Go Soo

Go Soo (; born October 4, 1978), also known as Ko Soo, is a South Korean actor. He has appeared in television series such as Piano, Green Rose and Will It Snow for Christmas?, as well as the films White Night and The Front Line.

Early life and education Go was born and raised in Nonsan, South Korea as the youngest of 2 sons. He attended college in Sangmyung University, Cheonan campus, where he majored in Cinema degree.

Career 1998–2005: Debut and breakout fame When Go Soo first came to Seoul, he acted on stage, but he lacked money that time. Since he lacked money, he decided to put his stage acting on hold for later and eventually stopped. From then on, he began presenting his profile photo to numerous agencies. Go first appeared in a soft drink TV commercial, followed by a role as an extra in the 1998 music video "Last Promise" by the band Position. He made his television debut in 1999 through the MBC sitcoms My Funky Family and Jump and KBS2 drama series Ad Madness. Go drew critical praise for his performance in the television drama Piano in 2001, with one review describing him as an "actor with precision".

Go made his big screen debut as a drug crime officer in 2004's Some, in which he performed his own stunts and was later recognized as Best New Actor at the Grand Bell Awards. Go reunited with Ad Madness co-star Park Ye-jin in TV series When A Man Loves A Woman in the same year. In 2005, he starred in the revenge drama Green Rose, which was shot on location in China and Korea. He played a simple man who falls in love with a rich woman and gets accused of a crime he did not commit. Then in the romantic comedy Marrying a Millionaire, Go played a delivery man who is asked by a TV producer to act like a rich bachelor to attract several women on a televised reality dating show.

Since 2009: Comeback For his first post-army project, Go surprised fans by choosing a stage play. Invited to join the "Best Play Series" by veteran actor Cho Jae-hyun (Jo was his costar in Piano, and the senior colleague he "most respects"), Go made his theater debut as the lead actor in The Return of President Eom, which ran from May 23 to August 3, 2008.

In 2009, he starred in the dark mystery film White Night, based on the Japanese novel Byakuyakō by Keigo Higashino. Go said he was "completely absorbed by the intriguing storyline." Go then made his television comeback in the melodrama Will It Snow for Christmas?, a tale of rekindled childhood love penned by renowned TV writer Lee Kyung-hee. He described his character as "hurt by love and tries to overcome that pain."

His next film Haunters, in which he played the only man immune to a psychic's supernatural powers, was a box office hit in 2010. On May 13, 2011, he signed under the management of Lee Byung-hun known as BH Entertainment. He next played a soldier in the Korean War-set The Front Line, then a grieving firefighter in the 2012 romance drama Love 911.

Afterwards, he collaborated with the makers of The Chaser for Empire of Gold, a TV series about the power struggle within a rich family living through Korea's turbulent economy of the 1990s, produced by SBS; in this series, he played an antihero. Later that year, he starred in melodrama film Way Back Home, playing the devastated husband of a woman wrongfully accused of drug smuggling. Go said the reason he chose the film was because he wanted to work with acclaimed actress Jeon Do-yeon, and that through his character he "was able to tackle the challenge of internal and external change".

In 2014, Go appeared in two short films. Directed by Kang Je-gyu, Awaiting is about a married couple separated for sixty years by the division of North and South Korea. Awaiting was one of the four short films comprising Beautiful 2014, an omnibus project that premiered at the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Meanwhile, Myohyangsangwan ("View of Myohyangsan"), which depicted the rendezvous of a South Korean painter and a North Korean waitress in a North Korean restaurant, is a collaboration by contemporary artists Moon Kyung-won and Jeon Joon-ho, and combined a theatrical plot, experimental imagery, dance and performance art. He then starred in the period film The Royal Tailor, in the role of an upstart new designer whose talent and instincts challenges the traditional master artisan of royal attire.

In June 2015, Go Soo has amicably parted ways with BH Entertainment, and joined a new agency named Yubon Company founded by his previous manager at BH Entertainment. He then returned to BH Entertainment in February 2017.

Go made his small screen comeback after three years in MBC's 55th-founding anniversary historical drama directed by a famed director Lee Byung-hoon, The Flower in Prison.

In 2017, Go starred in Lucid Dream, a psychological thriller in which Go played a former journalist who attempts to find his kidnapped son using lucid dreaming. The same year, Go starred in The Tooth and the Nail, a film based on the 1955 mystery novel by Bill S. Ballinger in which a magician discovers the incinerated teeth and fingernails of his missing butler. He next starred in period epic film The Fortress, where he worked with his manager Lee Byung-hun.

In 2018, Go was cast in the medical drama Heart Surgeons as a cardiothoracic surgery resident trying to save his mother in need of a heart transplant.

Personal life Military service Go began his two-year mandatory military service on March 2, 2006 and he was assigned as a Civil Service Personnel in Gangnam District, Seoul. He was discharged on April 25, 2008, and received recognition for being an outstanding Public Interest Service Personnel. Marriage and family Go began dating Kim Hye-yeon, an art student eleven years his junior, shortly after meeting her in 2008. The couple married on February 17, 2012 at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. Their son was born on January 28, 2013, and their daughter was born on April 17, 2015. On September 13, 2017, his wife gave birth to their 3rd child.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2004 Some Kang Sung-joo 2009 White Night Kim Yo-han 2010 Haunters Im Kyu-nam 2011 The Front Line Kim Soo-hyuk 2012 Love 911 Chun Kang-il 2013 Way Back Home Kim Jong-bae 2014 Awaiting Kim Min-woo Short film View of Mount Myohyang South Korean painter Short film The Royal Tailor Lee Gong-jin 2016 The Last Princess Prince Lee Woo Cameo 2017 Lucid Dream Choi Dae-ho The Tooth and the Nail Lee Suk-jin / Choi Seung-man The Fortress Seo Nal-soi 2022 Bystanders Jeong Ik-jeong Web short film

Television series Year Title Role Notes 1999 Ad Madness JumpGo Soo My Funky Family2000 Say It with Your Eyes Jang Ki-ryong Nonstop Go Soo Mom and Sister Jang Kyung-bin 2001 Piano Han Jae-soo 2002 Age of Innocence Tae-suk 2003 My Fair Lady Shin Young-ho 2004 When a Man Loves a Woman Ji-hoon 2005 Green Rose Lee Jung-hyun / Jang Joong-won Marrying a Millionaire Kim Young-hoon 2009 Will It Snow for Christmas? Cha Kang-jin 2013 Empire of Gold Jang Tae-joo 2016 Flowers of the Prison Yoon Tae-won 2018 Heart Surgeons Park Tae-soo 2019 Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency Crown Prince Cameo; Episode 1 2020 Money Game Chae Yi-hun 2020–2023 Missing: The Other Side Kim Wook Season 1–2 2024 Parole Examiner Lee Lee Han-shin 2026 Reverse Jun-ho

Web shows Year Title Role Notes 2023 Saturday Night Live Korea Host Season 3 Episode 9

Music video appearances Year Title Artist 1998 "Last Promise" Position "Pig Man" Noise "Letter" Position 2000 "U Got the Funk" Lee Hyun-do (Deux) 2001 "I'll Be Back" Yoo Seung-joon 2002 "Sadness" Kang Hyung-rok "A Sad Gift" Kim Jang-hoon 2003 "1:1" Juju Club "I Still Bite My Lips" Lee Soo-young "Left Alone" 2004 "Confession" Park Hye-kyung "Burying My Face in Tears" Jang Na-ra 2022 "Distance" Lee Seok-hoon

Stage Theatre Year Title Role 2008 The Return of President Eom Eom Go-soo

Discography Year Title Notes 2006 I Will Be Happy Poetry readings

Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result APAN Star Awards 2013 Top Excellence Award, Actor Empire of Gold 2016 Grand Prize (Daesang) The Flower in Prison Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama 2023 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Missing: The Other Side 2 Excellence Award, Actor in a Short Drama O'PENing: Summer, Love Machine, Blues Blue Dragon Film Awards 2004 Best New Actor Some 2010 Best New Actor White Night 2011 Popular Star Award The Front Line Best Actor Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2010 Fantasia Award White Night Golden Cinema Festival 2014 Best Actor Way Back Home Grand Bell Awards 2005 Best New Actor Some Korea Best Dresser Swan Awards 2003 Model Line – Popularity Award Go Soo MBC Drama Awards 2000 Best New Actor Mothers and Sisters 2016 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama Flowers of the Prison SBS Drama Awards 2001 New Star AwardPiano Popularity Award 2002 Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama SpecialAge of Innocence Top 10 Stars Top Excellence Award, Actor 2003 Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special My Fair Lady 2005 Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Planning Drama Green Rose Top 10 Stars Green Rose / Marrying a Millionaire Top Excellence Award, Actor 2013 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Drama Special Empire of Gold 2018 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Drama Heart Surgeons Style Icon Awards 2011 Top 10 Style Icons Go Soo