Gong Yoo is one of the most recognizable faces of Hallyu (aka the Korean wave). Real name Gong Ji-chul, Gong Yoo’s career began as a model before he landed his first contract as a VJ for South Korean K-pop channel Mnet in 2000. His role as a student suave, who made girls fall for him thanks to his piano skills, his devastating smile and his confident attitude, in the television series School 4 broadcast in 2001 marked his debut as an actor. Viewers may have been drawn to his soothing voice, his adorable face, his obvious ease in front of the camera, or, more likely, a combination of all three, which helped him become a star on the rise. .
He then played supporting roles in various films and K-dramas and hosted the live music show Music Camp, before landing his first leading role in the television series Hello My Teacher, which aired on SBS in 2005. During Throughout his decades-long career, Gong Yoo has portrayed a wide range of characters, from courageous and self-sacrificing protagonists to action heroes to zany romantic characters and everything in between. between the two. All this proves that he is indeed an extremely flexible actor and he is even among the most sought-after South Korean actors thanks to his masculine charm and his flawless charisma.
It is advisable to watch some of Gong Yoo’s most notable films and K-dramas to understand why audiences around the world have fallen in love with this very talented actor, no matter if you are new to the wonderful world of Korean entertainment or you’ve been a die-hard K-drama fan for a long time.
The Silent Sea (2021)
Based on the short film The Sea of Tranquility (2014) by director Choi Hang-yong, Netflix’s The Silent Sea is South Korea’s first attempt at a science fiction thriller set in space. In the not-so-distant future, a team of astronauts is tasked with recovering mysterious samples from an abandoned lunar research station after the earth is dying. With the mission barely begun, the crew members are killed one by one in mysterious ways as they race against time to uncover the deadly secrets of the moon. We find Gong Yoo in the role of the intrepid captain who repeatedly risks his life to ensure the safety of his crew.
Squid Games (2021)
Topping Netflix’s Top 10 in more than 90 countries and constituting the most-watched series in the history of the platform, this dystopian survival thriller K-drama needs no introduction. An avalanche of memes has been sparked on social media thanks to the role of Gong Yoo, a good-looking salesman who unknowingly recruits debt-ridden people to subject them to deadly games for a chance to win a huge cash prize.
Goblin (aka Guardian: The Lonely and Great God)(2016-2017)
Better known as Goblin, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God is another landmark K-drama written by K-romance Shakespeare Kim Eun-sook (Secret Garden, Heirs, Descendants of the Sun, Mr. Sunshine) who reinforced the visibility of Hallyu. Upon its release, the series became a cultural phenomenon in South Korea (and beyond) and remains one of the most popular television shows in the country’s history. Playing a 939-year-old goblin, both dashing and world-weary, Gong Yoo is cursed to wander the earth until he finds his human bride, the only one who can end his immortality.
Gong Yoo’s character is arguably the most dreamed of in Goblin, for which he won Best Actor at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards (South Korea’s Golden Globes) and became the most popular leading actor from South Korea. The series’ soundtrack was also widely appreciated and sparked international trends in the fashion industry.
The Age of Shadows (2016)
Despite the numerous films and series produced by South Korea about the Japanese colonial era and the Korean independence movement, The Age of Shadows remains one of the most successful works to deal with this dark history. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kim Jee-woon (I Saw the Devil, A Tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life), it stars legendary actor Song Kang-ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer, The Host), Han Ji-min (The Fatal Encounter, Capital Scandal, Yi San), Shin Sung-rok (My Love from Another Star, Vagabond, Kairos), Heo Sung-tae (Squid Game, The Fortress, The Silent Sea) and, of course, Gong Yoo (who plays the leader of the Korean resistance).
The Age of Shadows was selected as South Korea’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2017 Academy Awards.
The last train to Busan (2016)
Upon its release in 2016, Train to Busan, the first South Korean zombie blockbuster, became a global sensation and made Gong Yoo an international cinema star. In the space of just two hours, you will experience several very varied feelings going from fear, to tears but also to laughter while watching Train to Busan which is an emotional and typically Korean version of a zombie thriller (make sure to have enough tissues). During his interviews, Gong Yoo admitted that the zombie actors really scared him during filming, which probably made his acting all the more convincing.
The Suspect (2013)
In this action-packed film, Gong Yoo plays a former North Korean spy who travels to the South to track down the killer of his wife and daughter. After finding work as a driver for a wealthy businessman, he is accused of murdering his boss, forcing him to go on the run while continuing his quest to avenge his family’s death. Before taking on this role, Gong Yoo learned the Russian martial art Systema and even performed his own stunts in the film. Can we really say that there is something this man doesn’t know how to do?
Big (2012)
An 18-year-old high school student wakes up after a car accident and finds himself trapped in the body of his teacher’s 30-year-old fiancé (Gong Yoo) in this hilarious and moving romantic comedy written by popular K-drama writing duo, the Hong sisters. Gong Yoo’s acting is just impressive as he goes from a serious and elusive doctor to a fun adult who has the heart and mind of a high school student. Between his dimpled smile, adorable eyes, and his antics, Gong Yoo has never been cuter. This film offers us the opportunity to discover the number of facial expressions he is capable of. Plus, the series’ soundtrack allows us to hear him sing.
Silenced (The Crucible) (2011)
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk first made another graphic tale, namely Silenced (available on Netflix), which is even more disturbing than the first because the story is based on real events before focusing on Squid Game. Hwang’s film, adapted from the bestselling novel The Crucible by author (and distant relative of Gong Yoo) Gong Ji-young, in which physical and sexual abuse at the Gwangju Inhwa School for the Hearing Impaired are revealed, made the object of indignation of South Korean public opinion. The Korean government subsequently passed a law abolishing the statute of limitations for sexual crimes committed against children and disabled people as well as increasing the maximum penalty for perpetrators of these crimes to life imprisonment.
The film, which marks his first collaboration with Hwang, stars Gong Yoo as a kind-hearted art teacher who accepts a new position at a school for deaf children and soon discovers the horrific abuse committed against him. they suffer from the teaching staff and administrators. The film actually came from Gong Yoo’s idea, the novel had such an impact on him that he convinced its author and Hwang to make it into a film, and the rest is history. So films can’t change the world?
Finding Mr. Destiny (2010)
This laugh-out-loud romantic comedy features Seo Ji-woo (Im Soo-jung) who can’t forget his first love, Kim Jong-wook. Desperate to find Mr. Kim, his father seeks help from Han Gi-joon (Gong Yoo), who runs a dating agency specializing in finding first loves. While traveling across South Korea in search of the famous Kim Jong-wook, Gi-joon falls under the spell of his client. Bonus: the film’s theme song, “Second First Love”, is sung by Gong Yoo.
Coffee Prince (2007)
A television series that marked the trajectory of K-dramas and made Gong Yoo a Hallyu star overnight, Coffee Prince (aka The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince) features Gong Yoo in a notable role playing Choi Han-kyul , a cafe owner who has a weakness for his tomboyish-looking employee (played by the incomparable Yoon Eun-hye), whom he initially believes to be a man, which leads him to ask questions about his sexuality. Having tackled homosexuality, a subject that was (and remains, to some extent) taboo in South Korea, the series was considered revolutionary at the time. Even though more than 100 K-dramas are broadcast each year in South Korea, this one remains a classic
and represents a great start for those who are not yet familiar with K-dramas. Not only does it represent the early days of K-dramas, when romantic comedies were all the rage, but the soundtrack is also simply unforgettable.
Which Kdrama/movie would you add to this list?