Kim Jae wook

Early life and the beginning

Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Japan until he was seven years old before returning to South Korea. He started out performing in a band, but when he was 17, he started to model. Due to the time he spent in Japan, he can speak fluent Japanese.

In 2002, Kim debuted as the member of an indie band in the MBC drama Ruler of Your Own World. After this first role, he concentrated on his modeling career.

Transition into acting

In 2007, he auditioned for and won the role of No Sun-ki in the 2007 hit drama series The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, more commonly known as just Coffee Prince, which made him more popular in South Korea and several Asian countries. This role allowed him to use his Japanese language skills. He later appeared in the 2008 drama The Kingdom of The Winds and served as the ambassador of goodwill for the 9th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) in May 2008.

His first movie in 2009, Antique, based on the manga Antique Bakery, grossed a total of $5,608,515 in South Korea and was invited to the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. In this movie, he played Min Seon-woo, a gay chef working at Antique cake shop. The role won him the Best New Actor award at 16th Korean Entertainment Awards; the same year, he also won the Special Model Award at the Asia Model Festival Awards. In October 2009, he formed a modern rock band named Walrus as guitarist and vocal. The name of the group came from the Beatles single "I am the Walrus" released in 1967.

Kim got his first leading role in Bee TV's first original Korean drama Give Me Your Memory: Pygmalion's Love, which aired in March 2010. For this role he spoke Japanese and Korean.

Co-authoring a book and military enlistment

In May 2011, along with fashion models Jang Yoon-ju, Ji Hyun-jung, Han Hye-jin and Song Kyung-ah, he co-authored Top Model, a book based on their experiences in the industry. He also co-starred in Golden Heart, a miniseries featuring Janice Man of Hong Kong, in which he spoke English. He completed filming for Mary Stayed Out All Night and enlisted for mandatory military service on 5 July 2011 for 21 months of active duty after five weeks of basic military training.

Comeback

He made his comeback in 2013 in tvN television series Who Are You?, playing the dead boyfriend of So Yi-hyun's character. He also played a role in KBS television series Inspiring Generation as Kim Hyun-joong's rival, but quit after episode 8 due to unavoidable circumstances.

In 2015, Kim was cast for the lead role in the fantasy-lustful movie Plank Constant. He played a character of a script writer who imagines weird sexual fantasises. In June, he signed an exclusive contract with management agency Better ENT.

Kim was cast in the period movie The Last Princess which was box office success in 2016. He became a Japanese nobleman who marries Son Ye-jin's character Princess Deokhye. In the same year, Kim took a leading role in the film "Two Rooms, Two Nights" as a popular movie director who tries to maintain secretive romantic relationships with both: his current girl friend and ex-girl friend.

2017-Present:Rising popularity

After almost two years of hold back Kim's movie Another Way premiered in January. Kim played a role of a police officer who finds Seo Ye-ji's character online and forms a suicide pact.

In 2017, Kim was cast as the main antagonist in OCN's hit 2017 drama Voice, which broke existing OCN viewership records with its popularity. He played a power-oriented serial killer who toys with two detectives, both of whom have lost loved ones to his bloodlust.

In June same year, Kim left Better ENT and signed with new management agency Management SOOP.

In July, Kim confirmed to appear in the drama Temperature of Love. He is set to play a role of a successful businessman who falls for Seo Hyun-jin's character in the drama.