Jin Goo: Descendants of the Sun's supporting actor, constantly appearing and disappearing, fans are shocked by his appearance?

Jin Goo is a South Korean actor who became famous throughout Asia for his role as Sergeant Major Seo Dae Young in Descendants of the Sun (2016). Although he only played a supporting role alongside Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo , he left a strong impression with his cold image.

That year when the film aired, Jin Goo was as famous as Song Joong Ki, and was even considered more handsome, masculine, and a true soldier than the male lead - who was criticized for having a scholarly appearance and "fair skin".

After the resounding success of the global blockbuster, it was thought that Jin Goo would have a smooth career development like the other 3 actors, but unexpectedly he just stood still, acted in few films and had no explosive works.

What makes Jin Goo stand out is that he rarely takes care of his appearance, grows a beard, grows long hair, and always brings his real-life image to the screen when acting. Throughout recent works, Jin Goo has continuously appeared with long hair, and is lucky to shave his beard. This is not really necessary for the character and makes the audience bored when looking at his appearance.

Most recently, the crew of the movie My Lovely Journey released images revealing Jin Goo's role and once again he appeared with long hair. The audience has gotten used to it and is so bored that they no longer want to comment on the appearance of the former male god. Some people think that Jin Goo is limiting his career opportunities because of his personal preferences.

In the new film, Jin Goo plays Lee Jung Woo, a famous actor who was once active but suddenly disappeared from the entertainment industry for more than 5 years. It is known that Jin Goo's character is the mysterious person behind the request to carry out the second "tour representative" trip of female lead Kang Yeo Reum (Gong Seung Yeon) and her Golden Retriever dog named Jini.

Career Journey

Jin Goo was born on July 20, 1980 in Seoul, South Korea. He graduated from Kyungdong High School and attended Sahmyook University. Standing at approximately 178 cm tall and with blood type AB, Jin Goo is a member of the generation of Korean actors who started their career in the early 2000s, known for his deep acting and emotional acting.

He started his television career in 2003 with the role of young Kim In-Ha in the drama All In, starting a diverse acting career. In the early years, he mainly took on supporting roles with strong personalities such as villains or mysterious characters in films such as A Bittersweet Life, A Dirty Carnival, Truck, The Epitaph. His role in The Epitaph won him the Best New Actor award at the Golden Cinematography Awards.

In 2009, he played the character Jin-Tae in the film Mother, a prominent role that earned him Best Supporting Actor awards at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Daejong Awards.

The film 26 Years (2012) - a project about the Gwangju Uprising - despite difficulties during production, was completed thanks to crowdfunding, continuing to prove Jin Goo's dedication to deep roles.

The real highlight of his career came in the 2016 drama Descendants of the Sun, where he played Sergeant Seo Dae-Young, a cold-hearted but powerful special forces officer, alongside Song Joong-Ki and Song Hye-Kyo. The drama exploded across Asia, catapulting Jin Goo to fame, and he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the APAN Star Awards that year.

Soon after, Jin Goo continued to appear in many notable television series such as Night Light (2016), Untouchable (2017–2018), Legal High (2019) - a remake of a famous Japanese film, and more notably Mr. Sunshine (2018), in which he only appeared briefly but made an impression.

In recent years, Jin Goo has been trying his hand at both film and television. In 2021, he starred in My Lovely Angel, a touching film about the relationship between adults and children, and Beyond Evil (2021), a psychological thriller that received seven nominations at the Baeksang Awards, winning Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (for Shin Ha-kyun).

In 2022, Jin Goo starred in the Disney Channel series Shadow Detective, playing Kook Jin‑Han; the series has now resumed filming for a second season set to premiere in mid-2023.

In the same year, he also appeared in the series A Superior Day (OCN, 2022) and the movie The Witch: Part 2 – The Other One (Manyeo Part 2: The Other One, 2022).

Most recently, in 2024, he starred in the series The Auditors (tvN) as Hwang Dae-Woong. Jin Goo stands out with his deep, emotional acting style, often choosing characters with painful pasts or many internal conflicts. He is especially praised for his strong emotional gaze, clearly expressing the character's mood without dialogue.

In terms of genre, Jin Goo has tried his hand at everything: from action, crime psychology, law, romantic drama to supernatural thriller. He is not afraid to play a villain, but can also take on the image of a father, an officer, or a man with a complex inner life. This flexible transformation shows that he is always looking for multi-dimensional roles, not limited to a box.

Regarding awards, in addition to the ones mentioned above, he was honored with the Best Couple award with Kim Ji-Won at the 2016 KBS Drama Awards for Descendants of the Sun.

About personal life and career outside of film

He signed a contract with Varo Entertainment since the end of 2020, after many years with BH Entertainment.

On online forums, fans are still looking forward to his early return to the small screen, even though he hasn't participated in many K-dramas since 2022. One fan shared: "We really hope to see him in more dramas."

Thus, over the past two decades, Jin Goo has built an admirable career: starting with profound supporting roles, breaking stereotypes with his role in Mother, then shining with Descendants of the Sun and constantly affirming his talent through all kinds of films. Although he no longer appears as continuously as before, he still maintains the love of the audience thanks to impressive roles, serious script selection, and the ability to diversify his image.

Recently, Jin Goo also confirmed that he is considering a script for an action thriller film scheduled to be released in 2025, promising to mark an impressive return to the big screen.

Song Joong Ki implicitly admitted that he still misses his ex-wife Song Hye Kyo through one sentence? Minh Lợi14:16:10 24/04/2024Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki are the two most famous stars after Descendants of the Sun. Thanks to the movie, the couple became husband and wife, but then they quickly divorced.