The year he turned 20, he began acting in a bit part in the film Father, as Customer 2, who is thrown out of a street food stall. In 2000 he was chosen as one of 30 students at the free acting school Actors 21 Academy, founded by the actor Myung Gye-nam, and in August he won a role in Address Unknown at the joint audition “Challenge 2000.”
In 2001 he appeared as Police Officer 1 in Address Unknown, a part with a single line. In 2002 he first stood on stage, in the play Barber Park Bong-gu. Around 2003 he could get leads only in short films. In 2004 he was in Windstruck and Ghost House but was overshadowed by the lead actors.
In 2005 he shot the prosecutor in You Are My Sunshine and traveled to Seoul that night to shoot another film. In 2006 he got his first feature lead, in Sundays in August. He was in eight features that year, and the play Liar was his last stage. In 2008 he got his first major supporting role, as the announcer Man-cheol in Radio Dayz.
In 2011 he had a lead in Couples. In 2012 he played a national table tennis player in As One, and Star News wrote at the time that he had appeared in more than 50 works since his debut. In 2013 he played a Korean Wave star in How to Use Guys with Secret Tips. Fooling the director at the audition by pretending to be his own manager led to the lead.
In 2017 he played the lawyer Min Cheon-sang in Fabricated City and erased his comic image. In 2018 he learned tap dance and sangmo spinning to play Kang Byeong-sam in Swing Kids.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 42, he became known as Noh Gyu-tae in KBS2’s When the Camellia Blooms. Extreme Job passed 10 million admissions that year, and at year-end he won Best Supporting Actor at the KBS Drama Awards.
In 2020 he won Best Supporting Actor in television at the Baeksang Arts Awards and played Moon Sang-tae in tvN’s It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. In 2021 he won the Baeksang supporting award for It’s Okay to Not Be Okay for a second year in a row. In 2022 TV Chosun’s Uncle ended at a 7.8% rating. In 2023 he walked the Cannes red carpet for the first time, for Cobweb.
In 2025 he made a special appearance in Netflix’s When Life Gives You Tangerines and took a major villain role in JTBC’s Good Boy. In 2026 he appeared as the ballad singer Choi Seong-gon in Wild Sing and was confirmed for director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s K.O. Club and the drama Sunning Baseball Team.
Oh Jung-se (born Feb 26, 1977) debuted in a bit part in the film Father in 1997, the year he turned 20, and became known as Noh Gyu-tae in KBS2’s When the Camellia Blooms, which premiered on Sep 18, 2019, the year he turned 42. The next year he won Best Supporting Actor in television at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
He studied journalism and broadcasting at Sun Moon University. He never had formal acting lessons.
Source 30 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Oh Jung-se · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Actors 21 Academy and “Challenge 2000” · opens in a new tab The birth date and birthplace are from Wikipedia and not confirmed in news reports. His major is confirmed by a Hankook Ilbo article.He played Customer 2, who is thrown out of a street food stall. He says few people know Father, so many think Address Unknown was his debut.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabSource 05 · News1 (Korean) · SBS radio Cine Town · opens in a new tab Articles based on his agency’s press releases give Address Unknown in 2000 or 2001 as his debut.It was a free six-month course founded by the actor Myung Gye-nam. Yang Ik-june, Jung Man-sik, Park Byung-eun and Kim Joo-ryung were in the same class.
Source 02 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Actors 21 Academy and “Challenge 2000” · opens in a new tabEight film companies took part, 1,200 people applied and 820 who passed the document screening competed in the acting round.
Source 02 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Actors 21 Academy and “Challenge 2000” · opens in a new tabIn Kim Ki-duk’s film he played an officer who searches the lead, with a single line. It was his first appearance in four years since his debut.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Actors 21 Academy and “Challenge 2000” · opens in a new tab Hankook Ilbo names his 1997 debut film as Son (Adeul), while Dispatch and his own account say Father (Abeoji).It was the first play he appeared in, with the actor Jo Hee-bong. The run lasted until 2004.
Source 06 · Star News (Korean) · Oh Jung-se interview · opens in a new tabSource 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabAround this time he could get leads only in short films. The next year he starred in the short Uyeonui Nori.
Source 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabHe kept appearing in hit films but was overshadowed by the presence of the lead actors, Dispatch wrote.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabIt was a bit part on screen for just over a second. He shot the courtroom scene in Iksan, North Jeolla, and traveled to Seoul that night to shoot another film.
Source 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabThe theater producer Hong Gi-yu recommended him to the crew. It was a low-budget independent film for which he was cast in 2005.
Source 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabIt was the last play he appeared in. That year he was also in eight feature films and the drama Someday.
Source 03 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · Why Oh Jung-se has so many credits · opens in a new tabHe suggested a mole under the eye himself to bring out a sly look. That year he also played a vegetable seller in The Show Must Go On.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabHe won the part through an audition. To recreate the way people spoke then, he listened to old radio recordings. It drew about 210,000 admissions in total.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabHe played a character who holds the twist in a murder case.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabIt was a period when he took parts regardless of genre or role.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabHe played a man in love with a friend’s partner. It was billed as a lead, but the film had several lead actors.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · How to Use Guys with Secret Tips audition · opens in a new tabHe was also in Over My Dead Body and A Millionaire on the Run that year. Star News wrote at the time that he had appeared in more than 50 works since his debut.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Star News (Korean) · Oh Jung-se interview · opens in a new tabAt the audition he fooled the director by pretending to be his own manager, and director Lee Won-suk, who had called him for a supporting part, cast him as the lead. It drew 500,000 admissions.
Source 04 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · How to Use Guys with Secret Tips audition · opens in a new tabHe played the planner of a hwatu card game. He first worked with director Kang Hyeong-cheol on this film.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabSource 24 · Sports Today (Korean) · Swing Kids interview · opens in a new tabHe added traits such as a hunched back and a mark on his face to erase his comic image.
Source 01 · Dispatch (Korean) · 1,000 auditions and 120 works · opens in a new tabIn the film set at the 1951 Geoje prisoner-of-war camp he played a man who dreams of reuniting with his wife. He learned tap dance and sangmo spinning.
Source 24 · Sports Today (Korean) · Swing Kids interview · opens in a new tabSource 23 · TV Daily (Korean) · Swing Kids, Kang Byeong-sam · opens in a new tabIt passed 10 million admissions on Feb. 6 and became the first film of 2019 to do so. Hankook Ilbo put the theatrical audience at 16.26 million.
Source 09 · OhmyNews (Korean) · Extreme Job passes 10 million · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · How to Use Guys with Secret Tips audition · opens in a new tabHe played a boastful, flawed man who is hard to dislike. Dispatch wrote that it took 22 years from his debut for his name to become known, and Hankook Ilbo wrote that he drew public attention that year together with Extreme Job.
He played the de facto owner of the baseball team the Dreams. Hankyung wrote that he had moved from building owner in When the Camellia Blooms to team owner.
Source 08 · Hankyung (Korean) · Hot Stove League, Kwon Kyung-min · opens in a new tabHe won for When the Camellia Blooms at the ceremony at KBS Hall in Yeouido-dong, Seoul.
Source 10 · TenAsia (Korean) · 2019 KBS Drama Awards · opens in a new tabHe won for When the Camellia Blooms. In his acceptance speech he told people not to blame themselves, said comfort and reward would come, and said this work had been that for him.
Source 11 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · 2020 Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Hankook Ilbo (Korean) · How to Use Guys with Secret Tips audition · opens in a new tabHe played a man on the autism spectrum, the only older brother of the psychiatric ward caregiver Moon Gang-tae, played by Kim Soo-hyun.
Source 12 · MBN (Korean) · It’s Okay to Not Be Okay premiere · opens in a new tabThe film is based on a true story of a middle-aged woman who was an office worker and was sent to a regional site. He starred with Yoo Da-in.
Source 13 · Cosmopolitan (Korean) · Films released in February 2021 · opens in a new tabSource 05 · News1 (Korean) · SBS radio Cine Town · opens in a new tabHe won for It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.
Source 14 · Sports Today (Korean) · 2021 Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabThe final episode 16 had a nationwide rating of 7.8%, more than triple the 2.4% of the first episode on Dec. 11, 2021.
Source 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Uncle ends · opens in a new tab Ratings are Nielsen Korea nationwide figures.In director Kim Jee-woon’s film he played the top star Ho-se. It was his first Cannes red carpet.
Source 16 · Star News (Korean) · Cobweb invited to Cannes · opens in a new tabSource 17 · TV Daily (Korean) · Cobweb interview with Oh Jung-se · opens in a new tabSource 31 · SBS Entertainment News (Korean) · Cobweb official screening at Cannes · opens in a new tab The screening date is in local French time.In a post he wrote himself, he said he renewed not out of loyalty but because the company had helped him a great deal and he wanted more of that help ahead.
Source 18 · Newsen (Korean) · Contract renewal with Prain TPC · opens in a new tabHe appeared with Woo Do-hwan and Lee Yoo-mi.
Source 19 · Sports Donga (Korean) · Mr. Plankton stills · opens in a new tabHe played Byeong-cheol, Ae-sun’s stepfather. It was his second project with writer Lim Sang-choon after When the Camellia Blooms.
Source 20 · Dispatch (Korean) · Special appearance in When Life Gives You Tangerines · opens in a new tabSource 25 · Ilgan Sports (Korean) · Cast in When Life Gives You Tangerines · opens in a new tabIt is a film by director Kang Hyeong-cheol, with whom he reunited after Tazza: The Hidden Card and Swing Kids.
Source 21 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Hi-Five box office · opens in a new tabSource 24 · Sports Today (Korean) · Swing Kids interview · opens in a new tabHe played Min Joo-young. The finale on July 20 drew 8.1%, the series high.
Source 22 · bnt News (Korean) · Good Boy premiere confirmed · opens in a new tabSource 26 · ize (Korean) · Good Boy ends · opens in a new tabIt is a film by director Son Jae-gon. A music video for “Niga Joa,” sung by his character, was released to coincide with the opening.
Source 27 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Wild Sing and the “Niga Joa” music video · opens in a new tabIt is the new film from Hwang Dong-hyuk, who directed Squid Game.
Source 28 · Sports Donga (Korean) · Cast in K.O. Club · opens in a new tabThe drama is set around an amateur baseball team and depicts the lives of ordinary family men. It is his first baseball-themed work since Hot Stove League.
Source 29 · TenAsia (Korean) · Cast in Sunning Baseball Team · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1977–2026 · 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
Feb 26, 1977 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1977: the year of the event minus 1977, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.21 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.