Kim Yoon-seok (born January 21, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Kim's
theater background first led him to be cast in minor roles on film and
television. His breakout role came as the villain in gambling film
Tazza: The High Rollers (2006), but it was his performance as an
ex-cop turned pimp in surprise hit The Chaser (2008) that brought him
acting awards and stardom in his forties. Kim has since become an
acclaimed actor in South Korea, with notable performances in films
such as Running Turtle (2009), The Yellow Sea (2010), Punch (2011),The
Thieves (2012), Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), Sea Fog (2014), The
Classified File (2015), The Priests (2015) and 1987: When the Day
Comes (2017).Kim Yoon-seok was trained on stage as a member of the
renowned Theater Yeonwoo Company (Yeonwoo Mudae), and he made his
acting debut in 1988 with A Streetcar Named Desire. After many years
in theater, he began acting in film and television late in his career,
at first appearing in minor roles.Then in 2006, Kim had his
breakthrough in Choi Dong-hoon's Tazza: The High Rollers, with
audiences praising his performance in the supporting role as ruthless
gambler Agwi (meaning "starving demon" in Buddhism). A leading role
followed in 2008 with The Chaser, directed by Na Hong-jin. He
successfully portrayed the morally ambiguous character of a
retired-cop-turned-pimp hunting down a serial killer who murdered the
call girls due to his impotence. The thriller was a critical and
commercial hit, becoming one of the classic films in thriller genre,
and Kim's excellent performance brought him 8 awards totally, made him
a major player in the Korean film industry.He transitioned from one of
the finest character actors in the industry into a popular leading
actor: Kim played a middle-aged man following his lifelong dream to
play in a rock band in The Happy Life, a rural detective trying to
capture a legendary prison breaker in Running Turtle, and a rival
Taoist wizard in Jeon Woo-chi.
theater background first led him to be cast in minor roles on film and
television. His breakout role came as the villain in gambling film
Tazza: The High Rollers (2006), but it was his performance as an
ex-cop turned pimp in surprise hit The Chaser (2008) that brought him
acting awards and stardom in his forties. Kim has since become an
acclaimed actor in South Korea, with notable performances in films
such as Running Turtle (2009), The Yellow Sea (2010), Punch (2011),The
Thieves (2012), Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), Sea Fog (2014), The
Classified File (2015), The Priests (2015) and 1987: When the Day
Comes (2017).Kim Yoon-seok was trained on stage as a member of the
renowned Theater Yeonwoo Company (Yeonwoo Mudae), and he made his
acting debut in 1988 with A Streetcar Named Desire. After many years
in theater, he began acting in film and television late in his career,
at first appearing in minor roles.Then in 2006, Kim had his
breakthrough in Choi Dong-hoon's Tazza: The High Rollers, with
audiences praising his performance in the supporting role as ruthless
gambler Agwi (meaning "starving demon" in Buddhism). A leading role
followed in 2008 with The Chaser, directed by Na Hong-jin. He
successfully portrayed the morally ambiguous character of a
retired-cop-turned-pimp hunting down a serial killer who murdered the
call girls due to his impotence. The thriller was a critical and
commercial hit, becoming one of the classic films in thriller genre,
and Kim's excellent performance brought him 8 awards totally, made him
a major player in the Korean film industry.He transitioned from one of
the finest character actors in the industry into a popular leading
actor: Kim played a middle-aged man following his lifelong dream to
play in a rock band in The Happy Life, a rural detective trying to
capture a legendary prison breaker in Running Turtle, and a rival
Taoist wizard in Jeon Woo-chi.
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