Career
He chanced upon watching the play ‘Finding Kim Jong-wook’ and the immediate passion he developed for the stage led him to switch his profession for good.
He quit sports in 2007 and started a new journey in the field of acting. That year only he played the role of Kim Jong-wook in ‘Finding Kim Jong-wook’ and went on to reprise the role in 2011.
His initial television pursuits saw him performing in Fun TV Roller Coaster: Season 1 (2009) that was aired in tvN and ‘Joseon Mystery Detective Jeong Yak-yong’ (2009) aired in OCN.
In 2010, he essayed minor roles of Yoon Hyun-min in the MBC aired TV series ‘More Charming by the Day’ and that of son of second state councillor in the OCN aired TV series ‘Yaksha’. He also featured in the SBS Plus television series ‘Kiss and the City’ that year.
His only big-screen appearance so far was in the role of Sang-tae in the 2011 sports film ‘Pitch High’. That year he played the starring role of Melchior Gabor, a rebellious and highly intelligent teenage schoolboy, in the famous rock musical play ‘Spring Awakening’ that remains one of his notable theatrical works till present.
He featured in the extended cast of the South Korean romance melodrama family series ‘Still You’ playing the role of Lee Jae-ha. The series that starred Kim Seung-soo, Shin Eun-kyung, Song Jae-hee and Wang Bit-na was broadcast on SBS for 124 episodes starting from May 21, 2012 to December 3, 2012.
In 2012 he also portrayed the character of Lee Tae-seong in the play ‘Bachelor's Vegetable Store’.
His first notable main cast role was that of Kim Hyun-soo in the South Korean noir/crime action romance series ‘Cruel City’ that had Nam Gyu-ri , Jung Kyung-ho and Lee Jae-yoon in starring roles. The series aired on jTBC for 20 episodes starting from May 27, 2013 to July 30, 2013.
Sometime during 2013 to 2014 he performed in the play ‘Triangle’ characterising the role of Do-yeon.
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His supporting role of Toyama Aoki in the 2014 South Korean period drama action romance series ‘Inspiring Generation’ earned him Best New Actor award nomination at the KBS Drama Awards that year. The series starred Im Soo-hyang, Kim Hyun-joong and Jin Se-yeon and was aired on KBS2 for 24 episodes from January 15 to April 3 of that year.
This was followed by another supporting role of Yong Soo-cheol in the tvN aired South Korean romance comedy series ‘Witch's Romance’, a remake of the popular Taiwanese drama ‘My Queen’ (2009). The series was broadcast for 16 episodes starting from April 14, 2014 to June 10, 2014.
One of the notable roles of Yoon was that of Do Joon-ho in the South Korean romance drama comedy series ‘Discovery of Love’ that was aired on KBS2 for 16 episodes from August 18, 2014 to October 7, 2014. It earned him his second Best New Actor award nomination at the KBS Drama Awards that year.
In 2014 he also featured as Sang-woo in the MBC aired television series Drama Festival "House, Mate".
He landed up with his first lead role in a TV series with the South Korean romance comedy drama ‘Falling for Innocence’. He featured as Lee Joon-hee in the series starring along with Kim So-yeon and Jung Kyung-ho. The series aired on jTBC for 16 episodes starting from April 3, 2015 to May 23, 2015.
The one series that bolstered his career upping his nationwide fame and recognition was the popular South Korean melodrama family series ‘My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol’. This weekend series that aired on MBC for 51 episodes starting from September 5, 2015 to February 28, 2016, garnered high viewership ratings, however was tagged by critics as "absurdly unrealistic".
Yoon essayed one of the leading roles of Kang Chan-bin in ‘My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol’. His performance won him the Best New Actor in a Special Project Drama award at the MBC Drama Awards in 2015.
He then featured as Kim Sae-byuk in the 13th episode of the tvN aired South Korean television drama ‘The Good Wife’ (2016) that had Yoo Ji-tae, Yoon Kye-sang and Jeon Do-yeon in starring roles. The series was a remake of an American TV drama bearing same title.
Next notable work of Yuun was playing one of the lead roles of Kim Seon-jae starring opposite Lee Yoo-young and Choi Jin-hyuk, in the South Korean crime thriller TV series ‘Tunnel’.
‘Tunnel’ was a weekend series that aired on OCN for 16 episodes from March 25, 2017 to May 21, 2017. Inspired by an unsolved South Korean serial murder case, the Hwaseong serial murders, the series became quite popular in China.
At present Yoon can be seen featuring in the lead role of Yeo Jin-wook starring opposite Jung Ryeo-won in the South Korean legal drama TV series ‘Witch at Court’. The series airs every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00 (KST) on KBS2 starting from October 9, 2017.
