Heo Sung-tae (, , born October 20, 1977) is a South Korean actor. He gained domestic prominence in the 2016 period thriller film ''

The Age of Shadows ''The Age of Shadows'' (; lit. "Emissary") is a 2016 South Korean period action thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon and written by Lee Ji-min and Park Jong-dae. The film is set in Shanghai and Seoul in the 1920s and stars Song Kang-ho an ...

'' and became recognized internationally for his role in the first season of ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian Survival film, survival Thriller (genre)#Television, thriller horror television series created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. The series revol ...

'' (2021).

Early life

Heo was born in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, South Korea. He graduated from

Pusan National University Pusan National University (PNU; , also called Busan National University) is one of ten Flagship Korean National Universities in South Korea. It is the first national university established after the National Liberation Day of Korea. There ar ...

, where he majored in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. Prior to acting, he sold televisions in the Russian market for

LG Corporation LG Corporation (or LG Group), formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar, is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi in 1947 and managed by successive generations of his family. It is the fourth-largest company in South Korea ...

. He later joined the planning and coordination department of a shipbuilding company.

Career

Heo began his acting career in 2011, when he entered SBS's talent show ''Miraculous Audition'' (기적의 오디션). According to Heo, he drunkenly signed up to audition after seeing a commercial for the show. He gained national prominence as Ha Il-soo in the 2016 period thriller film ''

''. For his role in '' The Fortress'' (2017), Heo had to learn the

Manchu language Manchu ( ) is a critically endangered language, endangered Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchu people, Manchus, it was one of the official language ...

. In the 2021

Netflix original series Netflix is an American global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider that has distributed a number of original streaming television shows, including original series, specials, miniseries, documentaries and films. Netflix's original produ ...

'', Heo starred as the gangster Jang Deok-su.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web shows

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Heo Sung-tae profile at Hanahreum Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heo, Sung-tae Living people 1977 births Pusan National University alumni South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors South Korean male web series actors Male actors from Busan 21st-century South Korean male actors