Kim Soo-hyun

Kim Soo-hyun
At Baeksang Arts Awards, May 2014
Born	(1988-02-16) February 16, 1988 Seoul , South Korea
Alma mater	Chung-Ang University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present
Agent	KeyEast (2010–present)
Website	soo-hyun.com
Korean name
Hangul	김수현
Hanja	金秀賢
Revised Romanization	Gim Su-hyeon
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Su-hyŏn
Signature

Kim Soo-hyun (Hangul: 김수현; Hanja: 金秀賢; born February 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor best known for his roles in the television dramas Dream High (2011), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), My Love from the Star (2013) and The Producers (2015), as well as the movies The Thieves (2012) and Secretly, Greatly (2013).

Kim was Gallup Korea's Actor of the Year in 2014.^[1] He was first included in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list in 2013 placing 4th,^[2] subsequently ranking 2nd in 2015^[3] and 5th in 2016.^[4] The business magazine's Asia edition also listed him in its 30 under 30 in 2016.^[5] The success of his television dramas throughout Asia established him as a top Hallyu star.

Early life and education

Kim's mother encouraged him to take acting classes during his high school years to help overcome his introverted personality. His father is Kim Chung-hoon and was the lead singer of the 80's band "Seven Dolphins".^[6][7] He enrolled at Chung-Ang University's Film and Theater Department in 2009.^[8]

Career

2007–2009: Television career beginnings

Kim made his television debut with a supporting role in the 2007 family sitcom Kimchi Cheese Smile and in 2008, landed a lead role in KBS's critically acclaimed youth drama, Jungle Fish.^[9] Based on a true story, it tackles the serious issues of school cheating, competitive academic standards, and interactive blogging in a fresh way.^[10] The drama won a number of awards, including the Peabody Award,^[11][12] a Seoul Drama Festival award as well as an Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union prize.

For the latter half of the year, Kim appeared in the food-based variety show Delicious Quiz (also known as The Taste of Life) as one of the hosts and in the short film Cherry Blossom.^[13]

In 2009, Kim acted in the short film Worst Friends by Namkoong Sun, which won the Best Film in Social Drama award at the Mise en Scène Short Film Festival^[14] and the well-received SBS drama special Father's House where he acted alongside veteran actor Choi Min-soo. He also co-hosted Mnet's Boys & Girls Music Countdown along with Kara's Han Seung-yeon in 2009.^[15]

2010–2011: Dream High and rising popularity

Kim raised his profile through memorable turns as the younger version of the male lead characters in Will It Snow for Christmas?^[16] and Giant, the latter winning him the New Star award at the SBS Drama Awards.^[17] Upon receiving the award, Kim made his famous "10 years promise" acceptance speech and was quoted saying, "Please take care of me by giving me more attention in this ten years, I will become a real actor."

Kim became a household name in 2011 after starring in teen musical drama Dream High. He plays a country bumpkin who turned out to be a musical genius.^[18][19] The drama brought in high domestic ratings^[20] and was also popular overseas, winning several international awards. As the only young actor in a cast of idols, Kim studied song and dance for three months at JYP Entertainment to pull off the required scenes in the drama. For the drama's soundtrack, he recorded two songs, his solo "Dreaming" as well as the title track "Dream High" with the rest of the cast.

2012–2013: Moon Embracing the Sun and big screen debut

Kim's popularity skyrocketed when he starred in the hit period drama Moon Embracing the Sun as the young king Lee Hwon.^[21] The drama recorded a peak rating of 42.2 percent,^[22] thereby earning the "national drama" status. Kim contributed his vocals to the soundtrack with the traditional ballad "Only You"^[23] and the more modern composition "Another Way".^[24]

Due to his popularity on-screen, he landed 15 product endorsement deals ranging from apparel to electronic devices.^[25] He also won the Best TV Actor award at the 2012 Baeksang Arts Awards. Beating out heavyweight veterans such as Han Suk-kyu, Shin Ha-kyun and Cha Seung-won, Kim said "I am very grateful for this moment, but I am ashamed as well. It's like getting a lot of homework. I'll keep trying to become a better actor in order to remain worthy of this award".^[26]

Kim made his big-screen debut in the star-studded heist film The Thieves, touted by the press as the Korean version of Ocean's Eleven.^[27] With over 12.9 million ticket sales, the film became the second highest-grossing movie in Korean film history.^[28]

In 2013, Kim was cast to play the role of a North Korean spy who infiltrated South Korea as a village idiot in the movie Secretly, Greatly, an adaptation of the popular webtoon series Covertness by Hun.^[29] The film broke several records and was one of the most successful box office hits of the year.^[30][31] Kim won Best New Actor awards at the 50th Grand Bell Awards and the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards.^[32][33]

2014–present: My Love from the Star and international fame

Baeksang Arts Awards May 2014

From 2013 to early 2014, Kim starred in SBS fantasy romance series My Love from the Star alongside Jun Ji-hyun.^[34] The drama had over three billion hits on the Chinese streaming website iQiyi^[35] and also sparked trends in fashion, make-up and restaurants.^[36] Kim experienced explosive growth in popularity throughout Asia^[37][38] and became one of the most in-demand endorsers.^[39][40] He won the Daesang (or "Grand Prize"), the highest award for television, at the 7th Korea Drama Awards.^[41]

For the latter half of the year, Kim attended two international sports events. Held on 16 August 2014, Kim sang the official theme song "Light up the Future" with several artists at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China.^[42] He also participated in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Along with actor Jang Dong-gun, Korean opera singer Ahn Sook-sun and people from 45 nations, they delivered the message of "One Asia" at the second part of the highlight stage.^[43]

In September 2014

In 2015, Kim starred in KBS' variety drama The Producers, written by My Love From the Star writer Park Ji-eun.^[44] The drama drew solid domestic ratings domestically, and was also sold to several countries internationally.^[45] Kim once again won the Daesang (or "Grand Prize") at the 8th Korea Drama Awards, 3rd APAN Star Awards and the 2015 KBS Drama Awards for his acting performance.^[46][47]

Kim then starred in the action-noir film Real, which premiered in June 2017.^[48][49]

Ambassadorial roles

• On 18 April 2012, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) appointed Kim as the Promotional Ambassador for Korean tourism. According to KTO, "The appointment of Kim Soo-hyun – who has obtained popularity overseas through his dramas, will help strengthen the growth of travel to Korea."^[50]
• On 25 October 2014, Kim was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of Seoul. For the city's promotion, he will participate in various cultural events in the next two years.^[51]
• On 24, March, 2015, Kim was named honorary ambassador for the Incheon International Airport.^[52]

Bowling

A bowling enthusiast, Kim applied to become a professional bowler in October 2016. He ranked 10th out of the 114 participants on his first try-out tournament but failed to make the cut on the second, falling short of the 200 points needed to qualify with only 192.3.^[53][54]

Filmography

Film

Television series

Narration

Variety show

Music video appearances

Musical theatre

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Kim Soo-hyun on Instagram

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kim Soo-Hyun.

• Official website (in Korean)/(in English)