Gangster. Doctor. Serial killer. Detective. Secret agent. Namkoong Min’s familiar face has taken on many roles throughout the course of his career, and his acting range never ceases to amaze me. From defiant to conniving, to hilarious to emotionally bankrupt, Namkoong Min has covered every emotion in the human experience and left me a better person for having watched him. (Granted, I haven’t watched him in ‘The Undateables’ or some of his earlier dramas, so I can’t guarantee that experience for everyone!) Come see why he should be on your list of “actors to watch,” too!
Educational Beginnings
Namkoong Min comes from a family of educators — his dad was even a middle school principal, bless his heart. Namkoong himself went to Chung Ang University and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, then went straight into the military to serve as a social service agent. It’s good to know that Namkoong Min has a fallback career in case this acting gig doesn’t work out for him *wink wink*!
Rise to Recognition
After debuting in “Bungee Jumping of Their Own,” Namkoong Min continued to work as an actor and rose to prominence with his performance in the daily drama, “My Lovely Family.” But it was his role as the serial killer in “The Girl Who Sees Smells” that brought him to stardom, with reviewers calling his performance “impressive” and “perfect” and hailing him as the most interesting character in the drama.
Current Career
After starring in “The Girl Who Sees Smells,” Namkoong Min starred in a string of memorable dramas, including “Remember: War of the Son,” “Beautiful Gong Shim,” “Good Manager/Chief Kim,” “Falsify,” “The Undateables,” “Doctor Prisoner,” “Hot Stove League,” and “Awaken.” Reviewers often described his performances with words and phrases such as, “full of depth,” “riveting,” “a joy to watch,” and “hilarious.” The emotional depth he brought to his character in “Stove League” was heart-wrenching and relatable, even bringing me to tears at one point.
Receiving the recognition he deserves, Namkoong Min was nominated for best actor in a TV series for his roles in “Remember: War of the Son,” “Good Manager,” and “Stove League.” During the 2020 Baeksang Arts Awards, he received his first daesang (grand prize) for his impressive acting career.
A little fun trivia: If you’ve watched the K-pop competition “I-Land,” you’ll recognize Namkoong Min’s voice — he was the narrator!
Namkoong Min Dramas I Recommend
Two of my favorite Namkoong Min dramas are “Good Manager” and “Stove League,” both available here on KOCOWA with stellar subs! In “Good Manager,” Namkoong Min plays Chief Kim, a corporate accountant who gets his start as an accountant for the gangsters in his hometown. Chief Kim has one goal: to embezzle enough money to move to Denmark, where he plans to live a stress-free, corruption-free life. (HA!) However, his plans are interrupted by the rank corruption and underhanded politics that define the corporate environment of TQ Group, and Chief Kim finds himself working to clean up the office instead of cleaning out the corporate bank accounts.
“Good Manager” is one of my favorite dramas because of the amazing, resonant redemption arcs for many of the characters in the drama. Chief Kim is the obvious one, but there are a couple of others that touched my heart while making me laugh, all at the same time. “Good Manager” is full of character-based humor (my favorite!), shenanigans that make Kim Won Hae want to tear his hair out (oh yes, he’s in this too!), and memorable emotional moments that brought the story just enough seriousness to make it shine. I highly recommend it.
“Stove League” hit the airwaves back in 2019, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch it at first. Centered around the Dreams, a baseball team with a losing record, this drama takes a journey through the administrative side of sports. That might not sound exhilarating at first, but the passion that brings people to support the teams they love even though they’re not athletes themselves is compelling. Namkoong Min plays Baek Seung Soo, the newly hired team manager who must recruit fresh players to reenergize the team while navigating the politics of the other teams’ managers and the Dreams’ owner, who is using the team for his own personal enrichment.
The performances in “Stove League” were all top notch, including Park Eun Bi (“Do You Like Brahms?”) as the passionate head of the management team and Cho Byeong Kyu (“The Uncanny Counter”) as a bored chaebol who learns that he needs to put his full effort into his work in order to impress his new boss. Namkoong Min’s performance is exemplary as he takes his character, Seung Soo, on the journey from closed off and unemotional to accepting of himself and other people. The more I write about this drama, the more I think I need to watch it again.
2 Comments
I really liked him in Beautiful Gong Shim. It was fun to watch him in a comedic yet competent role. He was skilled and smart but knew how to be fun and kind.
Right? He really is versatile and fun to watch.