Kim Dong-wook

For other people named Kim Dong-wook, see Kim Dong-wook (disambiguation).

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Kim Dong-wook (born July 29, 1983) is a South Korean actor. After appearing in student short films and several minor parts, Kim became a star through his supporting role in the popular TV series Coffee Prince (2007), followed by box office hit Take Off (2009). He then starred in Happy Killers (2010), Romantic Heaven (2011), The Guest (2018) and The King of Pigs (2022). His acclaimed performance as an obsessed and tormented king in the 2012 period drama The Concubine, along with his appearance in the fantasy action films Along with the Gods 1 and 2 has brought Kim the best reviews of his career yet.^[2]

Kim Dong-wook
Kim in January 2019
Born	(1983-07-29) July 29, 1983 (age 41) Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea
Nationality	South Korean
Education	Korea National University of Arts – School of Drama[1]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2004–present
Agent	Plum A&C
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Spouse	Stella Kim ​ (m. 2023)​
Korean name
Hangul	김동욱
Revised Romanization	Gim Dong-uk
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Tonguk

Career

After officially debuting in A Crimson Mark,^[3] Kim Dong-wook's first notable role was the angry, impoverished teenager in director Byun Young-joo's 2004 coming-of-age film Flying Boys.^[4] He then broke into the mainstream as the bubbly waiter in MBC's 2007 hit romantic comedy series Coffee Prince.^[5][6]

In the popular 2009 sports flick Take Off, he starred as a former night club bouncer who ends up being a member of Korea's national ski jumping team.^[7] In spite of the enormous physical challenge, Kim said it was a character he genuinely enjoyed playing.^[8]

His musical theatre debut was in On Air: Season 2, which was produced by his fellow alumni from the Korea National University of Arts. A loose spin-off of the TV series On Air, it takes place at a radio station and centers around an idol singer-turned-DJ and an older female PD.^[5] His follow-up the year after was the Korean production of Legally Blonde, the Broadway musical based on the 2011 Hollywood film of the same name. He played Luke Wilson's role Emmett.^[9] Kim said "the show must go on, no matter what" mentality was what he found appealing yet tough about doing musicals.^[10]

Kim then played lead roles in the omnibus film Five Senses of Eros,^[11] thriller Happy Killers,^[12] and melodrama Romantic Heaven.^[13] But it was his performance in period thriller The Concubine that he gained significant attention on the big screen. According to critics one of the finest of achievements of the 2012 period thriller is Kim's engrossing performance as the tormented Prince Sung-won, who gradually loses his sense of judgment and emotional control in the face of obsessive love. Kim said of playing the intense role, "While feeling sorry for him, I also found the complexity of the character fascinating. That's what drew me in."^[8][14][15]

In 2014, Kim made his acting comeback in the period drama series More Than a Maid.^[16][17] He had his big screen comeback in action comedy Three Summer Nights (2015).^[18] Kim then played the leading role in the cable slice-of-life drama Riders: Get Tomorrow (2015), which won him the Best Character Award at the Korea Cable TV Awards.^[19]

Kim played a significant role in the fantasy blockbuster Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017) and its sequel, Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days (2018);^[20] which won him several Best Supporting Actor accolades.

Kim was then cast in OCN's supernatural thriller The Guest (2018). The series was a hit and received positive reviews.^[21][22]

In 2019, Kim starred alongside Ko Sung-hee in the romantic comedy film Trade Your Love.^[23] In April, Kim is set to star in the comedy drama Special Labor Inspector.^[24]

In 2020, Kim was cast in the romance drama Find Me in Your Memory.^[25]

In 2021, Kim played the role of a psychiatrist in the new drama You Are My Spring,^[26] co-starring with Seo Hyun-jin.

In 2022, Kim as Hwang Kyung-min, who lives without forgetting the memories of school violence 20 years ago in the web series The King of Pigs.^[27]

In February 2025, Kim signed with new agency Plum A&C.^[28]

Personal life

Military service

Kim enlisted for his mandatory military service on August 30, 2012 at a training camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province. He underwent five weeks of basic training and served for two years as a riot policeman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.^[29] Kim was discharged on May 29, 2014.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy

On March 8, 2022, Kim donated ₩50 million to the Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help the victims of the massive wildfire that started in Uljin, Gyeongbuk and has spread to Samcheok, Gangwon.^[30]

Marriage

On August 30, 2023, KeyEast confirmed that Kim is getting married with his non-celebrity girlfriend in this winter. The wedding ceremony will be held privately somewhere in Seoul.^[31] Their private wedding ceremony was held on December 22, 2023 at Myeongdong Cathedral.^[32][33] His wife is Stella Kim, a Korean-American and a former trainee under SM Entertainment. Before she was able to debut in the group Girls' Generation, she returned to the United States and currently works as a marketing expert.^[34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2001	Monitor		Short film
2002	Seoul
2003	Tube
	Super		Short film
	My Wife is a Gangster 2	Na Nam-Ja
2004	A Crimson Mark
	Flying Boys
2005	My Lovely Week
	The Fever in Deep Blue Sea		Short film
	The Apple		Short film	[35]
2006	No Regret	Ga-ram		[36]
	Burning Coals on His Head		Short film	[35]
	My Night with Miss Marple		Short film	[35]
	APT	Shin Jung-soo
2007	A Nymph of a Lamp			[37]
2008	Lost and Found	Han Ji-Hoon		[38]
	Living Together, Happy Together			[39]
2009	Five Senses of Eros	Han Ji-Woon
	Take Off	Choi Hong-cheol
2010	Cafe Seoul			[40]
	Happy Killers	Choi Jung-min
	Finding Mr. Destiny	Dr. Jung	Cameo
2011	Romantic Heaven	Dong Ji-wook
	The Cat	Jun-seok		[41]
	Countdown	Nalpari		[42]
2012	The Concubine	Prince Sung-won
2015	Three Summer Nights	Myung-seok
2017	Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds	Kim Soo-hong
2018	The Accidental Detective 2: In Action	Kwon Chul-in
	Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days	Kim Soo-hong		[43]
2019	Trade Your Love	Sung-seok		[23]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	Break	Yeong-hun	8 episodes
2007	Coffee Prince	Jin Ha-rim
	Unstoppable Marriage	Wang Sam-baek		[44]
2009	Partner	Eul-su		[45]
	Soul Special	Yoon-joon		[46]
	Hometown of Legends: Silent Village	Yoogil		[47]
2010	Blossom Sisters	Lee Jae-ha		[48]
2011	The Great Gift	Goo-Ram	SBS Chuseok Special	[49]
	I Trusted Him	Moon Hyun-soo		[50]
2015	Riders: Catch Tomorrow	Cha Gi-jun
	Cheo Yong 2	Lee Cheol-gyu	Cameo (Episode 1–2)	[51]
	More Than a Maid	Kim Eun-gi
2017	Radiant Office	Seo Hyun		[52]
2018	The Guest	Yoon Hwa-pyung
2019	Special Labor Inspector	Jo Jin-gap
2020	Find Me in Your Memory	Lee Jung-hoon
2021	You Are My Spring	Joo Young-do		[53]
2022	Shooting Stars	Lee Jung-hoon	Cameo (Episode 8)	[54]
2023	My Perfect Stranger	Yoon Hae-jun		[55]
	Delightfully Deceitful	Han Moo-yeong		[56]
2024	Seoul Busters	Dongbang Yu-bin		[57]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2022	The King of Pigs	Hwang Kyung-min	[58]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Saturday Night Live Korea	Host	Season 1 (Episode 5)
2021			Season 10 (Episode 8)	[59]

Music video appearances

Title	Year	Artist	Notes
"Forget About Love and Sing"	2007	8Eight
"Please Take Care of My Boyfriend"	2013	Younha
"Snowfall"	2018	g.o.d	featured with Shin Hye-sun[60]

Musical theatre

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2008	On Air: Season 2
2009	Brave Brothers
2010	Legally Blonde		[61]
2015	Brave Brothers		[62]

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"You Are to Me"	2009	Soul Special OST
"Fly High" (with Shim Eun-kyung)	2010	Happy Killers OST
"Please Wait"	2015	Riders: Catch Tomorrow OST

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Baeksang Arts Awards	2018	Best Supporting Actor – Film	Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds	Nominated	[63]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2018	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
Chunsa Film Art Awards	2009	Ensemble Acting Award	Take Off	Won	[64]
	2018	Best Supporting Actor	Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds	Won	[65]
Director's Cut Awards	2009	Best New Actor	Take Off	Won	[66]
Golden Cinema Film Festival	2018	Best Supporting Actor	Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds	Won	[67]
Korea Best Star Awards				Won	[68]
Korea Cable TV Awards	2016	Best Character	Riders: Catch Tomorrow	Won	[69]
Korea Drama Awards	2007	Netizen Popularity Award	Coffee Prince	Won	[70]
	2019	Top Excellence Award, Actor	Special Labor Inspector	Won	[71]
Max Movie Awards	2010	Best New Actor	Take Off	Won	[72]
MBC Drama Awards	2017	Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Radiant Office	Nominated	[73]
	2019	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Special Labor Inspector	Won	[74]
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries		Won	[75]
	2020	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Miniseries	Find Me in Your Memory	Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Kim Dong-wook (with Moon Ka-young) Find Me in Your Memory	Won	[76]
Seoul International Drama Awards	2019	Best Actor	Special Labor Inspector	Won	[77]

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
The Screen	2019	2009–2019 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies	41st	[78]