Choi Jae-rim

In this Korean name, the family name is Choi.

Choi Jae-rim (Korean: 최재림; born on April 29, 1985)^[1] is a South Korean musical actor. His popularity rose sharply as he starred as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2015 and Edgar Allan Poe in 2016. Since then, he has been active in small and medium-sized theaters and large theaters, becoming an "actor of trust" with his explosive voice, accurate diction, intelligent character interpretation and stable acting.^[2]

Choi Jae-rim
Choi in 2023
Born	(1985-04-29) April 29, 1985 (age 39) Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Other names	Zev Choi
Alma mater	Kyungwon University Korea National University of Arts
Occupation	Musical actor
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Musical career
Genres	Musical
Years active	2009 (2009)–present
Labels	For Kyyks
Korean name
Hangul	최재림
Hanja	崔載林
Revised Romanization	Choe Jaerim
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Chaerim
Website	www.zevchoi.com

Career

After serving as a choir following his elder brother in the cathedral, which he has been attending for a long time since his childhood, he started taking vocal music lessons in his second year of high school with his mother's recommendation. Usually, it started quite late considering the entrance examination process for arts and sports, but he entered the department of vocal music at Kyungwon University and graduated with the highest grade. However, when he thought that he was trapped in a frame while singing, he met his successor who was doing musicals while serving in the military and became interested in musicals. After being discharged from the military, he went to enter Park Kalin's Kick Musical Academy to audition for musicals, and sang "This Moment". He was cast as Colin in the musical Rent because he caught the eyes of the staff who were auditioning for Rent in the 2009 season in the same space. Later, in 2010, he appeared in a chorus of men's qualifications and became a famous figure at one point.^[3]

Theater

Musical

Musical appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	Rent	Colin	Debut work	[4]
2009–2010	Hairspray	Seeweed		[5]
2010	The Fortress	Jeong Myeong-su		[6]
2011	Spring Awakening	Georg		[7]
	Next to Normal	Gabe		[8]
2012	The Visitor	Guest / Hunter / Bar owner		[9]
	Assassins	Lee Harvey Oswald / The Balladeer		[10]
2015	The Twelve Songs of Gaya	Ureuk		[11]
	Jesus Christ Superstar	Judas Iscariot (main role) & Jesus (by special request-3 performances)		[12]
	See What I Wanna See	The Thief / Reporter		[13]
2015–2016	Next to Normal	Gabe		[14]

Filmography

Television series

Television series appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2022	Green Mothers' Club	Jung Jae-woong	Small screen debut	[15]
2023	Lies Hidden in My Garden	Kim Yoon-beom		[16]
2024	A Virtuous Business	Kwon Seong-soo		[17]

Television shows

Television shows appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Qualifications of Men	Music judge		[18]