Teo Yoo

The native form of this personal name is Yoo Teo. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim. In the stage name or pen-name, the surname is Yoo.

Kim Chi-hun (Korean: 김치훈; born April 11, 1981), known professionally as Teo Yoo (Korean: 유태오), is a German actor. He has starred as Viktor Tsoi in the biographical musical film Leto (2018),^[1][2][3][4] and won the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Actor in 2021. In 2023, he gained wider recognition for starring in the romantic drama film Past Lives,^[5] earning a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.^[6] In June 2024, he was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[7]

Teo Yoo
Yoo in February 2023
Born	Emile Kim Chi-hun (1981-04-11) April 11, 1981 (age 44) Cologne, West Germany
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2003–present
Agent	C-JeS
Spouse	Nikki S. Lee ​ (m. 2007)​
Korean name
Hangul	김치훈
Revised Romanization	Gim Chihun
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Ch'ihun
Stage name
Hangul	유태오
Revised Romanization	Yu Taeo
McCune–Reischauer	Yu T'aeo
Website	c-jes.com

Early life

Teo Yoo was born in Cologne, Germany. His father was a miner and his mother was a nurse. After graduating from high school in Germany, he enrolled in the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York and later, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London to study acting.^[8][9] He is fluent in German, English, and Korean.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

In 2007, he married artist Nikki S. Lee.^[10][11] They are based in Seoul, South Korea.^[10]

Filmography

Teo during 2019 Busan International Film Festival

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2003	Kim Bab	Kim	short film
2004	Brooklyn Bound	Tommy Woo
2006	Day Night Day Night	Driver
2009	Actresses	Emile
2010	Innocent When You Dream	Gustav Zerga	short film
2012	Love Fiction	Secretary
	Shanghai Strangers	The Lover	short film
	Code Name: Jackal	Moustache
2014	One on One	Shadow
2015	Seoul Searching	Klaus Kim
	Equals	Peter
	You Call It Passion	Jey
2016	Bitcoin Heist	Thomas
2017	The Moment	Mr. Kim	Thai Film
	TV Cello	Nam June Paik	short film
2018	Lim	Teo	short film
	Leto	Viktor Tsoi
2019	Vertigo	Lee Jin-soo
	Black Money	Steve Jung	Special appearance
2020	Pawn	Yoo Deok-hwa
2021	New Year Blues	Rae-hwan
	Log in Belgium		Director, writer, editing	[12]
2022	Decision to Leave	Director Lee	Special appearance	[13]
2023	Past Lives	Hae-sung	American film	[14]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2019	Arthdal Chronicles	Ragaz	Cameo
	Vagabond	Jerome
	Chocolate	Kwon Min-sung
2020	Money Game	Eugene Han
2021	Drama Stage – "Proxy Emotion"	Yoo Jae-ho	Season 4; one act-drama	[15]
	The Window	Cho Jae-yeon	Japanese-German joint drama	[16]
2025	The Recruit	Jang Kyu	Season 2	[17]

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Ref.
2016	The Cravings	Teo
2020	The School Nurse Files	Mackenzie
2021	Dr. Brain	Secretary Yoon	[18]
2023	Love to Hate You	Nam Kang-ho	[19]
2025	The Recruit 2	Jang Gyun	[20]
TBA	The Baddest Boy		[21]

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2017	Buzzer Beater	Cast Member	Episode 1–8
2021	Honeymoon Tavern	Cast Member	Episode 1–9	[22][23]

Music video appearances

Year	Song Title	Artist	Ref.
2017	"Courting"	Lena Park
2018	"Our Last Day"	Noel
2020	"Tender Love"	Kim Jae-joong

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Album
"Overwhelming"[24]	2021	Log in Belgium OST

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
British Academy Film Awards	2024	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Past Lives	Nominated	[25]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2021	Best New Actor	Vertigo	Won	[26][27]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	2023	Best Actor	Past Lives	Nominated
		Most Promising Performer		Nominated
Chunsa Film Art Awards	2020	Best New Actor	Vertigo	Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards	2024	Best Lead Performance	Past Lives	Nominated
Korea Arts and Culture Awards	2021	Film Division		Won	[28]
Korea Cultural Entertainment Awards	2018	Best New Actor	Leto	Won
Marie Claire Asia Star Awards	2023	Asia Star Award	Past Lives	Won	[29]
Marie Claire Film Festival	2023	Marie Claire Award	Log in Belgium	Won	[30]
MBC Entertainment Awards	2024	Popularity Award (Reality)	I'm Born to Play Music [ko]	Won	[31]
Starpics Thai Film Awards	2017	Best Supporting Actor	The Moment	Won	[32]

Listicles

Key

‡	Indicates a sole placement listicle

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

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
GQ Korea	2021	‡ Man of the Year	Placed	[33]