---
name: "Gong Yoo"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/gong-yoo"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "10 July 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T08:38:23.918007+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Gong Yoo

Actor. Born 10 July 1979 in Busan, South Korea.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 10 July 1979, Busan, South Korea
- **Active:** 2016–present
- **Also known as:** Gong Ji-chul, Гон Ю, 공유, Yoo Gong, 공지철, 孔侑, 孔劉, コン・ユ, Gong Yu, Kong Yoo, Kong Yu, 孔刘
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 84 (1), 2020s 81 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q623436, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1508003/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/150903

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Train to Busan*](https://film.one/film/train-to-busan.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Gong Yoo

> Gong Yoo is at his most persuasive when keeping calm looks like hard work. We rate him for the strain he lets show in *Train to Busan*: a leading man whose fear gives the action a reason to matter.

In *Train to Busan* (2016), Gong Yoo plays Seok-woo as a man working hard to hold himself together. His fear for his daughter Soo-ahn remains clear even as the action grows frantic. We rate him for making that effort convincing, rather than treating panic as a brief interruption to a leading man's composure. The family relationship gives us a reason to care about the danger.

His breakthrough came as Choi Han-kyul in *Coffee Prince* (2007), a romantic comedy. Playing the teacher Kang In-ho in *Silenced* (2011) marked a turn towards more serious dramatic work. By 2016, his work included both the zombie thriller and the fantasy drama *Guardian: The Lonely and Great God*. The troubled father in *Train to Busan* draws on that dramatic direction without discarding the appeal of the romantic lead.

Yeon Sang-ho gives him room in *Train to Busan*, allowing the family scenes enough patience for the relationship to take hold. Kim Su-an is essential to why it works: Soo-ahn's distress never becomes merely a way of making her father interesting. Gong's performance benefits from hers being allowed equal weight, so that we care about both people in the relationship. We were moved more than we expected by their struggle to stay together. The film's blunt class commentary is less persuasive than these two people trying not to lose one another amid the panic.

*Squid Game* (2021–2025) uses him as the Recruiter, taking that leading-man presence into an antagonistic role. It is a useful reminder that he need not always be the person we hope will keep others safe. There are limits to what his commitment can do, though: the capable central performance in *The Suspect* (2013) cannot cure an action vehicle that runs on too long. For a first encounter, choose *Train to Busan*, and give the scenes between father and daughter as much attention as the danger.

## Biography

Gong Yoo, born Gong Ji-cheol on 10 July 1979 in Busan, South Korea, is a South Korean actor. He studied theatre and film at Kyung Hee University and began his career as a video jockey on Mnet before making his acting debut in the 2001 television series *School 4*.

He rose to prominence with the lead role in the romantic comedy series *Coffee Prince* (2007). Notable film roles include Kang In-ho in *Silenced* (2011), Seok-woo in *Train to Busan* (2016) and Kim Woo-jin in *The Age of Shadows* (2016). On television he has starred as Kim Shin in *Guardian: The Lonely and Great God* (2016–2017) and appeared as the Recruiter in *Squid Game* (2021).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Squid Game* (2021), Fi1m 81, as The Recruiter — [page](https://film.one/tv/squid-game.md)
- *Train to Busan* (2016), Fi1m 84, as Seok-woo — [page](https://film.one/film/train-to-busan.md)

## Also known for

- *Guardian: The Lonely and Great God* (2016), Goblin / Kim Shin
- *Silenced* (2011), Kang In-ho
- *The Silent Sea* (2021), Han Yun-jae
- *Squid Game: Making Season 2* (2025), Self
- *The Age of Shadows* (2016), Kim Woo-jin
- *Coffee Prince* (2007), Choi Han-kyul
- *Seobok* (2021), Ki-heon
- *Love Untangled* (2025), Cafe Owner

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/gong-yoo