Choi Min-soo

Choi Min-soo is a South Korean actor. One of the leading actors in Korean film and television in the 1990s, he has received numerous accolades throughout the span of his career, including five Baeksang Art Awards, six Blue Dragon Film Awards, and three Grand Bell Awards. He is one of the only actors, alongside Lee Byung-hun, to have won in all categories of the Best Actor Award at all three of South Korea's most prestigious awards ceremonies.
Choi first garnered critical recognition in the film Nambugun: North Korean Partisan in South Korea, which earned him the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He would gain mainstream popularity with his appearances in the television series What Is Love and the film The Marriage Life. His role in the television series Walking Up to Heaven would solidify his public image as a "tough guy". For his performance in The Terrorist, he won his first Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Actor and fourth Popular Star Award. That same year, he received the Baeksang Arts [Award for Best Actor – Television|Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actor] for Sandglass.
Choi then made a shift to more television roles, appearing in the historical fantasy series The Legend, which was a ratings success. Since then, he has appeared in television series Happy Ending, Man Who Dies to Live, Lawless Lawyer, and Numbers.

Early life and education

Ancestry

Choi Min-soo was born on March 27, 1962, in Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea to actor Choi Moo-ryong and actress Kang Hyo-shil. Choi's father was a popular actor in the 1960s and 1970s. Choi is the fourth born of three daughters and one son to his parents. He has one half-sister from his father's second marriage to actress Kim Ji-mee and a half-brother and half-sister from his father's third marriage.
Choi is a third generation actor from a family of actors. In addition to his parents, both of his maternal grandparents were actors. His grandmother is actress Jeon Ok, who was referred to as the 'Queen of Tears' for her excellence in acting in tragic dramas. His grandfather is Kang Hong-shik, who was an actor, film director, and singer active during the Japanese occupation period. Kang Hong-sik and Jeon Ok were the first married couple in the Korean entertainment industry. Choi's maternal grandparents later separated after Korea's liberation from Japanese colonialism. His grandmother stayed in South Korea with their daughter, while his grandfather went over to North Korea with their other daughter Kang Hyo-son, who later became an actress in North Korea.

Education

Choi graduated from Lila Elementary School, Seongdong Middle School, Dongbuk High School, and the Seoul Institute of the Arts with an associate degree in Broadcasting and Entertainment.

Career

1986–1989: Career beginnings

After graduating from the Seoul Institute of the Arts, he debuted in 1986 in the film Son of God, playing the lead role. He then made his television debut in the KBS drama Skewers in 1987. He would continue to play lead roles in films.

1990–1995: Rising popularity and breakthrough

In 1990, he began to gain attention after playing poet Kim Young in the film Nambugun: North Korean Partisan in South Korea. His performance won him various rookie acting awards. He would continue to establish his popularity as an actor with lead roles in the MBC dramas Humble Men and A Mob House in 1991. It would be his role in the drama What Is Love and the film The Marriage Life that would solidify his status as a top star. During this time, Choi had a "tough guy" image from his debut role in Son of God, but the works that had garnered him mainstream popularity were comedy-orientated. He appeared in such comedy-orientated projects until around 1993. It was his role as a tough gangster in the 1993 drama Walking Up to Heaven that would cement his image as a "tough guy".
Choi went on to star in the romance films A Good Day to Fall in Love and My Old Sweetheart in 1995. His success would continue with his roles in the film The Terrorist and the drama Sandglass, winning him various prestigious acting awards.

1996–2006: Steady work and international roles

In 1996, he portrayed a psychopathic serial killer in the film Piano Man, which garnered moderate attention. Choi would continue to receive steady work, with some of his acting projects consisting of the films Blackjack in 1997 and Phantom, The Submarine in 1999. In 2000, he starred in the film Love Bakery, which received positive reviews, but performed poorly at the box office. In 2003, he starred in the drama South of the Sun, showing a different side to his "tough guy" image. In 2005, he starred in the film Holiday.
During this time, Choi had roles in films outside of South Korea. In 2002, he starred in his first foreign project in the Japanese film Seoul, directed by Masahiko Nagasawa. In 2005, he portrayed General Choi in director Stanley Tong's Hong Kong film, The Myth, alongside Jackie Chan.

2007–present: Deviation from film and transition into more television roles

After 2006, Choi would begin to accept more television roles and appear less in film roles. In 2007, he starred in the historical fantasy series The Legend, which achieved high television ratings. His role in the drama won him an award and multiple nominations at the year end MBC Drama Awards|MBC Drama Awards].
After taking a nearly two year hiatus from acting due to his elderly assault scandal, Choi made his comeback in the SBS drama Father's House in 2009. His comeback was a success, achieving high viewership ratings and positive reception from viewers.
In 2011, Choi made his American film debut in Serpent Rising. This marked his return to the big screen for the first time in 5 years.
In 2012, Choi reunited with his The Marriage Life co-star Shim Hye-jin in the drama Happy Ending. He received praise for his acting, showcasing his dramatic and emotional acting skills in the drama. That same year, he made a cameo in episode 4 of the drama Faith, starring Lee Min-ho and Kim Hee-sun.
In 2014, he appeared in the MBC drama Pride and Prejudice as Moon Hee-man. At the end-of-year 2014 MBC Drama Awards, Choi won the Golden Acting Award for his role in Pride and Prejudice. However, he did not attend the awards ceremony and refused to receive the award. His Pride and Prejudice co-star Baek Jin-hee received the award on his behalf and delivered his speech:
Choi's refusal of the award was due to his grief towards the Sewol ferry accident, which occurred on April 14 that year. The full speech was not aired due to "complications". Despite his refusal of the award, actress Baek Jin-hee stated that she would pass it on to him. That same year, he returned to the Korean big screen for the first time in 8 years with How to Steal a Dog.
In 2015, Choi ventured into regular variety show appearances for the first time. He was cast as a regular member in A Look At Myself, partnering up with F.T. Island member Lee Hong-gi as his manager and accompanying him to schedules. However, after getting involved in a physical altercation with a staff member and receiving immense public backlash for his actions, Choi voluntarily stepped down from the show and apologised to viewers and all those involved. Consequently, his guest appearance on the August 29 broadcast of Immortal Songs was edited out due to the controversy.
In October 2015, Choi's wife, June Kang, was cast as a member of What Is Mom. The show was a observational reality program that followed Kang's daily domestic life as a mother. The premise of the show was to reveal the relationship between mothers and their adolescent children. Choi and his two sons made regular appearances on the show alongside Kang. Choi's family was popular with viewers and the show presented a different side to Choi's public perception, showing a more light-hearted and easy-going side to him as a family man.
In 2016, he appeared in the SBS drama The Royal Gambler as King Sukjong of Joseon.
Choi would continue to make guest appearances in many popular variety shows, such as I Can See Your Voice Season 3 in 2016, Secretly Greatly in 2017, Master in the House and Happy Together Season 4 in 2019, and My Little Old Boy and Dolsing Fourmen in 2023.
In 2017, he starred in the tvN romantic comedy series The Liar and His Lover, playing the role of Lee Hyun-woo's father, Kang In-woo. Later that year, he starred in the MBC comedy drama Man Who Dies to Live.
In 2018, he was cast in the tvN legal thriller Lawless Lawyer alongside Lee Joon-gi and Seo Yea-ji. In 2019, he and his wife appeared as regular members on the variety show Same Bed, [Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny]. In 2020, he starred in the Netflix drama Extracurricular. In 2022, his wife appeared as a cast member on the KBS2 variety show Godfather, where he made regular appearances on the show alongside his wife.
In 2023, Choi was cast as Han Je-gyun in the MBC drama Numbers alongside Kim Myung-soo and Choi Jin-hyuk. That same year, he made his big screen comeback in the film Bear Man. He also made regular appearances on the reality show With Father and Me alongside his wife.
On October 23, 2024, it was confirmed that Choi was set to appear in the upcoming MBC drama Motel California as Ji Chun-pil. The drama premiered on January 10, 2025.

Personal life

Marriage and family

Choi married his wife, June Elizabeth Kang, on June 18, 1994 in Seoul, South Korea. They have two children, Christian and Benjamin.
Kang, who was born and raised in Canada, traveled to Korea in 1993 to participate in an international Miss Korea beauty pageant as Miss Canada. Choi was there to sing for the congratulatory stage performance. Kang did not make it to the final eight but won the Friendship Award. Choi and Kang did not formally interact, but Choi noticed Kang during the pageant. About a week later, Kang received a phone call from the pageant's producer, offering to take her on a tour of the Korean network MBC before she returned to Canada. At the time, Choi was filming the MBC drama My Mother's Sea and ran into Kang by chance at the studio. They exchanged greetings and after this meeting, Choi asked Kang to coffee. After a three-hour conversation, Choi proposed to Kang. They began dating after she returned to Canada, and Choi frequently flew there to visit her. After six months of dating, the two married.

Physical disputes

In April 2008, Choi was involved in an assault case where a roadside argument escalated to physical violence, which resulted in him taking a voluntary leave from acting due to the public outcry. It was reported that an elderly man saw Choi cursing at another driver and confronted him. The situation escalated and Choi assaulted the man. The actor then attempted to drive away, but the elderly man grabbed onto the hood of his car and refused to let go. Ultimately Choi was allowed to leave when the man declined to press charges, but the public reaction was swift and condemning. The actor apologised profusely for his behavior and promised to live in exile in the mountains, away from his wife and children, for a year.
On August 19, 2015, Choi punched a free-lance producer on the set of the KBS2 variety show, A Look At Myself. It was reported that the incident occurred after the producer had warned Choi about his frequent swearing during filming. Upon hearing this, Choi punched the producer. The situation was de-esculated after production staff stepped in. After news of the physical altercation came out, Choi was again the focus of a strong public backlash. This resulted in him again voluntarily withdrawing from the program and apologising sincerely to all parties involved as well as to viewers of the show. Consequently, his guest appearance on the August 29 broadcast of Immortal Songs was excluded.

Aggressive driving

On January 31, 2019, it was reported that Choi was indicted without detention and would be going on trial for charges associated with an incident where he engaged in aggressive driving on September 17, 2018. According to Choi, he was driving in the inside lane when another driver overtook his car from the next lane over without using his indicator and then immediately hit his brakes. While the other driver acknowledged these facts, the two were at odds with each other by honking their horns to just go. Choi also claimed that the other driver made insulting comments to him.
The case first came to trial on April 12, 2019. Choi's legal representatives stated that after the other driver caused the collision, she did not take appropriate safety measures to deal with the incident and then drove away. Consequently, according to the legal representative, Choi pursued her to attempt to secure a suitable resolution to the matter and had no intentions of retaliating or causing any harm to her. Conversely, the other driver accused Choi of deliberately causing a car accident by passing her car and making a sudden stop, resulting in damages of approximately. Choi denied these accusations. The plaintiff further accused Choi of using insulting language after the accident while they were trying to determine precisely what had happened, claims which Choi's side accepted.
In the second trial, held on September 4, 2019, the Seoul Southern District Court gave Choi a six-month prison term with a suspended sentence of two years probation. The court determined that the possibility of the other driver causing a rear-end collision was low and that Choi's actions towards the driver could be seen as "an expression of derogation of character". After the trial, Choi said that while he did not agree with the outcome, he didn't intend to appeal the decision. However, on September 11, the prosecution appealed the court's ruling and consequently, the next day, the actor also filed an appeal with the court.
The appeal trial was held on December 20, 2019, and upheld the original verdict. In his final appearance outside the courtroom, Choi stated that he believed everything happens for a reason and that he would fully accept the decision and move forward positively.

Filmography

Film

Note:

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Eye		Short film
1986	Son of God	Choi Kang-ta
1988	Last Dance with Her	Oh Hye-suk
1988	That Last Winter	In-tae
1990	Nambugun: North Korean Partisan in South Korea	Kim Young
1990	Man Market	Yeong-chun
1990	The Winter Dream Does Not Fly	Shin Gil-woo
1991	For Agnes	Hwang Mi-ho
1992	The Marriage Life	Kim Tae-gyu
1992	Mister Mama	Hyung-jun
1993	On a Windy Day We Must Go to Apgujeong	Cho Hyun-jae
1993	Honeymoon	Sung-hun
1993	A Different Kind of Man	Choi Hyung-jun
1994	Life and Death of the Hollywood Kid	Im Byung-suk
1994	I Wish for What Is Forbidden to Me
1994	Blue Seagull	Ha-il	Voice
1995	A Good Day to Fall in Love	Hyung-jun	Also planner
1995	The Terrorist	Soo-hyun
1995	My Old Sweetheart	Young-soo
1995	Rehearsal	Min-soo
1996	Come to Me	Jung-suk
1996	Piano Man	Piano Man
1997	Inshalla	Han Seung-yeop
1997	Story of a Man	Bong-man
1997	Blackjack	Oh Se-geun
1997	A Killing Story	Gae-nun	Cameo
1999	Phantom, The Submarine	No. 202/Vice Captain
2000	Love Bakery	Joo No-myung
2000	Libera Me	Jo Sang-woo
2001	My Wife Is a Gangster	Sashimi	Cameo
2002	Seoul	Kim Yoon-chul	Japanese film
2002	Yesterday	Goliath
2003	Sword in the Moon	Choi Ji-hwan
2005	The Myth	General Choi	Hong Kong film
2005	Holiday	Kim An-suk
2006	My Wife Is a Gangster 3	Sashimi	Cameo
2011	Assassins' Code	Karl Kim	American film
2014	How to Steal a Dog	Homeless man
2023	Bear Man	Lee Jeong-sik

Ambassadorship

Busan Metropolitan City Honorary Firefighter
Public Relations Ambassador of Korean Kendo Association
Ministry of Environment 2nd Environmental PR Delegation
Public Relations Ambassador of the National Promotion Committee for the Goguryeo History Museum