Yoon Kye-sang is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career in 1999
as part of the K-pop boy band g.o.d, then left the group in 2004 to pursue an
acting career. He made his acting debut in the film Flying Boys, for which he
won Best New Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards. Yoon became active in both
television and film, with leading roles in romantic comedies such as My 19 Year
Old Sister-in-Law and Who Are You? and the melodrama Crazy for You, as well as
more serious fare in The Moonlight of Seoul and The Executioner. After a
supporting turn in the hit series The Greatest Love, he returned to the big
screen in the well-received indie Poongsan.
Career = Pop star beginnings=
Yoon Kye-sang began his rise to fame as a member of South Korean pop music group
g.o.d; the band debuted in 1999 and enjoyed huge popularity for over half a
decade. However, he turned to acting in 2004, making his film debut in Flying
Boys, directed by Byun Young-joo. He made his television debut that same year
in My 19 Year Old Sister-in-Law with Jung Da-bin.
Some of the group's fans called Yoon a "traitor" for leaving g.o.d before its
sixth album; g.o.d went on to release a seventh before disbanding in 2005.
= Military service= Having just departed from g.o.d, Yoon
was at the height of his popularity, but had to interrupt his nascent acting
career due to mandatory military service. He enlisted in the Republic of
Korea Army on December 7, 2004, and was assigned to the 102nd Reserves at
Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on the Korean Demilitarized Zone. After
completing basic training and serving there for some time, Yoon was reassigned
in 2006 to duties as an "entertainment soldier" in the newly formed group
Korean Forces Network, which provides television and radio broadcasts to
soldiers, and also allows celebrities to maintain a public profile while
completing their military service. He was discharged from the army on December
6, 2006. In an interview that day, he said that he had not slept the night
before and was very tired, but looked forward to seeing his fans; he further
stated that he planned to resume his career in 2007.
As late as June 2011, his military service still earned him public
attention, when a round-cheeked photo of him in uniform "went viral" among South
Korean internet users. The photos received many amused comments for his
then-fat cheeks, forming a sharp contrast with his more recent
appearance. = Acting career post-army=
In January 2007, Yoon returned to show business in the television drama Crazy
in Love; he portrayed a gangster who falls in love with the widow of a man
he'd accidentally killed. The following year, he and Kim Ha-neul were cast in
Lovers of Six Years, playing a couple in a six-year relationship. According to
Kim, her initial perception of Yoon was that he was very shy, whereas Yoon
perceived Kim as snobby, so it took them some time to break the ice and establish
a good working relationship. Later that year, he took a dual role in the comedy
television series Who Are You?, playing a cold-hearted corporate raider who, in
the aftermath of a traffic accident, becomes possessed by the spirit of a
cheerful deliveryman for a few hours each day. At the same time he took a
starring role opposite Ha Jung-woo in Beastie Boys, portraying a worker in a
host club; The Korea Times movie review praised him for his "gripping
performance." In 2009, he left his agency SidusHQ and
joined My Name Is Entertainment. After doing a lighter role in the
slice-of-life drama Triple, Yoon starred in the movie The Executioner, which
examined capital punishment in South Korea; it debuted at the 14th Busan
International Film Festival. Yoon played the role of a junior prison guard who
takes up his post after failing an examination, and unluckily finds himself
assigned to carry out executions after the only other guard in the prison with
such experience quits. Just before the movie came out, he made controversial
remarks in an interview with GQ Korea stating that the South Korean movie
industry was dominated by leftists. As controversy rose among internet users
over his remarks, he quickly made an apology for what he described as his
"ignorance." He also became part of the ensemble cast in Come, Closer, a 2010
omnibus feature that follows the broken relationships of five couples.
After his highly anticipated big-budget Korean War drama Road No. 1, tanked in
the ratings, Yoon said he wanted to play a character "who gets loved by the
public" and took on a supporting role as a sweet, kind doctor in romantic comedy
The Greatest Love. The drama's success and Yoon's
popularity in it helped bring attention to his next project, the low-budget,
gritty indie Poongsan. Director Juhn Jai-hong fought to cast Yoon against
type as the titular taciturn messenger, saying that he'd been impressed by the
piercing gaze Yoon had shown in previous films. Calling it "a meaningful
project," Yoon enjoyed the difficult acting challenge of telling the story
only through his eyes, facial expressions and body movements. He was
recognized with Best Actor nominations from the 2011 Grand Bell Awards and Blue
Dragon Film Awards. After starring in the third season of
popular sitcom High Kick!, he was cast in the action thriller The Suspect, but
withdrew when co-star Choi Min-sik backed out. He also pulled out from
Acting Class when the big-screen comedy encountered pre-production delays.
In May 2012, he transferred to a new agency, A List Entertainment. Then Yoon
and close friend, actor Kwon Se-in filmed the reality/travelogue program
Real Mate in Sydney, Australia for seven days and six nights. Kwon also appeared
on Yoon Kye-sang's One Table, a reality show on cable channel O'live that helped
fulfill Yoon's dream of owning a restaurant. After honing his cooking
skills and learning culinary secrets, Yoon prepared a feast for his former
band members g.o.d on the show's season finale; it was g.o.d's first televised
reunion after eight years. During the dinner, Yoon clarified that he had left
the band because he initially wanted to quit being a celebrity.
Yoon appeared in Kim Jee-woon's short film One Perfect Day in 2013. Yoon then
signed with a new talent agency, Saram Entertainment.
In 2014, Yoon starred in the melodrama series The Full Sun, in which he played
a con man who enters a complicated romance with a jewelry heiress. This was
followed by the romantic comedy film Red Carpet, in the role of an adult film
director who dreams of making his first commercial feature. Then to commemorate
the band's 15th anniversary, all the members of g.o.d reunited to record
their eighth album, and afterwards embarked on a successful nationwide
concert tour. This was Yoon's first foray into singing in the 11 years since
he'd left the band. Minority Opinion, Yoon's film in which
he played a public defender whose client is accused of killing a riot policeman
during a forced demolition, which had wrapped filming in 2013, finally
received a theatrical release in 2015. He next starred in Last, a cable series
based on Kang Hyung-kyu's webtoon about a fund manager whose financial ruin
leads to life among the homeless living underground at Seoul Station.
Personal life Yoon is the youngest of two siblings in
his family. He describes having been very embarrassed as a young boy when he
ran errands for his mother and elder sister, such as buying tampons for them
at the store. In December 2000, Yoon, then a member of
g.o.d, received a poisoned drink from a supposed fan. Yoon's mother drank the
drink and had to have her stomach pumped.
Filmography = Film=
= Television drama= = Variety show=
= Music video= Discography
Awards and nominations References
External links Yoon Kye-sang on Instagram
Yoon Kye-sang on Facebook Yoon Kye-sang at Saram Entertainment
Yoon Kye-sang at HanCinema Yoon Kye-sang at the Korean Movie
Database Yoon Kye-sang at the Internet Movie
Database