Other names Young Kim Hangul 김영광 Occupation Actor, Model Name Kim Young-kwang | Years active 2006–present Role Actor Agent Choii Entertainment Height 1.87 m | |
Born January 11, 1987 (age 37) ( 1987-01-11 ) Incheon, South Korea Education Hanyang University - Theater and Film Nominations PaekSang Arts Award for Most Popular Male in Television Movies and TV shows Pinocchio, Plus Nine Boys, Good Doctor, Can We Get Married?, Hot Young Bloods Similar People Jung So‑min, Lee Jong‑suk, Lee Soo‑hyuk, Park Shin‑hye, Lee Pil‑mo | ||
Kim Young-kwang (born January 11, 1987) is a South Korean actor and model. Kim began his career as a model and has walked the runways of world-renowned designers such as Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and Etro. In 2008, he was the first Asian model to walk Dior Homme's show. As an actor, Kim has starred in the films Runway Cop (2012) and Hot Young Bloods (2014), as well as the television dramas Pinocchio (2014), D-Day (2015), Sweet Stranger and Me (2016) and Lookout (2017).
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Life and career
Born as Kim Young Kwang in Incheon, South Korea. Kim's father was a veteran of the Vietnam War, who died when Kim was in the sixth grade. Kim's family struggled financially and it was rumoured that he had to start working at gas station, delivering newspapers at a young age to help relieve the financial burden. In 2007 when he was nineteen years he randomly received an opportunity to become a model for an advertisement which opened doors for him to become a runway model. In 2008, he was the first Asian Model to walk Dior Homme's show. He got Best New Model Award of Korea Fashion Photographers Association. In 2009, he received 3 awards from Asia Model Festival Awards,Korea Tourism Organisation and Style Icon Awards. Although he had brilliant success as a model, he later debut as an actor.
On 12 December 2013, Kim began his mandatory military service. However, he only had to be enlisted for six months as a public service soldier, the reason being that his father had been a Vietnam War veteran, as well as an acknowledged person of national merit. Thus, as a child of a person considered to be of national merit, Kim was required to serve only six months of military service. Kim was discharged in June 2014.
Though he began acting in 2008, he acted in a drama "Good Doctor" on KBS2, which was one of the dramas that made him famous and also led to endorse for brand "GGIO2" with Joo Won. His breakout year was 2014, with bigger roles in dramas such as tvN's "Plus Nine Boys"" and in popular drama "Pinocchio" alongside Hllyu stars Lee Jong Suk and Park Shin-hye for which he received SBS Drama Awards as New Star Award for his role as Seo Beom-jo. The following year (2015), he starred in medical drama D-Day related to earthquake and web drama Dr. Ian along with Sandara Park, which was produced by Korean channel Naver and Chinese streaming service Youku. In 2016, he was cast as lead roles in web drama Gogh, The Starry Night along with Kwon Yuri and in KBS2 drama Sweet Stranger and Me along with Soo Ae. In 2017, he starred in the MBC drama Lookout.
Kim maintains close friendship with Lee Soo-hyuk, and also other fellow models-turned-actor – Kim Woo-bin, Hong Jong-hyun and Sung Joon – whom he has worked with onscreen in White Christmas. They were given the nickname of Model Avengers by their fans.
