spot to become a
professional dancer. In order to learn, he sought out older street dancers, who
sometimes helped him, sometimes bullied and beat him
up.
Rain and his younger sister, Hana, enjoyed a
comfortable life until the Korean recession of 1997, when his father's mill and
bakery businesses failed. Bankrupt, his father left for Brazil to pursue
economic opportunities, leaving Rain's mother to try to support the family as a
food vendor. Rain's mother was ailing from diabetes due to lack of money for
medical care and insulin.
Rain got a start in the entertainment business
briefly as part of a six-member boy-band called Fanclub. Revealing abuses in
the Korean entertainment industry, Rain described the Fanclub members as
"caged animals" locked in the rehearsal room for up to ten hours
without food. After Fanclub released only two CDs, the company promoting the
band failed and Rain was back to square one.
Finally in 2000, he was accepted by JYP
Entertainment as a trainee. CEO Park Jin Young, who put Rain through a grueling
3-4 hour audition, described Rain as "desperate" and "like a
tiger who was about to starve to death" (2008 Discovery Channel
documentary "Hip Korea"). JYP stipulated that Rain had to attend
college so, after studying "ferociously," Rain got accepted to Kyunghee
University and became a music major. Rain spent three years as a trainee and
back-up dancer for JYP, who has stated that he was particularly critical of
Rain in order to push him to be the best and keep him from "getting a
swelled head."
During Rain's time as a trainee, his family was
living in poverty and his mother was becoming increasingly ill due to lack of
money for medicine. Rain drove himself hard in order to prove himself ready to
make his debut, but did not achieve success in time to save her life. She died
from complications of diabetes a year before his debut. This event had a huge
impact on Rain. He has said in interviews that he regrets having had conflict
with her over skipping school to go to dance practice, and that he believes she
is in heaven where she can see him.
He says that a major motivation in his life is to
make her proud and he still visits her grave before embarking on each new
project. Another motivator Rain has mentioned is remembering what it was like
to be hungry. He is a self-professed workaholic and after acting alongside him
in Speed Racer, John Goodman called him "the hardest working man in show
business."
Rain's musical career includes seven albums (six Korean, one Japanese), 28 singles and numerous concert tours around the world. His acting career began in 2003, when he won the KBS Best New Actor award for his role in the drama Sang Doo! Let's Go To School. In 2004, Rain won the KBS Excellence in Acting (Best Actor) award for his role in the drama Full House After starring in A Love To Kill he acted in his first Korean film, I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. Rain has acted in the American films , Speed Racer (2008) and Ninja Assassin (2009) the latter of which made him the first Korean to win an MTV award. Rain acted in another Korean film, R2B: Return to Base, that was released in August 2012.
In 2007, Rain left the
management of JYP Entertainment and started his own company, J. Tune
Entertainment but still retains collaborative relationship with Park
Jin-young. In 2013, it was announced he will be discharged from the army on
July 10, 2013 and Rain had signed a contract with Cube DC, a sub-label of
Cube Entertainment whose CEO is the former President of JYP Entertainment.
He was ranked at #46 on 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2013. The
following year was ranked at #78 on 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2014.
Rain is known for his many charity efforts, a few notable examples: In 2005 He donated money to have 50 drinking water wells built and in 2007 to have playgrounds built in Cambodia. In 2006 Rain participated in the Love Photography Exhibition to help find adoptive parents and was appointed World Vision HIV/AIDS Ambassador. A percent of his 2006-2007 World Tour Concert proceeds were donated to assist children orphaned by AIDs. In 2007 he participated in the MTV EXIT campaign against human trafficking. In 2008 he volunteered in the Taean oil spill cleanup and donated 300 million won. In 2009, he performed in Jackie Chan's ''Good Friends'' concert (all proceeds donated to charity) and participated in The Green Ribbon Hope Walking campaign to raise funds for prevention and to help find missing children.
Rain's motto : Endless effort, endless humility, endless modesty.
