The year he turned 23, he joined MBC as an actor through its open recruitment, in the 31st class, and made his debut. In February 2005, he appeared in the MBC daily drama Be Strong, Geum-soon! and began working under the name Lee Han. Around 2006, he was in the independent film No Regret. The year he turned 28, he said at the press screening of Public Enemy Returns that he would work under his real name, Kim Nam-gil. In November, he was nominated for Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 29, he appeared as Bidam in MBC’s Queen Seondeok. MyDaily writes that the series suddenly made him a star.
The year he turned 30, he won the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actor in television and took the lead in SBS’s Bad Guy. In July, he enlisted for public service duty. He was discharged in July 2012. In 2013, he returned to drama with KBS2’s Shark.
The year he turned 34, he received the Asia Rising Star Award at the Asian Film Awards. In August, the film The Pirates passed 7 million admissions. In 2015, he appeared in the film The Shameless with Jeon Do-yeon. In December 2016, the film Pandora was released. In 2017, he was in tvN’s Live Up to Your Name and the film Memoir of a Murderer.
The year he turned 39, SBS’s The Fiery Priest began in February, and in December he won the SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize, 16 years after his debut. The film The Closet was released in February 2020. In March 2021, he left C-JeS Entertainment and founded Gilstory E&T.
The year he turned 42, he played Song Ha-young in SBS’s Through the Darkness, and the film Emergency Declaration was released in August. In December, he won his second SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize. In 2023, he appeared in the film A Man of Reason and in Netflix’s Song of the Bandits.
The year he turned 44, he returned as Kim Hae-il in The Fiery Priest 2 after five years and won the Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama, at the SBS Drama Awards. In 2025, the film Broken was released and Netflix’s Trigger premiered. In March 2026, he made his formal debut as a singer with his first single, and in September he played his first festival stage since that debut.
Kim Nam-gil debuted in 2003, the year he turned 23, joining MBC as an actor through its open recruitment, and became known on May 25, 2009, the year he turned 29, when he appeared as Bidam in MBC’s Queen Seondeok. He won his first SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize in 2019, the year he turned 39.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Debuted as an actor after being selected in the 31st class of MBC’s open recruitment.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Geum-soon’s husband Lee Han · opens in a new tabSource 45 · MyDaily (Korean) · New Year interview · opens in a new tab The month of selection is not in the articles.Played Jung-wan, the husband of the title character. Yonhap says he began working under the name Lee Han with this drama.
Source 02 · MyDaily (Korean) · Be Strong, Geum-soon! first day · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Geum-soon’s husband Lee Han · opens in a new tabAppeared in the queer film No Regret under the name Lee Han. Dong-A Ilbo says the film made his face known in the film industry.
Source 03 · Star News (Korean) · From Lee Han to Kim Nam-gil · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · 2009 rising stars · opens in a new tabSource 43 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Kim Nam-gil · opens in a new tab The release year is from Wikipedia and is not confirmed in news reports.At the press screening of Public Enemy Returns, said he would use his real name, Kim Nam-gil, instead of the stage name Lee Han. He said he had used the name because it matched that of the actor Kang Nam-gil.
Source 05 · MyDaily (Korean) · Lee Han to work under real name Kim Nam-gil · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Star News (Korean) · From Lee Han to Kim Nam-gil · opens in a new tabNominated for Public Enemy Returns. The award was shared by So Ji-sub and Kang Ji-hwan.
Source 06 · Edaily (Korean) · 29th Blue Dragon Film Awards · opens in a new tabAppeared as Bidam. Sports Chosun writes that he finally got his due through this series after long years in obscurity, and MyDaily writes that it suddenly made him a star.
Won the Excellence Award for Queen Seondeok. The Best Couple Award, shared with Lee Yo-won, was decided by an online vote of internet users.
Source 09 · MyDaily (Korean) · 2009 MBC Drama Awards · opens in a new tabWon for playing Bidam in Queen Seondeok. The ceremony was held at the Haeoreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea in Seoul.
Source 10 · MyDaily (Korean) · 46th Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabPlayed the lead role of Shim Geon-wook.
Source 11 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Bad Guy first broadcast · opens in a new tabEntered the army training center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong, for four weeks of training, then served as a public service worker. He had asked to postpone enlistment because of the Bad Guy shoot, but the request was not granted.
Source 12 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Enlists for public service duty · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · First fan meeting after discharge · opens in a new tabServed at the Gangnam-gu Urban Management Corporation in Seoul and was discharged in July.
Source 13 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · First fan meeting after discharge · opens in a new tab The day of discharge is not in the article.The organizers said they recognized his varied work, from acting to producing a documentary and directing commercial videos.
Source 16 · StarToday (Korean) · Asia Rising Star award at the AFA · opens in a new tabAppeared alongside Son Ye-jin. Cumulative admissions passed 7 million on Aug. 31.
Source 17 · Star News (Korean) · The Pirates passes 7 million · opens in a new tabPlayed a detective opposite Jeon Do-yeon. The film was invited to the Un Certain Regard section of the 68th Cannes Film Festival.
Source 18 · Sports Donga (Korean) · The Shameless at the Shanghai International Film Festival · opens in a new tabDrew about 150,000 admissions on opening day and ranked first at the box office. Cumulative admissions passed 4 million on Dec. 27.
Source 19 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Pandora opening day · opens in a new tabSource 20 · Newsis (Korean) · Pandora passes 4 million · opens in a new tabPlayed Heo Im, the best doctor of Korean medicine in Joseon. OSEN writes that it was his return to TV drama after about four years since Shark.
Source 21 · Xportsnews (Korean) · Live Up to Your Name with Kim Ah-joong · opens in a new tabSource 22 · OSEN (Korean) · Live Up to Your Name, next project · opens in a new tabAppeared alongside Sol Kyung-gu, Seolhyun and others. It ranked first at the box office on opening day.
Source 23 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · Memoir of a Murderer opening day · opens in a new tabPlayed the priest Kim Hae-il. It was SBS’s first Friday-Saturday drama.
Source 24 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · SBS drama ratings in the 2049 demographic · opens in a new tabWon the Grand Prize for The Fiery Priest. Korea Economic Daily writes that it was his first Grand Prize, 16 years after his debut.
Source 25 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · 2019 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tab The ceremony ran from Dec. 31 into Jan. 1. The age is the year-based age on Dec. 31.Appeared alongside Ha Jung-woo and played Kyung-hoon.
Source 26 · Xportsnews (Korean) · The Closet, director Kim Kwang-bin · opens in a new tabLeft C-JeS Entertainment, where he had been for three years, and founded the entertainment company Gilstory E&T.
Source 27 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Gilstory E&T founded · opens in a new tab The founding date is not in the article.Played Song Ha-young, a criminal behavior analyst. The drama ended in March 2022.
Source 28 · News1 (Korean) · Through the Darkness psychological battle · opens in a new tabSource 30 · JTBC (Korean) · 2022 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tab An article saying the second episode aired Jan. 15 confirms the January start. The first broadcast date is not confirmed in the articles.Appeared alongside Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Im Siwan, Jeon Do-yeon and others. It drew about 330,000 admissions on opening day and ranked first at the box office.
Source 29 · News1 (Korean) · Emergency Declaration opening day · opens in a new tabWon the Grand Prize for playing Song Ha-young in Through the Darkness, three years after The Fiery Priest in 2019.
Source 30 · JTBC (Korean) · 2022 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Gukje News (Korean) · 2024 SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize nominees · opens in a new tabPlayed Woo-jin in the film directed by Jung Woo-sung.
Source 32 · Dispatch (Korean) · Talk concert · opens in a new tabPlayed the lead role of Lee Yoon in a series set in Jiandao in 1920.
Source 33 · Herald Business (Korean) · Movie theaters in crisis · opens in a new tabSource 34 · Star News (Korean) · Star ranking, male actors · opens in a new tabReturned as Kim Hae-il, in a sequel arriving five years after the first season in 2019.
Source 35 · SPOTV News (Korean) · The Fiery Priest 2 teaser · opens in a new tabWon for The Fiery Priest 2.
Source 36 · SPOTV News (Korean) · 2024 SBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabStarred opposite Ha Jung-woo and played Ho-ryeong.
Source 37 · TenAsia (Korean) · Broken, Hyun Woo-seok · opens in a new tabSource 38 · Sports World (Korean) · Movie theaters year in review · opens in a new tabPlayed Lee Do in a series about illegal firearms incidents of unknown origin.
Source 39 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Trigger, Kim Young-kwang · opens in a new tabAppeared in the first episode in a cameo as the violent crimes detective Kim Gyun.
Source 40 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Cameo in Mad Concrete Dreams · opens in a new tabMade his formal debut as a singer, following his acting career, with his first single.
Source 41 · Edaily (Korean) · Debut single released · opens in a new tabSource 42 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · First festival stage · opens in a new tabSang five songs in 30 minutes at the 88 Lawn at Olympic Park in Seoul. It was his first festival stage since his debut as a singer.
Source 42 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · First festival stage · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2003–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Film & TV · South Korea
Mar 13, 1980 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1980: the year of the event minus 1980, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.02 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.