| Kim Nam Gil | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 13, 1981 Seoul, South Korea |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김남길 |
| Hanja | 金南佶 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Nam-gil |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Nam-kil |
| Website | |
| http://www.kimnamgil.asia | |
Kim Nam-gil (Hangul: 김남길) (born 13 March 1981), is a South Korean actor. He used to go by the name Lee Han and later decided to use his real name since the movie Public Enemy Returns in 2008. He was honoured with a few awards for his excellent acting as Bidam in MBC TV Series Queen Seon Deok in 2009. He has enlisted in the army in 2010 after SBS TV Series Bad Boy. He was admitted to the army camp in Nonsan on July 15 for 4 weeks of basic military training and will serve as a public service worker at Gangnam-gu office according to the selective service system.[1] He supported GFSC (Good Friend Save the Child) movement with KOICA (Korean International Cooperation Agency) by attending as a gratuitous special guest at the third Korea-Japan Festa of Friendship and received an achievement award from the Mongolian local government.[2]
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Nam-Gil first debuted on television with a minor role in the 1998 KBS drama "School 1" (as the character Min-soo). Five years later, Nam-Gil would win the 31st audition for MBC Television. He then performed in various minor roles for MBC. Meanwhile, in 2005, Kim Nam-Gil changed his name to the seemingly more exotic name of "Lee Han." In 2006, Kim Nam-Gil made the bold decision to accept his first lead role in the controversial, but critically praised independent film, No Regret. Kim Nam-Gil played the homosexual character Song Jae-min in No Regret. Although the film No Regret received high praise from movie critics & film festivals, it failed to boost Kim Nam-Gil's popularity or lead to immediate stardom. Instead, Kim Nam-Gil took more supporting roles in television dramas and commercial films.
Prior to the release of the 2008 film Public Enemy Returns, Kim Nam-Gil stopped using his stage name "Lee Han" and reverted back to his birth name. Nam-Gil made this decision after receiving advice from Kang Woo-Suk (the director of Public Enemy Returns). Later in 2008, Nam-Gil received his first leading role in a major commercial film - Portrait of a Beauty. This was also the first time Nam-Gil acted in a historical film. His experience from Portrait of a Beauty would reap benefits later when he would act in the historical MBC drama Queen Seon Deok. Although Kim Gyu-Ri garnered most of the attention for Portrait of a Beauty, Nam-Gil's strong performance did not go unnoticed.
In 2009, Kim Nam-Gil was cast in the MBC drama Queen Seon Deok as Bi-dam. The production company felt the character of Bi-dam was somewhat the secret weapon in securing the success of the television series. The production company proceeded to promote his character to Korean media outlets and press agencies. The pressure from this move caused Kim Nam-Gil to stress over his upcoming performance. During this time, Nam-Gil researched his character by observing comic book characters like Han Bi Kwang from Yeol Hyeol Kang Ho, Musashi Miyamoto from "Vegabond" and Kang Baek Ho from "Slam Dunk." His research did prove successful as the drama series Queen Seon Deok became the most watched drama series of 2009, regularly receiving ratings in excess of 40%. With the runaway success of Queen Seon Deok Kim Nam-Gil's popularity also skyrocketed. He was frequently voted the sexiest man by Korean women, received many commercial endorsement offers, and flooded with scenarios for various upcoming films and drama series.
According to South Korean media reports, Korean actor Kim Nam Gil who is currently serving in the armed forces, will be entering as a student in South Korea University of Foreign Studies Department of Chinese Internet Campus. Kim Nam Gil economic official of the company's external message said Kim Nam Gil is admitted and will start his academic semester on March. He will use his extra time while serving the public to learn Chinese. Kim Nam Gil formally joined the army in July last year after starring in the drama by " Queen Seon Deok" and after his popularity soared in "Bad Guy".