Yoo Yeon-seok

Yoo was born as Ahn Yeon-seok on April 11, 1984, in Seoul, South Korea as a son of Professor of Engineering . In his junior year in high school, Yoo decided to take up acting and followed his brother, who was studying another year to enter university, to Seoul and they lived together near the district of Samseong-dong. While taking acting classes, Yoo met a friend who would later work on the costume staff of film director Park Chan-wook. Remembering that he resembled actor Yoo Ji-tae, he gave him a call about auditioning for a role. Without having to pass out his resume, he made his acting debut as Yoo Ji-tae's younger counterpart in the acclaimed 2003 film Oldboy. After appearing in Oldboy, spent a solid amount of time preparing before becoming a full-fledged adult actor, including entering the Department of Film Arts at Sejong University and serving in the military. Upon graduation from Sejong University with a degree in Film Arts, he resumed his acting career in 2008, and appearing in the plays In The Burning Darkness and Understudy. He began using his agency's recommendation stage name, Yoo Yeon-seok.