Kim Woo-bin’s comeback: the Korean star talks Alienoid, Netflix K-drama Black Knight and returning to the screen after a six-year cancer battle – exclusive interview
- The South Korean heartthrob stepped away from the screen in 2017 after being diagnosed with cancer – this summer he made a comeback in sci-fi spectacle Alienoid
- Kim Woo-bin also stars in 2022 Netflix K-dramas Our Blues and Black Knight – here he talks to STYLE about his personal philosophies … and surviving Covid-19
After six years out of the spotlight and away from our screens, Kim Woo-bin is back – and it looks like the Korean heartthrob is here to stay.
The 33-year-old actor was forced to step back from the camera in May 2017, when he revealed the awful news that he had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. But this summer the leading man made a triumphant return to the big screen in IMAX extravaganza Alienoid, a recent fixture in Hong Kong cinemas. Soon after, he announced he had received the “all-clear” from cancer and he’s clearly now on a mission to make up for lost time.
Earlier this year he starred in the Netflix-distributed drama Our Blues, and next up will appear in the dystopian sci-fi drama Black Knight – also already signed up for global release on the streaming platform. “I am really excited to see the release of the movie Alienoid and the Netflix series Black Knight,” says Kim, speaking exclusively to STYLE.
His career as a K-drama leading man began as something of an accident. After starting out strutting the boards as a catwalk model, Kim soon found fashion commercials opened the door to screen dramas – and in 2011 he made his acting debut in the series White Christmas. The mystery-thriller unfolds at an elite high school located high in the mountains, where a series of grisly deaths occur among the students. Kim may have been one of many rookie actors in the cast, but he stood out, startlingly dyeing his hair red to portray the smart but deviant Kang Mi-reu.
Despite the risk of being typecast, Kim rose to further fame playing students in renowned K-dramas School 2013 (2012-2013) and The Heirs (also 2013).
The latter paired Kim with A-listers Lee Min-ho and Park Shin-hye in a history-making drama which was distributed to 13 countries and electrified domestic audiences.
Memorably, Kim played the volatile Choi Young-do, heir to the Zeus Hotel Group. The character’s straightforward, often abrasive personality appealed to many young girls in Korea, especially his intensity when talking to his crush in a love triangle, delivering smouldering lines such as, “Don’t look at me like that – I get nervous,” or, “From today on, you’re mine.”
In 2016, Kim finally graduated from perennial school student to take his first leading television role in Uncontrollably Fond. Later the same year he starred in the crime thriller film Master – a smash hit that made more than US$52 million in cinemas internationally.
And now comes Alienoid, a smash hit sci-fi film that sees a portal open between the present day and the 14th century Goryeo dynasty, the cue for time-travelling shenanigans in the hunt for a mythical sword.