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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 Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Although there are many forms of f ...
'' (2001) and ''
Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...
'' (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''. His career reached its peak in 2001. Appearing as Jang Dong-gun's co-star in
Kwak Kyung-taek Kwak Kyung-taek (; born 23 May 1966) is a South Korean film director best known for his 2001 record-breaking film '' Friend''. Career ''Friend'', a drama where conflicting criminal alliances turn old friends into enemies, set a new Korean bo ...
's smash hit ''
Friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Although there are many forms of f ...
'', 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. This fame would carry over somewhat when he took the lead in director Kwak's fourth feature ''
Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...
'', a 1980s-set
biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
of boxer Kim Deuk-gu, who dominated the Korean boxing scene until his death after the
World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...
lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...
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. 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. 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. He returned to television in 2004, headlining his first historical drama series (''
sageuk (; ) in Korean language, Korean denotes historical dramas, including traditional drama plays, Cinema of Korea, films or Korean drama, television series. In English language literature usually refers to historical films and television series (o ...
'') ''Jang Gil-san''. Set in the
Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
period during the reign of King Sukjong, Jang Gil-san was born of a female servant, raised by gypsies, then rises politically. For the contemporary
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
''Invisible Man'' in 2006, he played a man in his thirties battling
early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD), also called younger-onset Alzheimer's disease (YOAD), is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. Ab ...
with the support of his loving family (his wife is played by Chae Shi-ra). Yu said his character Choi Jang-soo was closest to his real-life personality. This was followed by a leading role in adultery drama ''Dear Lover'' (2007) with Yoon Son-ha, a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
of 1995 Japanese drama ''Koibito Yo''. 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''. 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 Yeongwol County () is a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea. In Korea, it is known as the place where King Danjong, the sixth king of the Joseon Dynasty, was exiled when he was forced to abdicate by his uncle, who became Sejo of Joseon. It is ...
. Despite winning the Grand Prix at the 4th Festival Franco-Coréen du Film, ''Potato Symphony'' was little seen domestically. 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. Yu also appeared in action series '' Swallow the Sun'' (2009) which was filmed in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and
Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...
, two horse-based human comedy films -- '' Lump Sugar'' (2006) starring
Im Soo-jung Im Soo-jung (; born July 11, 1979) is a South Korean actress and former model. After modeling for teen magazines, Im made her acting breakthrough in Kim Jee-woon's horror film ''A Tale of Two Sisters'' (2003), followed by the popular Korean dram ...
and '' Champ'' (2011) starring
Cha Tae-hyun Cha Tae-hyun (; born March 25, 1976) is a South Korean actor, singer, television personality, radio DJ and Television director, director. He is best known for his lead roles in the box-office hit comedies ''My Sassy Girl'' (2001), ''Scandal Make ...
, and the crime drama '' Don't Cry Mommy'' (2012). More recently, he played villains in the 2010 historical drama '' Kim Su-ro, The Iron King'', and the 2012 fantasy ''
Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
'' in which he played a fictionalized version of Empress Gi's older brother. In 2013, Yu reprised his most memorable role in the
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
'' 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 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 ...
( Joo Jin-mo). 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.


Filmography


Film


Television series


Variety show


Music video


Theater


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Oh-seong 20th-century South Korean male actors 21st-century South Korean male actors South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors South Korean male stage actors 1966 births Living people Gangneung Yoo clan