Making Mark as a Singer and Actor
In 2010, after being declared the winner in a district-level singing competition, Do Kyung-soo auditioned at S.M. Entertainment. S.M. Entertainment is a South Korean ‘chaebol’ whose core business is entertainment but also has interests in ‘production’, ‘retail’, and ‘travel’.
D.O. performed a cover of the song “Anticipation” by Na Yoon-kwon and “My Story” by ‘Brown Eyed Soul’ for his audition at S.M. Entertainment’s studio. Based on his performance, he was chosen as a trainee, and he meticulously honed his singing skills for the entire period that he was with S.M Entertainment.
Kyung-Soo joined as the eight member of the South Korean-Chinese all-boys band ‘EXO’ officially on 30 January 2012. On that very day, EXO’s introductory single, “What is Love” was launched commercially.
D.O. performed “What is Love” as a lead singer in 2014 for the album, ‘Exology: Chapter 1: The Lost Planet’ and thereafter in 2016 with Yoo Young-Jin for a digital music project, ‘S.M. Station Season 1’.
EXO came out with their first group single, “Mama” on 8 April 2012. It was followed by the release of their debut EP with the same title. Kyung-soo lent his vocals to the track, “Goodbye Summer” together with ‘Krystal’, ‘Amber’, and ‘Luna’-members of the all-girls K-pop band, f(x) for their 2nd album, ‘Pink Tape’.
The title song of EXO’s second EP, ‘Miracles in December’ which was released officially on 9 December 2013 was performed by Kyung-soo along with Chen and Baekhyun, fellow band members.
D.O. made his silver screen debut in September 2014, by starring as ‘Choi Tae-Young’—a high-school pupil—in ‘Cart’, an ensemble drama film. He sang two numbers, “Scream” and “Crying Out” that featured in the movie’s original soundtrack.
'Cart' premiered in the 2014 ‘Toronto Film Festival’ and was also screened at 34th Hawaii International Film Festival and 19th Busan International Film Festival.
Kyung-soo debuted on the small screen long before he appeared in a movie. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the SBS Network’s series, ‘To the Beautiful You’ where he portrayed himself.
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His first major role in a TV serial was in the SBS endorsed drama, ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’ where he played the part of ‘Han Kang-woo’, performing alongside celebrated South Korean stars, Jo In-Sung and Gong-Hyo-jin.
Though D.O. was cast in a supporting role in ‘It’s Okay That’s Love’, his performance in the serial was appreciated by fans and critics. Later on, his performance in the TV serial earned him a ‘Best New Actor’ Award at the 51st ‘Baeksang Arts Awards’ ceremony.
Critics in 2015 voted Kyung-soo as the leading artist amongst 40 most popular K-pop idols who performed in feature films and TV series categorized under the ‘drama’ genre in 2014. His stirring portrayal of ‘Lee Joon-young’, a teenage psychopath in KBS2’s drama series, ‘Hello Monster’ was highly praised by critics and entertainment industry bigwigs.
D.O. won a Grand Bell Awards nomination at its 52nd staging in November 2015 in the category, ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category for the film, ‘Cart’.
In February 2015, he was cast as the lead actor in the romantic movie, ‘Pure Love’ where he shared screen space with Kim So-hyun, the main actress. Next year, in April, he featured in the film, ‘Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds’, an adaptation of a South Korean webtoon of the same name.
The plot of ’Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds’ revolves around sessions in the afterlife court where the departed have to appear in hearings that continues for several days. The movie went on to become a blockbuster, garnering huge revenues.
Kyung-soo had a part to play in the web series, ‘Be Positive’ that also featured Lee David and Chae Seo-jin. The online drama, promoted by Samsung and broadcasted on 31st October 2016 became the most watched web series ever with more than 30 million views within a fortnight of its release.
S.M. Entertainment announced in May 2017 that Kyung-soo will be the protagonist in the movie ‘Swing Kids’. A North Korean gulag or concentration camp at some stage in the Korean War forms the backdrop for the movie, and Kyung-soo portrays a soldier who develops a passion for tap dancing that helps him to de-stress.
Awards & Honors
In 2014, he won the Seoul International Youth Film Festival Award (category - Best Young Actor) and 3rd APAN Star Award (category - Best New Actor) for the T.V. series 'It's Okay, That's Love".
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In 2016, he won the Rising Star Award at the 11th Max Movie Awards. In the same year, he also won the Most Popular Actor (Film) award at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards for the movie 'Pure Love'
In 2017, he won a lot of awards for the movie 'My Annoying Brother'. The include: Most Popular Actor (Film) at 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards, Newcomer Award (Film) at Korean Film Shining Star Awards, Star Award at 13th JIMFF Awards, Best New Actor Award at 38th Blue Dragon Film Awards and Popularity Award - Actor at the 2nd Asia Artist Awards.
Trivia
He gets along best with his EXO mate, K Kai
He has a fetish for cleanliness and orderliness.
He acts as a guardian to other EXO band members, preparing meals and helping them to take good care of themselves
He has been on record saying that had he not become a songster, he would have become a chef
He’s well versed in a number of languages, including English and his pronunciation of English words is perfect
He tends to forget everything and misplace things when he becomes edgy and stressed
