“Extraordinary Attorney Woo” star Kang Tae Oh: The “hidden gem” among K-drama actors with a decade-long career
From his debut in the actor group 5urprise, Kang Tae Oh has been acting for 10 years.
ENA’s drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” is gaining huge popularity. Among plenty of positive reviews about the script, directing, and acting, above all, the shining performances of the leading actors are attracting attention. In the cast, Kang Tae Oh is considered a “hidden gem”. Let’s take a look at the acting career of Kang Tae Oh, who is about to enter his 10th year of debut.
Kang Tae Oh’s start was quite unique. Kang Tae Oh (real name Kim Yoon Hwan) was born in 1994. He took his first steps in the entertainment industry as a member of 5urprise.
At the time, industry insiders thought 5urprise was an idol group. However, they were actually an ‘actor group’ consisting of Kang Tae Oh, Seo Kang Joon, Gong Myung, Lee Tae Hwan, and Yoo Il.
At the time of their debut, members of 5urprise tried to show their various aspects as entertainers, not only acting but also singing. In fact, they expanded their activities overseas, including Japan, China, and Vietnam. They even released an official single on November 18, 2014, starting with their OST career for dramas starring the members.
Kang Tae Oh, who had been working separately and together with other members, officially entered the actor’s path in 2013 when he appeared in the web drama “After School: Lucky or Not”. In his debut role, he drew keen attention for his natural acting.
After that, he caught the eye with his licorice acting in MBC’s one-act drama “Chief of the Investigation”, and then appeared in MBC’s Wednesday-Thursday drama “Miss Korea” and the weekend drama “Flower of the Queen”.
After starring in the Korean-Vietnamese collaboration drama “Forever Young” in 2014, Kang Tae Oh became the first Korean actor to receive the Best Actor award at the Vietnam Drama Awards. Playing the male lead in both seasons of “Forever Young”, Kang Tae Oh gained so much popularity in Vietnam that he was called “Vietnam Prince” and “Vietnam Hallyu Leader”.
After steadily building a career through various works, regardless of whether the role is big or small, Kang Tae Oh landed his first lead role in Korea in MBC’s daily drama “The Dearest Lady”, which aired from 2015 to 2016. Kang Tae Oh successfully expanded his reputation and was dubbed a “nation’s son” through this drama.
Later, he played a character who was abandoned by his parents after losing sight in a childhood accident in MBC’s weekend drama “You Are Too Much”. In particular, Kang Tae Oh first challenged a visually impaired character through this work and received great reviews from viewers for his mature acting.
Since then, Kang Tae Oh has steadily built up his acting experience by appearing in various genres of dramas such as OCN’s “Short” and “That Man Oh Soo”. Then, he received much public attention and love through KBS2’s Monday-Tuesday drama “The Tale of Nokdu”.
Through “The Tale of Nokdu”, Kang Tae Oh captivated viewers with his calm acting tone and visuals suitable for historical dramas. He showed a variety of sides from a sweet man to an obsessive and ambitious man, drawing positive reactions. His impressive performance helped him win Best New Actor at the 2019 KBS Drama Awards and established himself as a “trending actor”.
Later, through JTBC’s Wednesday-Thursday drama “Run On” and tvN’s Monday-Tuesday drama “Doom At Your Service”, Kang Tae Oh portrayed a romance acting that was different from his previous works and colored the small screen with his exciting transformation.
Kang Tae Oh boasts a wide acting range, showing his unique character digestion in each drama based on his solid acting skills he has slowly built up over the last 10 years. This is the reason why the new acting that Kang Tae Oh will unfold in the future is worth looking forward to.
Source: daum
