공유 孔劉
Actor born Gong Ji-cheol; known for Coffee Prince, Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) and Train to Busan
| Life | 1979 |
| Era | 현대 |
| Clan | 곡부 공씨 |
Life & career
Gong Yoo (孔劉, born Gong Ji-cheol, 1979-) is an actor from Busan. Wikipedia gives his seat as Gokbu. His stage name is said to combine his father's and mother's surnames. He graduated in theatre and film from Kyung Hee University and earned a master's at its Art Fusion Design graduate school. He began as a magazine and ad model in 1999, debuted as an Mnet VJ in 2000 and made his formal acting debut in the 2001 KBS drama School 4.
He moved into leading roles with Hello My Teacher (2005) and One Fine Day (2006), and broke out as Choi Han-gyul in MBC's Coffee Prince (2007), becoming a Korean Wave star. He enlisted in January 2008 and was discharged in December 2009, assigned to public-relations duty. Afterwards he appeared in Finding Mr. Destiny (2010), Silenced (2011) and The Suspect (2013). Silenced, based on real events, caused a strong public reaction and is known to have fed into discussion of the so-called Dogani Act. From 2013 he has served as a special representative of UNICEF Korea.
In 2016 Train to Busan passed 11 million admissions and he appeared in The Age of Shadows; the tvN drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) won him the Baeksang Best Actor (TV). He later appeared in Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 (2019), Seo Bok (2021), Netflix's The Silent Sea (2021), played the Recruiter in Squid Game seasons 1 and 2, and starred in The Trunk (2024). This entry covers public professional activity only.
Debut
He debuted as an Mnet VJ in 2000 and began acting in School 4 in 2001.
Coffee Prince and Military Service
Coffee Prince (2007) made him a top star, followed by military service in 2008-09.
Silenced and Public Activities
Silenced (2011) drew wide public attention, and since 2013 he has been a UNICEF Korea special representative.
2016 and After
He appeared in Train to Busan, The Age of Shadows, Goblin and Squid Game. He is introduced with clan member Minzy.
Grave
Not applicable; he is living.