YOO Ji-tae joined the ranks of high-teen stars through his role of a young man naïve about love in <One Fine Spring Day>, but he intentionally cut off the “high-teen star” tag early on. He felt burdened by the title “star” and wanted to build a career of a character actor instead of pursuing fame. With his familiar-looking mask and soft voice tone, YOO is known as an actor with sponge-like absorption fitting easily in movies of any genre. He exhibited the depth of his acting by playing a secret service agent who falls in love with a cyborg in <Natural City> and a character who probes into the mysteries surrounding a murder in a department store in <Into the Mirror>. He then starred in [PARK Chan-wook]’s <Old Boy> for the role of Woojin who prepares a long and solemn operatic drama of vengeance to avenge the death of his older sister. YOO’s cool and stylish acting was said to have complemented the impassioned acting of [CHOI Min-sik]. Subsequently, he performed a reality-filled ordinary character in <Woman Is the Future of Man> by [HONG Sangsoo], and took a stab at rough male characters in <Antarctic Journal>, <Running Wild>, and <Midnight FM>. YOO is also interested in directing, with a few short and mid-length features under his belt. He has also appeared in melodrama films such as <Traces of Love>, <Hwang Jin Yi>, and <Secret Love>. In the meantime, YOO appeared as an opera singer who must overcome throat cancer to continue his career in the Korean and Japanese co-production <The Tenor Lirico Spinto>, which screened at the Busan International Film Festival in 2014.
YOO switch gears in formidable fashion in 2012, when he unveiled his accomplished feature directorial debut Mai Ratima at the Busan International Film Festival. The immigration-focused indie picked up the Jury Prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival in France. The star turned director next embarked on the project The Kochebi.
Outside Story
Date of birth: April 13, 1976
Height, Weight: 188 cm, 78kg
Educational background: Chung-Ang University Graduate School of films and arts Cinematography
Awards
’11 The Ministry of Health and Welfare: The donator of the month award
’11 6th Asia Model award
’09 6th Seoul Metropolitan City Award for being the most girl-like
’08 10th International Short Films contribution award
Others
Debut
’98 Movie <Bye June>
Drama
’08 SBS <Star’s Lover>
Movies
’10 <Midnight F.M> - Han Dong-Su
’10 <Secret Love> - Jin-Woo/Jin-Ho
’08 <Hello Schoolgirl>
’07 <Hwang Jin Yi> - No-Mi
’06 <Traces of Love> - Hyun-Woo
’06 <Three Fellas>
’05 <Running Wild> - Oh Jin-Woo
’05 <Sympathy for Lady Vengeance> - Grown-Up Won-Mo
’05 <Antarctic Journal> - Kim Min-Jae
’04 <Woman Is the Future of the Man> - Lee Moon-Ho
’03 <Oldboy> - Lee Woo-Jin
’03 <Natural City>
’03 <Into the Mirror> - Woo Yeong-Min
’03 <Wonderful Days>
’01 <One Fine Spring Day>
’01 <MOB 2025>
’00 <Libera Me>
’00 <Nightmare> - Hyun-Jun
’00 <Ditto> - Ji-In
’00 <01412 Sect of the Magic Sword> - Ma-Ko
’99 <Attack the Gas Station> - Paint
’98 <Bye June>
Script-writings and Directing
’12 <Mai Ratima>
’09 <The Invitation>
’07 <Out Of My Intention>
’05 <How Does The Blind Dream>
’03 <The Bike Boy>
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