Kim Soo-hyun: Master of Character Immersion

Kim Soo-hyun’s acting is a solid encounter with emotions—something I’ve mentioned before in prior pieces about him, most notably in my Actor You Need to Know series. He’s a specialist in character immersion and wears them like skin—creating a seamless mix of himself with the character across various faces—ensuring you feel in your bones what he wants to make you feel.

I’ll go over that aspect here: Kim So-hyun’s scene and heart-stealing acting through some of his fully realized and emotionally charged portrayals in the likes of My Love from the Star (2013), Secretly Greatly (2013), It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020), One Ordinary Day (2021), and his latest Queen of Tears (2024), where he has established his distinctive voice as an actor.

Kim seems to love playing unknowns; it drives him to play complexities and characters with depth, such as Do Min-joon in My Love from the Star, a role that contributed to molding him into who he is today—a sensation in Korea and beyond.

The classic K-drama stars Min-joon—a human-like alien stuck on Earth for years—as the neighbor next door to star actress Cheon Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun). He’s preparing to return to his planet when Min-joon unwittingly gets sucked into her crazy life, saving her every time she runs into trouble. When reality catches up with them and they are in love, they find themselves on a high-stakes ride.

In stark contrast to the overbearing, dashing alien of unfathomable strength, Kim got another side of the character just right: the warm-hearted thoughtful lover. You are drawn to him the moment you lay eyes on him. His romantic lines are made better by his distinct, heavy voice and hypnotic eyes, turning Do Min-jun into an absolute stud in every way he appears on screen.

For the role, Kim won a host of honors: the Most Popular Actor—Television Award at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards, the Grand Prize at the 22nd SBS Drama Awards, one at the 7th Korea Drama Awards, and the Best Actor in Asia Award at the 8th International Drama Festival in Tokyo.

In the action-drama mega-hit film Secretly Greatly, Kim plays an oddball imbecile, Bang Dong-gu, far removed from his real-life counterpart, Lieutenant Ryu-hwan, an ingenious North Korean top agent, whose assignment, involving him and other North Korean spies entering South Korea undercover, ends up with a “secret and great” mission, a mandate of self-killing.

Kim becomes inextricably entwined with the role here, going above and beyond with his acting. Did he go through a lot of emotions while filming? Perhaps—I’m not sure—his acting provides you with a window into his difficult two-dimensional life. His foolish reactions and replies, as well as the way his quirks contrast with those of the astute agent he is, are fantastic. Not to mention the tragic and agonizing phase of the story where he wrestles with fate—he brings each scene in it to life.

The performance was and continues to be regarded as one of his best, earning him the Best New Actor (Film) Award at both the 50th Grand Bell Awards and the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards, among other accolades.

He made a comeback in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay as Moon Gang-tae, a clinical aid whose path crosses with that of a rambunctious children’s book author. A one-of-a-kind rom-com focused on mental health.

Kim’s portrayal of Gang-tae hit a home run at the 5th Asia Artist Awards, giving him the Grand Prize, “Daesang,” in the television category. The character’s outburst over grief and loss is tangible. Gang-tae is saddled with liabilities and still true to his commitments.

Kim sort of extracts himself to become the character; his efficacy in painting a jaded Gang-tae and in how he wears a veneer of strength while disguising his inner damage, willing to risk all for those he cares for, underline that Kim Soo-hyun is a force to be reckoned with on screen.

One Ordinary Day, the Korean adaptation of the British TV series Criminal Justice, is indicative of his penchant for heavier narratives and demanding characters. He is Kim Hyun-soo in the crime thriller, a regular undergraduate who, based on circumstantial evidence, gets embroiled in a graphic murder case.

Although he’s been falsely charged, Hyun-soo remains suspected of murder, a predicament when help comes from a down-and-out lawyer and a crime lord who oversees the jail supply network. Putting everything on the line to prove not guilty, Hyun-soo fights the case as a result.

While Hyun-soo may not be the stereotypically gruff hero of K-dramas, Kim Soo-hyun plays him with such aplomb, making him stand out. Regardless of the web series not doing great, he was at the top of his game—appealing and appropriate for what he accomplished on camera.

Kim Soo-hyun comes to mind when I think of a consummate actor, and I believe he sets the bar for his co-stars to give their best. What motivates a character’s behavior? And what does he wish for? Increasingly recognizing that and providing them with honesty through the way he acts, Kim brings detail and depth. He’s the most effective at conveying the depth of emotions; he almost squeezes them out while melding with his character’s scenario, reminiscent of the Queen of Tears. 

An unforeseen crisis and an improbable revival of love befall Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won), a snobbish chaebol heiress, and Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun), the company’s adept legal director, in Queen of Tears. Hyun-woo plans to divorce Hae-in for her narcissism and his current sense of abandonment. Even so, things take a turn when she informs him that she’s ill and on the brink of death. 

Hae-in’s condition makes love seem possible again, and an eminent investor coming home to South Korea and beginning to get close to the Chaebol family—especially Hae-in—makes Hyun-woo uneasy. The story has many layers, but nothing beats Kim Soo-hyun’s description of a husband who is still in love but suppresses himself. Kim embodies his anxiety, concern, care, and jealousy—but most of all, the fear of losing his wife, whom he loves the most.