Jo Jae-yoon (조재윤)

Jo Jae-yoon lends complexity to the characters that he inhabits—he is the villain the people hate and sympathize with at the same time. His brand of villainy stands out: He and Oh Na-ra make up the chaotic couple that introduces comedic relief in the otherwise heavy scenes depicted in the JTBC ratings juggernaut SKY Castle (2019).

Photo from HanCinema

Birthday: September 15, 1974

Debuting as an actor in 2003, he appeared in Jang Hyuk’s comedy film Please Teach Me English. He landed his first lead role in the Korean War short film Poison Frog (2012). In his long list of TV, film, and theater characters are his notable roles in the SBS action thriller The Chaser (2012), the KBS2 romance megahit Descendants of the Sun (2016), the KBS action series Mad Dog (2017), and the tvN action k-drama Mouse (2021).

Last year, he appeared as the twisted mage Jin Mu in both parts of the Hong sisters’ Netflix historical hit Alchemy of Souls. This was followed by Choi Min-sik's Disney+ crime k-drama Big Bet.

He was cast as a Japanese general in the historical war film Hansan: Rising Dragon, Korea’s second highest-grossing film of 2022. He appeared in another Japanese-era movie Hero and in the documentary Takeoff: Standing on the Wave.

Most recently, he portrayed a detective in the SBS revenge k-drama Escape of the Seven alongside his Penthouse 2 co-star Uhm Ki-joon.