Yoo Seung-ho

1999–2009: Beginnings as a child actor

Yoo made his entertainment debut in a cellphone commercial in 1999 after Yoo's mother sent in a photo of her son to an ad agency.^[2]

In 2000 Yoo began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the television drama Daddy Fish.^[6] He rose to stardom in his first film The Way Home, playing a bratty city boy who learns to appreciate country life when he's forced to spend the summer with his deaf-mute grandmother.^[7] The low-budget film was a surprise box office hit in 2002, drawing more than 4 million admissions.^[8] He was then affectionately labeled as "Nation's Little Brother".^[9] Thereafter, Yoo also starred in animal movie Hearty Paws (2006) about a boy and his beloved dog, and Unforgettable (2008) about school children from a remote island who go on a field trip to a candy factory in Seoul during the 1970s.^[10][11][12]

He continued acting in television, appearing in Magic Warriors Mir & Gaon (2005), an adventure series for children. Yoo further built his filmography, playing younger counterparts of male protagonists in television dramas, including general Yi Sun-sin in Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin (2004), King Seongjong in The King and I (2007), and Gwanggaeto the Great in The Legend (2007).^[13]

In 2009, Yoo starred in the action film City of Fathers and thriller film 4th Period Mystery.^[14][15] He also played Kim Chunchu in the period epic Queen Seondeok.^[16]

2010–2014: Teen roles

In his teens, Yoo was cast in one of the major roles in Master of Study (2010), a Korean screen adaptation of Japanese manga Dragon Zakura.^[17][18][19] He then played a more mature role in Flames of Desire, as the second-generation son of a wealthy chaebol family who is uninterested in the battles of succession among his relatives and becomes a married man at 21.^[20] Later that year, Yoo sang a duet with singer/actress IU titled "Believe in Love" for the charity program Love Request. The song's lyrics was based on a diary that Yoo had written while seeing orphans of war in the slums of Sri Lanka.^{[21][unreliable source?]}

In 2011, Yoo trained in swordplay and martial arts in his role as an assassin in Warrior Baek Dong-soo, an action-period drama based on the manhwa by Lee Jae-heon.^[22] He also voiced Greenie, Leafie's adopted son, on Leafie, a Hen into the Wild, which was adapted from a bestselling children's novel by Hwang Sun-mi.^[23] He then co-starred with Kim Ha-neul in the thriller Blind.^[24]

In 2012, Yoo was cast in his first role as a leading man in Operation Proposal, a Korean remake of the Japanese drama Proposal Daisakusen.^[25][26] This was followed by a supporting role as the Jade Emperor, ruler of the heavens, in the fantasy-period drama Arang and the Magistrate.^[27][28] Afterwards, he starred in the melodrama Missing You, playing a cold man who hides a vengeance-filled heart behind his seemingly gentle smile.^[29]

Known in the press as "Little So Ji-sub" for his resemblance to the said actor, in 2013 Yoo starred in the music video for So's single "Eraser" together with Park Shin-hye. This was his second time promoting So's musical endeavors, after "Lonely Life" in 2008.^[30][31] Following that, Yoo's first photo book titled Travel Letter, Spring Snow, And... was published; it was the last project shot by celebrity photographer Bori before her death on April 9, 2013.

2015–present: Adult roles and rising popularity

As his first post-army project, Yoo appeared in the music video for Naul's "You From the Same Time" in 2015.^[32] He was next cast as a stubborn webcomic writer raising a cat in the TV adaptation of webtoon Imaginary Cat.^[33][34] Yoo followed this by starring in the joseon-era romance film The Magician directed by Kim Dae-seung, in which he plays a circus magician who falls in love with a princess.^[35] Yoo was then cast in SBS's legal thriller series Remember as a lawyer with hyperthymesia who defends his father on death row.^[36]

In 2016, Yoo starred in the historical comedy film Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River as the titular character Kim Seon-dal.^[37][38] In 2017, he starred in MBC's historical melodrama The Emperor: Owner of the Mask^[39][40] and romantic-comedy I'm Not a Robot.^[41] In 2018, he was cast in SBS's high school drama My Strange Hero.^[42] In 2020, Yoo starred in the mystery thriller Memorist as a detective in the police force with the power to read people's memories.^[43] In 2021, Yoo played a passionate inspector in KBS2 historical drama Moonshine.^[44]

In March 2022, Yoo signed with new agency YG Entertainment.^[45]

In 2023, Yoo returned to the small screen with his first streaming project,^[46] Wavve's crime thriller The Deal portraying a completely different character than his previous ones - a financially struggling young man who accidentally kidnaps his school friend for a 10 billion won ransom.^[47] The mini-series was the only Korean drama^[48] invited to the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one of the most prestigious events in the world of cinema.^[49][50] Yoo walked the red carpet at VOX Cinemas in the Red Sea Mall together with the director Lee Jung-gon and took part in the screening of the first three episodes of the drama.^[51]

Film

Television series

Web series

Television shows

Music video appearances