# Kim Myung-min

Kim Myung-min (Korean: 김명민, born October 8, 1972) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the television series Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin (2004), White Tower (2007), Beethoven Virus (2008), Six Flying Dragons (2015-2016), and Law School (2021), as well as the films Closer to Heaven (2009) and the Detective K film series. Praised for his acting skills, he is often called 'The Acting Expert'.

## Career
### Early years

Kim Myung-min debuted as an actor when he won the 6th SBS public talent audition in 1996. Over the next five years he appeared in a number of television series in various supporting roles.
Kim' first leading role came with critically appraised 2001 horror film Sorum, the feature debut of the director Yoon Jong-chan, telling the story of a taxi driver moving into a decrepit building that hides several dark secrets. For this part Kim received Best New Actor award at 2001 Busan Film Critics Awards and Director's Cut Awards
Building on his new status of a lead actor, Kim started to work on several film projects, many of which however ended unfinished, mostly due to financial problems. At that time he also suffered from injuries incurred while he was shooting action scenes.
When he starred in the 2004 KBS family drama More Beautiful than a Flower, he was expected to have a successful career as a lead actor. However, he was badly injured while performing a stunt and his film contracts kept being withdrawn. This series of unfortunate events led him to quit stage acting in 2004. Kim then decided to end his acting career and emigrate to New Zealand with his family following the birth of his son. A turning point came in his career when he was given the opportunity to play the lead role in the 2004-2005 historical drama Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin after producers viewed his work in More Beautiful than a Flower. The 104-episode TV series based on the life of Korea's hero of the Imjin War put Kim in the spotlight and brought him a host of awards including Grand Prize at KBS Drama Awards.

### Mainstream success

Kim was then cast in leading roles, playing a comical ex-gangster in Bad Family and a detective in Open City. He then played a surgeon in two productions: the television series White Tower and film Wide Awake. White Tower was a critical and ratings hit in South Korea, gaining praise for its acting (particularly by Kim), writing, direction, and its intelligent and uncompromising story without concessions to melodrama or romance. Kim won the Best Actor awards at the year-end Baeksang Arts Awards and Grimae Awards, and was chosen as the Best Performer of the year by producers.
Subsequently, his performance as a maestro in the 2008 TV series Beethoven Virus created a sensation in Korea referred to as "Kang Mae Syndrome" and again earned him acclaim from critics and viewers. Kim received the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the MBC Drama Awards and his second Baeksang for Best Actor in television. In late 2008, it was announced that his next project was a film about a character living with Lou Gehrig's disease, titled Closer to Heaven. To realistically portray the role of the dying patient, Kim painstakingly lost 20 kilos during the course of the filming. Kim was widely commended for this feat, and won Best Actor Awards in Korea's leading film ceremonies, the 46th Grand Bell Awards and the 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards. Closer to Heaven was followed by another film, Man of Vendetta, where Kim portrayed the role of a father for the first time.
In January 2011, Kim took on the role of Joseon's Sherlock Holmes in historical comedy-mystery film Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow. He then starred in sports movie, Pacemaker, where he played a marathon runner. Summer of 2012 saw Kim as a pharmaceutical agent in disaster movie Deranged. The film, directed by Park Jung-woo became the fastest Korean film in 2012 to reach 2 million admissions, eight days after its July 5 release date. and topped the box office for three consecutive weeks. Kim then starred in The Spies, his second collaboration with Woo Min-ho, director of his 2010 film, Man of Vendetta. The film is centered on a North Korean agent and his three comrades who are working undercover in South Korea.
Kim made a comeback to the small screen after four years in satire dramedy The King of Dramas, where he played a drama production company CEO. He next played a brilliant but cynical lawyer who gets into an accident and loses his memory in A New Leaf (2014). In 2015, Kim reprised his role as Detective K in Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island, the second installment in the Detective K series. The historical television series Six Flying Dragons followed, in which he played Jeong Do-jeon, who served as the first prime minister of the Joseon dynasty. He next starred in the disaster film Pandora, portraying the aftermath of an explosion in a nuclear plant. Crime drama Proof of Innocence followed, where Kim played a former cop-turned-legal broker.
In 2017, Kim starred in the noir film V.I.P, playing a police detective.; followed by mystery thriller A Day. The same year, he was cast in the period comedy film Monstrum. In 2018, Kim again reprised his role as Detective K in Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead, the third installment in the Detective K series. The same year, he returned to the small screen in the melodrama The Miracle We Met. which won him another Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Awards. In 2019, Kim starred in the war film The Battle of Jangsari. In 2021, he starred in the legal drama series Law School playing a prosecutor-turned-professor who teaches criminal law. In 2022, it was reported that the contract with agency C-JeS Entertainment Kim's has expired. Later the same day it was confirmed that the original agency contract had expired.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2001 | Sorum | Yong-hyun |
| 2003 | Into the Mirror | Ha Hyun-su |
| 2007 | Return | Ryu Jae-woo |
| 2008 | Open City | Jo Dae-yeong |
| 2009 | Closer to Heaven | Baek Jong-woo |
| 2010 | Man of Vendetta | Joo Young-soo |
| 2011 | Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow | Kim Min "Detective K" |
| 2011 | Pacemaker | Joo Man-ho |
| 2012 | Deranged | Jae-hyuk |
| 2012 | The Spies | Section Chief Kim |
| 2015 | Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island | Kim Min "Detective K" |
| 2016 | The Great Actor | (cameo) |
| 2016 | Pandora | South Korean President |
| 2016 | Proof of Innocence | Choi Pil-jae |
| 2017 | VIP | Chae Yi-do |
| 2017 | A Day | Kim Joon-young |
| 2018 | Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead | Kim Min ("Detective K") |
| 2018 | Monstrum | Yoon-gyeom |
| 2019 | The Battle of Jangsari | Lee Myung-joon |

### Television series

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1999 | KAIST | Kim Hyun-moo |
| 2000 | Some Like it Hot | Choi Jin-sang |
| 2000 | Look Back in Anger | Kim Suk-gyu |
| 2001 | A Father and a Son | Jae-doo |
| 2004 | More Beautiful Than a Flower | Jang In-chul |
| 2004 | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Yi Sun-sin |
| 2006 | Bad Family | Oh Dal-geon |
| 2007 | Behind the White Tower | Jang Joon-hyuk |
| 2008 | Beethoven Virus | Kang Gun-woo / Kang Mae |
| 2012 | The King of Dramas | Anthony Kim |
| 2014 | A New Leaf | Kim Seok-joo |
| 2015–16 | Six Flying Dragons | "Sambong" Jeong Do-jeon |
| 2018 | The Miracle We Met | Song Hyun-chul (A) |
| 2021 | Law School | Yang Jong-hoon |
| 2024 | Your Honor | Kim Kang-heon |
| TBA | Double Spy | Bong Tae-il |

### Music video

| Year | Song title | Artist |
| 1999 | Blue | Lee Kyung-sub |
| 2001 | Landscape | Lee Jung-bong |

## Discography

| Year | Title |
| 2009 | Kim Myung-min Classics Maestro |

## Publicity ambassador

* 2010 Seoul National University Bundang Hospital Goodwill Ambassador
* 2009 Korea Dental Association, "Ambassador for Oral Hygiene"
* 2008 Kia Soul CUV
* 2007 Oral Health Care Campaign, "OQ Publicity Ambassador"
* 2007 National Election Commission, "Clean Election Publicity Ambassador"
* 2007 Yeon-se Severance Health Publicity Ambassador
* 2006 National Pension Service
* 2005 Social Welfare Society
* 2005 The Great Admiral Lee Soon-shin Festival

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2000 | MBC Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Some Like It Hot | Won |
| 2001 | 2nd Busan Film Critics Awards | Best New Actor | Sorum | Won |
| 2001 | 4th Director's Cut Awards | Best New Actor | Sorum | Won |
| 2001 | 22nd Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best New Actor | Sorum | Nominated |
| 2002 | 38th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actor | Sorum | Nominated |
| 2004 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor | More Beautiful Than a Flower | Nominated |
| 2005 | 41st Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Nominated |
| 2005 | 18th Grimae Awards | Best Actor | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Won |
| 2005 | KBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Won |
| 2005 | KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Nominated |
| 2005 | 6th Korea Visual Arts Festival | Photogenic Award | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Won |
| 2006 | 33rd Korea Broadcasting Awards | Best Talent | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Won |
| 2006 | SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Bad Family | Nominated |
| 2006 | SBS Drama Awards | PD Award | Bad Family | Won |
| 2006 | SBS Drama Awards | Fighting Adversity Award | Bad Family | Won |
| 2007 | 19th Korean Broadcasting Producers Award. | Best Performer | Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin | Won |
| 2007 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | White Tower | Won |
| 2007 | 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | White Tower | Won |
| 2007 | 20th Grimae Awards | Best Actor | White Tower | Won |
| 2008 | 20th Korean Broadcasting Producers Award | Best Performer | White Tower | Won |
| 2008 | MBC Drama Awards | Grand Prize | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2008 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Beethoven Virus | Nominated |
| 2008 | 9th Broadcaster Awards | Best Performance | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2008 | The 2nd Korea Drama Awards | Grand Prize | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2008 | The 2nd Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Beethoven Virus | Nominated |
| 2008 | 4th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Actor | Beethoven Virus | Nominated |
| 2009 | 45th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actor | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2009 | 21st Korean Broadcasting Producers Award | Best Performer | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2009 | 36th Korea Broadcasting Association Awards | Best Actor | Beethoven Virus | Won |
| 2009 | 46th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | Closer to Heaven | Won |
| 2009 | 46th Grand Bell Awards | Popularity Award | Closer to Heaven | Won |
| 2009 | 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actor | Closer to Heaven | Won |
| 2010 | 7th Max Movie Awards | Best Actor | Closer to Heaven | Nominated |
| 2011 | 20th Buil Film Awards | Best Actor | Detective K: Secret of the Virtuous Widow | Nominated |
| 2012 | 49th Grand Bell Awards | Best Actor | Pacemaker | Nominated |
| 2012 | SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | The King of Dramas | Nominated |
| 2014 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | A New Leaf | Nominated |
| 2015 | Korean Film Actors Guild Awards | Top Star Award | Detective K: Secret of the Lost Island | Won |
| 2015 | SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | Six Flying Dragons | Nominated |
| 2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | Six Flying Dragons | Nominated |
| 2018 | 32nd KBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize | The Miracle We Met | Won |
| 2018 | 32nd KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor | The Miracle We Met | Nominated |
| 2018 | 32nd KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama | The Miracle We Met | Nominated |
| 2018 | 32nd KBS Drama Awards | Best Couple (with Ra Mi-ran) | The Miracle We Met | Won |
| 2018 | 32nd KBS Drama Awards | Netizen Award | The Miracle We Met | Won |

### Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement :
| Publisher | Year | Listicle | Placement | Ref. |
| Forbes | 2010 | Korea Power Celebrity | 16th | |
| The Screen | 2019 | 2009–2019 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies | 23rd | |