Yoo Yeon-seok

Romantic (2016), Mr. Sunshine (2018), Hospital Playlist (2020–2021), When the Phone Rings (2024), and Phantom Lawyer (2026).

Yoo was born as Ahn Yeon-seok on April 11, 1984, in Seoul, South Korea as a son of professor of engineering. In his junior year in high school, Yoo decided to take up acting and followed his older brother, who was preparing for the college entrance exams, to Seoul and they lived together near the district of Samseong-dong. While taking acting classes, Yoo landed his first role by chance after meeting a friend who would later work on the costume staff of film director Park Chan-wook for the film Oldboy. He auditioned for a role on the recommendation of the friend and was immediately cast as the younger version of Yoo Ji-tae's character due to their resemblance. After appearing in Oldboy, Yoo enlisted in the Republic of Korea Air Force for mandatory military service and began undergraduate studies at Sejong University. Upon graduation from Sejong University with a degree in Film Arts, he resumed his acting career in 2008, appearing in the plays In The Burning Darkness and Understudy. He also began using his agency's recommended stage name, Yoo Yeon-seok.

After an extended hiatus from acting, Yoo made his return in the medical drama General Hospital 2. Yoo took on supporting roles on television, such as the haughty student body president in the horror series Soul and more appealing characters in medical drama Midnight Hospital and Tasty Life. But Yoo received his best reviews yet for playing a sensitive ex-boyfriend searching for his child in the independent film Re-encounter. Soon after, Yoo became known to mainstream audiences as the rich and spoiled antagonist in the box office hit melodramas Architecture 101, and A Werewolf Boy. He further raised his profile with comedy film Born to Sing, and the fantasy series Gu Family Book.

Yoo rose to popularity in the nostalgic campus drama Reply 1994 in late 2013. Following his breakout year, he was cast in two high-profile films in 2014: Whistle Blower about infamous biotech researcher Hwang Woo-suk, and Joseon-set period drama The Royal Tailor. Yoo then appeared in the travel-reality show Youth Over Flowers.

In 2015, Yoo was cast in his first leading role on network television as a chef and restaurateur in the romantic comedy series Warm and Cozy, written by the Hong sisters and set on Jeju Island. He also starred in the thriller Perfect Proposal (a remake of Woman of Straw), and The Beauty Inside (adapted from the social film of the same title). Later in the year, Yoo played the protagonist in Le Passe-Muraille ("The Man Who Walked Through Wall"); this was his first stage musical since his professional acting debut (Yoo had previously appeared in theatrical productions while still in university). In 2016, Yoo starred in the period music drama Love, Lies followed by romantic comedy Mood of the Day. He returned to the small screen with hit medical drama Dr. Romantic alongside Han Suk-kyu and Seo Hyun-jin. In 2018, Yoo starred in romance melodrama Mr. Sunshine penned by Kim Eun-sook. He then appeared in the musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. In 2020, Yoo starred in the critically acclaimed and hit medical drama Hospital Playlist, playing Ahn Jeong-won, an assistant professor of pediatric surgery and reprised his role in season 2 in 2021. In 2022, Yoo starred in the crime-mystery film Vanishing by French film director Denis Dercourt, as detective Park Jin-ho. In December, he starred in the JTBC series The Interest of Love, playing an employee at a bank. In 2023, he also reprised his role as Kang Dong-joo in a cameo role in the third season of Dr. Romantic.

Ambassador for the 5th Seoul Animal Film Festival (2022)