In 1989, the year he turned 18, he went to the United States with his family as a high school senior. He later worked as a personal trainer to fighters. In 2004, he debuted with a small part in the film Dance with the Wind.
In 2005 he was cast in Heaven’s Soldiers after a Los Angeles audition. Some profiles list it as his debut. In 2007 he played the detective Nam Seong-shik in MBC’s H.I.T. In 2008 he played a loan shark in The Moonlight of Seoul, which some call the film that first drew attention to him.
In 2009 he appeared in Take Off and Insadong Scandal. In 2010 he played Ma Dae-ho in The Unjust. In 2011 he appeared in three films: Quick, Pained and Perfect Game.
The breakthrough yearIn February 2012 he played a taekwondo gym owner in Nameless Gangster, and in August, the year he turned 41, he took his first leading role in The Neighbor, eight years after his debut.
In 2013 he won best supporting actor in film at the Baeksang Arts Awards for The Neighbor. In 2014 he took his first TV lead in OCN’s Bad Guys. In 2015 he made a cameo in Veteran. In 2016, Train to Busan passed 10 million admissions in 19 days. In November he confirmed he was dating Ye Jung-hwa.
In 2017 The Outlaws, which he also planned and produced, was released and drew 6.88 million admissions. In 2018 two Along with the Gods films passed 10 million admissions in a row. In 2019 The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil was invited to the Cannes Film Festival and his casting in Marvel’s Eternals was confirmed.
In 2020 the Eternals release was pushed to the next year because of COVID-19. In 2021 Eternals was released in Korea, and he registered his marriage with Ye Jung-hwa. In 2022 The Roundup passed 10 million admissions. In 2023 The Roundup: No Way Out also passed 10 million, and total admissions for his films went past 50 million.
In 2024 The Roundup: Punishment passed 10 million too, and in May he held his wedding with Ye Jung-hwa. In 2025 he released Holy Night: Demon Hunters and KBS2’s Twelve, and prepared The Roundup films 5 to 8 together. In 2026 he took part in producing Tokyo Burst: Crime City and joined Netflix’s Extraction 3.
Ma Dong-seok (born Mar 1, 1971) debuted in 2004, the year he turned 33, with a small part in the film Dance with the Wind, and became known when he took his first leading role in The Neighbor on Aug 2012, the year he turned 41. In 2016, the year he turned 45, Train to Busan passed 10 million admissions.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.