Yu Oh-seong

In this Korean name, the family name is Yu .

Yu Oh-seong
Born	(1966-09-11) September 11, 1966 (age 57) Yeongwol County, South Korea
Other names	Yoo Oh-sung Yoo Oh-seong
Education	Hanyang University - Theater and Film
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992-present
Family	Yu Sang-beom
Korean name
Hangul	유오성
Hanja	劉 五 性
Revised Romanization	Yu Oh-seong
McCune–Reischauer	Yu Osŏng

Yu Oh-seong (born September 11, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in Beat (1997), Attack the Gas Station (1999), Friend (2001) and Champion (2002).

Career

Yu Oh-seong made his stage debut in 1992, and throughout the mid-1990s, he complemented a career in television with minor roles in film. With his success playing a young gangster in the hit movie Beat (1997), Yu's face became familiar to a new generation of moviegoers. The year 1999 was somewhat of a breakthrough for Yu, as he took the lead role in Jang Jin's acclaimed cult comedy, The Spy and also starred in Kim Sang-jin's hugely successful Attack the Gas Station . ^[1]

His career reached its peak in 2001. Appearing as Jang Dong-gun's co-star in Kwak Kyung-taek's smash hit Friend , which sold an unprecedented 8 million tickets, Yu won effusive critical praise for his hard-edged performance as a ruthless gangster and enjoyed a tremendous degree of exposure. ^{[1] [2]}

This fame would carry over somewhat when he took the lead in director Kwak's fourth feature Champion , a 1980s-set biopic of boxer Kim Deuk-gu, who dominated the Korean boxing scene until his death after the World Boxing Association lightweight championship in 1982. However, even though Yu was praised for his body makeover and acting skills, the film failed to deliver on the high expectations that preceded it. ^[1] Later that year, a series of highly public disagreements with Kwak, believed to stem from money problems, made headlines and served to cool some of the public's interest in the actor. ^[3]

Yu's next two films, the melodrama Star with actress Park Jin-hee and the patriotic/historical drama Thomas An Jung-geun about the titular independence activist, bombed badly at the box office. ^[1]

He returned to television in 2004, headlining his first historical drama series ( sageuk ) Jang Gil-san. Set in the Joseon period during the reign of King Sukjong, Jang Gil-san was born of a female servant, raised by gypsies, then rises politically. ^[4]

For the contemporary drama Invisible Man in 2006, he played a man in his thirties battling early-onset Alzheimer's disease with the support of his loving family (his wife is played by Chae Shi-ra). ^[5] Yu said his character Choi Jang-soo was closest to his real-life personality. ^[6] This was followed by a leading role in adultery drama Dear Lover (2007) with Yoon Son-ha, a remake of 1995 Japanese drama Koibito Yo. ^[7]

In 2009, Yu and Song Seon-mi played a gangster and doctor who fall in love in the stage play Turn Around and Leave, which was previously dramatized onscreen in the 1998 film A Promise and the 2006 TV series Lovers . ^[8] Later that year, he played a supporting role in Potato Symphony, about a man who moves back to his hometown with his daughter, and faces unresolved conflicts with his old high school friends (the protagonist is played by Jeon Yong-taek, who also wrote, directed and produced the film). Jeon and Yu are close friends in real life, and the film is set in their hometown Yeongwol County. Despite winning the Grand Prix at the 4th Festival Franco-Coréen du Film, Potato Symphony was little seen domestically. ^[9]

After the underwhelming box office and TV ratings of past projects he'd headlined, Yu stuck to supporting roles. He starred opposite Kim Dong-wook in buddy comedy Happy Killers (2010), in which Kim played a slacker cop assigned to investigate a serial killer case, while Yu played an unemployed man with natural instincts as a detective who gets in the way by trying to catch the killer as well. ^[6] Yu also appeared in action series Swallow the Sun (2009) which was filmed in Las Vegas, South Africa and Jeju Island, two horse-based human comedy films -- Lump Sugar (2006) starring Im Soo-jung and Champ (2011) starring Cha Tae-hyun, ^[10] and the crime drama Don't Cry Mommy (2012). ^[11]

More recently, he played villains in the 2010 historical drama Kim Su-ro, The Iron King , and the 2012 fantasy Faith in which he played a fictionalized version of Empress Gi's older brother. ^[12]

In 2013, Yu reprised his most memorable role in the sequel Friend: The Great Legacy , in which he faces the grown-up son of the friend he'd given orders to be killed (Kim Woo-bin), interspersed with scenes of his own father's gangster past in Busan (Joo Jin-mo). ^[13]

Yu made a return to the sageuk genre with the 2014 drama series Gunman in Joseon , in which he plays the main antagonist. His performance as Choi Won-sin, a villainous and powerful merchant and the archenemy of Lee Joon-gi's character, was widely praised and earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 2014 KBS Drama Awards. ^{[14] [15]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1991	Love, Love: Han Hee-jak's Love Stories	Dal-shik
1993	First Love
1994	I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me	Hwang Nam-gi
1995	Dr. Bong	On-dal
	Terrorist	Jeom-pyo
	Man?	Seong Chung-do
1996	Kill the Love	Baek Joon
1997	Poison
	Beat	Tae-soo
1998	Saturday, 2:00 pm	Dal-soo
	Spring in My Hometown	Sung-min's uncle
1999	The Spy	Rhee Cheol-jin
	Attack the Gas Station	Mu Dae-po ("Bulldozer")
2001	Friend	Lee Joon-seok
2002	Champion	Kim Deuk-gu
2003	Star	Yeong-woo
2004	Thomas An Jung-geun	An Jung-geun
2006	Lump Sugar	Yun-jo
2009	Potato Symphony	Jin-han
2010	Happy Killers	Kim Young-seok
2011	Champ	Trainer Yoon
2012	Don't Cry Mommy	Detective
2013	Friend: The Great Legacy	Lee Joon-seok
2015	Shoot Me in the Heart	Choi Ki-hoon
2018	The Great Battle	Yeon Gaesomun
2021	Tomb of the River	Gil-seok [16]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1998	Aim for Tomorrow	Kang Dae-ho
2000	Some Like It Hot	Kang Man-ho
2004	Jang Gil-san	Jang Gil-san
2006	Invisible Man	Choi Jang-soo
2007	Dear Lover	Go Dong-woo
2009	Swallow the Sun	Jackson Lee
	Invincible Lee Pyung Kang	Policeman	Cameo
2010	Kim Su-ro, The Iron King	Shingwi Ghan / Tae-gang
2012	KBS Drama Special: "Missing Case of National Assembly Member Jung Chi-sung"	Jung Chi-sung
	Faith	Ki-Chul
2013	KBS Drama Special: "Mother's Island"	Lee-Tan
	KBS Drama Special: "The Devil Rider"	Moon-Bok
2014	Gunman in Joseon	Choi Won-shin
2015	Spy	Hwang Ki-chul
	The Merchant: Gaekju 2015	Gil So-gae
2016	Uncontrollably Fond	Choi Hyeon-joon
2018	Are You Human? [17]	Seo Jong-gil
2019	My Country: The New Age	Seo Geom	Cameo
2021	The Veil	Baek Mo-sa		[18]
2023-24	Welcome to Samdal-ri	Jo Sang-tae
TBA	Sweet Home	Tak In-hwan	Season 2–3	[19] [20]

Variety show

Year	Title	Notes
2009	Billion Won Mystery with Yu Oh-seong	Host
2021	Law of the Jungle – Pent Island: Island of Desire	Cast Member [21] [22]

Music video

Year	Song title	Artist
2011	"Goodbye"	Seo Yoon
2013	"Baby I'm Sorry" (2013) [23] [24]	MY NAME

Theater

Year	Title	Role
1992	Blood
2005	Story of an Old Thief [25]
	Tape	Vince
2006	Oedipus
2009	Turn Around and Leave	Gong Sang-du

Awards and nominations

Year presented, name of the award ceremony, award category, nominated work and the result of the nomination

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1994	32nd Grand Bell Awards	Best New Actor	I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me	Nominated
1997	35th Grand Bell Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Beat	Nominated
1998	MBC Drama Awards	Best New Actor	Aim for Tomorrow	Won
1999	Korean Most Popular Entertainment Awards	Most Popular Actor		Won
2001	46th Asia Pacific Film Festival	Best Actor	Friend	Won
	9th Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Actor		Won
	38th Grand Bell Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
	22nd Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
2002	38th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor (Film)		Nominated
		Most Popular Actor (Film)		Won
	1st Korean Film Awards	Best Actor	Champion	Nominated
2003	40th Grand Bell Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
2007	44th Grand Bell Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Lump Sugar	Nominated
2009	SBS Drama Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Special	Swallow the Sun	Nominated
2012	SBS Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Faith	Nominated
	KBS Drama Awards	Best Actor in a One-act Drama	Missing Case of National Assembly Member Jung Chi-sung	Nominated
2013	KBS Drama Awards	Best Actor in a One-act Drama	Mother's Island, The Devil Rider	Won
2014	KBS Drama Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Gunman in Joseon	Nominated
2015	KBS Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actor in Mid-length Drama	The Merchant: Gaekju 2015	Nominated
2018	KBS Drama Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Are You Human?	Nominated

References

1. "Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema: Yoo Oh-sung". Koreanfilm.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
2. Hwang, Hee-yeon (22 March 2001). "Buddies tells story of lost youth, friendship". The Dong-a Ilbo . Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
3. Hong, Chan-shik (3 November 2002). "Friends". The Dong-a Ilbo . Archived from the original on 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
4. Kim, Sun-woo (4 April 2004). "Yoo Oh-sung to Star in Drama Jang Gil-san". The Dong-a Ilbo . Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
5. Chung, Ah-young (31 July 2006). "Traditional Dramas Beat Trendy Ones". The Korea Times via Hancinema . Archived from the original on 2013-08-24. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
6. "All That Star: Genuine Actor, Yu Oh-seong is back with the comedic flick Happy Killers, looking more cheerful and easygoing than before". Arirang News . Archived from the original on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
7. "Fresh Japanese Wave Threatens Korean Pop Culture". The Chosun Ilbo . 26 March 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
8. "Events Calendar". The Korea Herald . 7 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
9. "New Films". Korean Film Council. 1 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
10. "Champ (2011)". The Chosun Ilbo . 16 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
11. Park, Eun-jee (2 November 2012). "Three films zero in on the limitations of legal system". Korea JoongAng Daily . Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
12. "Lee Min-ho, Kim Hee-seon unveils teaser for new TV series". 10Asia. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
13. Sunwoo, Carla (8 November 2013). "12 years later, an iconic Friend returns". Korea JoongAng Daily . Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
14. "'조선 총잡이' 유오성, 소름 끼치는 두 얼굴?…역대급 악역 변신 '눈길'" (in Korean). imaeil.com. July 24, 2014. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
15. "'조선총잡이' 전혜빈, 유오성과 부녀 호흡 "선배님은 최고의 배우"". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). May 23, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
16. Jeon Hyung-hwa (September 16, 2021). "유오성x장혁 액션 느와르 '강릉' 11월 개봉 확정 [공식]" [Yoo Oh-seong x Jang Hyuk action noir 'Gangneung' confirmed for November release [Official]]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021– via Naver.
17. "[단독] 유오성, '너도 인간이니' 출연…서강준과 대립각". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). June 5, 2017. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
18. Kim Ji-won (June 8, 2021). "유오성, '검은 태양' 출연 확정…3년 만의 드라마 복귀 [공식]". Naver (in Korean). TenAsia. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
19. Hwang So-young (January 18, 2022). "[단독] 유오성, 넷플릭스 '스위트홈2' 합류…송강·이진욱과 호흡" [[Exclusive] Oh-seong Yoo joins Netflix's 'Sweet Home 2'... Breathing with Song Kang and Lee Jin-wook] (in Korean). JTBC. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
20. Kang Hyo-jin (June 15, 2022). "스위트홈' 시즌2·3 동시제작→송강부터 유오성까지 캐스팅 확정" [Sweet Home' season 2 and 3 simultaneous production → Casting confirmed from Song Kang to Yoo Oh-seong] (in Korean). spoTV News. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022– via Naver.
21. Kim Je-ni (May 18, 2021). "정글의 법칙', 국내 편 마지막 시즌 방송... 유오성→설인아 출격". Star Daily News (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
22. Jin Joo-hee (May 21, 2021). "정글의 법칙' 유오성·설인아, 화려한 정글 재입성기[MK★TV컷]". MK Sports (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
23. Hong, Grace Danbi (5 July 2013). "MYNAME Unveils its Powerful Yet Violent MV for Baby I'm Sorry". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
24. "This Could Be a Movie: MYNAME Releases Blockbuster Baby I'm Sorry MV". Soompi . 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
25. "Events Calendar". The Korea Herald . 11 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2014-08-21. Retrieved 2013-07-06.

External links

• Yoo Oh-seong at HanCinema
• Yu Oh-seong at the Korean Movie Database
• Yu Oh-seong at IMDb