| Yoo Ji-tae | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1976 Seoul, South Korea |
| Other names | Yu Ji-tae |
| Occupation | Actor, film director |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 유지태 |
| Hanja | 劉智泰 |
| Revised Romanization | Yu Ji-tae |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yu Jit‘ae |
| Website | |
| http://www.yoomovie.com/ | |
Yoo Ji-tae (Hangul: 유지태; born April 13, 1976) is a South Korean actor and director.
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Yoo Ji-tae in a very short time rose to become a major actor in Korean film. In the year 2000, with a series of hit films, widely-seen TV appearances, and a career in modeling, Yoo was more constantly in the limelight than any other actor.[1]
His first brush with fame came in the role of "Paint" in his second feature, the 1999 hit Attack the Gas Station. His sensitive and artistic image in this film and the warm character he displayed as a guest on TV talk shows helped to propel him to stardom. With the surprise success of his third film Ditto in spring 2000, Yoo's star status was secured. He also appeared in the successful firefighting film Libera Me. In this early part of his career, he was known particularly for the wild colors that he would dye his hair (white in Attack the Gas Station, blue in Ditto, blonde in Libera Me).[1]
In 2001, however, he dyed his hair black and took on a more subdued, serious role in Hur Jin-ho's One Fine Spring Day. Although it wasn't a big hit with audiences, his performance in this film opened many critics' eyes and drew widespread praise, while officially launching the second stage of his career.[1]
For the next two years, Yoo didn't appear in any new films, because Natural City took an unusually long time to progress from shooting to a commercial release. He then appeared in three works in 2003: Natural City (which bombed, despite its big budget and special effects), the horror/suspense film Into the Mirror, and Park Chan-wook's acclaimed Oldboy. Yoo's memorable role in the latter film as a wealthy eccentric fixated on revenge would make his face well known to international audiences.[1]
As Yoo's career established itself he began to appear in many high-profile projects, such as in well-known arthouse director Hong Sang-soo's Woman is the Future of Man (which, like Oldboy, screened at Cannes in 2004); Yim Pil-sung's big-budget Antarctic Journal, shot in New Zealand; and the action/noir Running Wild with Kwon Sang-woo.[1][2]
As soon as he finished shooting the 2007 movie Hwang Jin-yi about a Joseon-era gisaeng, Yoo chose to act in the play Come to the Ghost House. A graduate of Dankook University with a major in Theater and Film, he also established a theater to put on one play a year. Almost all the money for the theatrical productions comes from his own wallet. "I work on stage because it's there that I find the challenge and the stimulus an actor needs through continuous creative work," he said.[3]
In 2009 he lent his voice as narrator for the track "I’m Sorry" (미안해) in K-pop singer Jinju's album Pearlfect.[4]
Yoo then returned to the melodrama genre, starring in his first TV drama opposite Choi Ji-woo, as well as a couple of romance-themed films, notably Secret Love which reunited him with Oldboy costar Yoon Jin-seo.[5] Afterwards he played another villain in the real-time suspense thriller Midnight FM.[6][7]
After getting his master's degree in 2008 from Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Multimedia & Film, in recent years Yoo has focused more on his passion for directing. To him, "Making films is like taking drugs. Actors feel a pleasure when they deliver well but directors feel they have poured out everything they have in the sole fact that they have completed a movie. It's impossible to compare the pleasure you get from it."[8] He has helmed a number of award-winning short films that have screened in festivals around the world.[9][10] In addition to directing his fourth short film Invitation, Yoo wrote the script and plays the main character alongside leading lady Uhm Ji-won.[11]
Yoo is set to direct his first feature film from his own screenplay titled A Boy Dreams of Sansevieria, a coming-of-age story about a young man (Bae Soo-bin) who runs away from home and ends up traveling with a Filipina woman. Shooting is scheduled to begin in January 2012, with casting now ongoing.[12]
Currently a student at the Catholic University of Korea Graduate School of Social Work, Yoo is very active in philanthropic efforts. He joins charity auctions,[13] has helped set up a kindergarten in Nepal,[14] has donated to Haiti earthquake relief,[15] has donated funds for building primary and middle schools in Myanmar, and volunteered in a campaign to deliver free lunches to underprivileged people.[16] His advocacies are World Vision, Compassion Korea, DAIL Community, Social Welfare Society Inc., YWCA of Korea, Nanum House of Sharing and Korean Association of Cinematheques.[17]
Yoo first met actress Kim Hyo-jin in 2003 when they were models for a clothing brand, and the two became friends after continuously meeting in photo shoots. Their romantic relationship began in 2006, and they were among the very few Korean star couples who openly admitted their dating status.[18] They announced their engagement in August 2011,[19][20][21][22][23] and subsequently released pre-wedding photos.[24][25][26] Their minimalist invitation was made from environmentally friendly paper and had the number 1,825 written on it, the exact amount of the days the two have spent together as a couple.[27][28][29] They were married at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on December 2, 2011.[30] The wedding date marked the couple's fifth anniversary together and was booked by Yoo one year in advance despite landing on a Friday – an unusual day for a wedding.[27] The ceremony was officiated by the president of World Vision Korea; Yoo and Kim are the organization's honorary ambassadors,[31] and they donated a portion of their monetary wedding gifts to World Vision to help build an elementary school and a middle school in Myanmar.[32][33][34]