1. Ryoo Seung-bum made a name for himself in his older brother director Ryoo Seung-wan's eclectic films, notably Die Bad, Arahan, Crying Fist, The Unjust, and The Berlin File.
42 Facts About Ryoo Seung-bum
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Ryoo Seung-bum's family moved to Seoul, where he first studied at Jamjeon Elementary School, before moving back to a small town in South Chungcheong Province called Onyang, where he spent his middle school years.
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Ryoo Seung-bum returned to Seoul to study at Daedong Technical High School, but dropped out before graduating.
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Ryoo Seung-bum's older brother Ryoo Seung-wan was an aspiring filmmaker, and from 1996 to 1999, the elder Ryoo shot four low-budget short films starring himself, his younger brother Seung-bum, and several friends.
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One review described Ryoo Seung-bum's acting debut as "a startling, naturalistic turn," and he won Best New Actor at the Grand Bell Awards.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played Washington, a young thug with a heart of gold and a huge afro.
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Ryoo Seung-bum next starred in Yim Soon-rye's Waikiki Brothers, a 2001 film chronicling the fate of a shoddy nightclub band, with its bittersweet mixture of boyhood aspirations and the love of music, and the despair and reality of adulthood.
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Ryoo Seung-bum had a supporting role as a young waiter eager to learn how to play the drums and perform onstage.
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Ryoo Seung-bum received Best New Actor for TV from the Baeksang Arts Awards.
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Ryoo Seung-bum joined Jung, Shin Ha-kyun and an ensemble cast of Jang Jin regulars in No Comment, an omnibus made of three short films.
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Ryoo Seung-bum had a small role in Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Mr Vengeance.
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Ryoo Seung-bum made his theater debut in Lee Sang-woo's stage play Bieonso.
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In Min Kyu-dong's short Secrets and Lies, Ryoo Seung-bum's character finds himself in a dilemma when his fiancee's mother hits on him.
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Ryoo Seung-bum began 2004 in the TV series Sunlight Pours Down co-starring Song Hye-kyo and Jo Hyun-jae, but it proved unmemorable to audiences.
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Part modern-day wuxia, part superhero film and part local comedy, it was Ryoo Seung-bum Seung-wan's first foray into commercial cinema, and the film was a relative box office success at around 2 million tickets sold.
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Ryoo Seung-bum then starred in Kim Sung-su's online short Back.
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Director Ryoo Seung-bum Seung-wan discussed on the film's DVD how his brother had to access his real personality and real-life memories for his onscreen breakdown, and critics praised Ryoo Seung-bum's range, caged fury and passion in the role, calling the performance amazing and mesmerizing, such that he overshadowed his older, more prestigious colleague Choi.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played her character's ex-boyfriend, lending a meta aspect and irony to their few scenes together.
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Ryoo Seung-bum then returned to film noir with Bloody Tie opposite Hwang Jung-min.
20.
Ryoo Seung-bum reprised his role as Aachi; he had previously voiced the character in a Flash animated demo clip introduced as an internet sneak preview in 2001, However, due to investor problems, it would take a total of eight years for the feature-length film to be finished.
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In 2007, Ryoo Seung-bum had a small role in Im Chang-jung's comedy Underground Rendezvous.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played Lloyd, a fast-thinking producer of an underfunded and understaffed radio program during Japanese colonial rule in 1930.
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Ryoo Seung-bum was praised for his versatility and nuanced take on the role, but the film did not do well at the box office.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played one of the minor villains, making quirky vagabond Border Lynx into a likeable rogue.
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Ryoo Seung-bum said he chose his next film, No Mercy, simply because he wanted to work with actor Sul Kyung-gu.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played an environmental activist who confesses to a series of murders, then forces a renowned autopsy specialist to compromise all his professional ethics by tampering with autopsy results in order to save his kidnapped daughter from being killed.
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The film was criticized for its lack of visual style and convoluted plot, but reviews said the film's highlight was the dramatic intensity between the two lead actors in their confrontation scenes in the police interrogation room, with Ryoo Seung-bum playing his role with a subtle eeriness.
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Ryoo Seung-bum was criticized for giving curt answers to the press at the movie premiere; his agency apologized on his behalf, saying it was his first time to see the film in its entirety so he needed time to organize his thoughts.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played a zombie in Yim Pil-sung's short film A Brave New World, part of the science fiction omnibus Doomsday Book.
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Ryoo Seung-bum shot the film in 2006, but because of financing problems, it was only released in 2012.
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Ryoo Seung-bum played a genius mathematics professor who plans the perfect alibi for the woman he secretly loves when she unexpectedly murders her abusive ex-husband.
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Ryoo Seung-bum was cast in a supporting role in The Berlin File, Ryoo Seung-wan's 2013 spy thriller starring Ha Jung-woo, Han Suk-kyu, and Jun Ji-hyun.
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Ryoo Seung-bum returned to acting in 2015 with a leading role in Im Sang-soo's Intimate Enemies, a thriller about four people who find bags of money at a car crash site and decide to use it to mete out revenge against corrupt corporations.
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In 2017, Ryoo Seung-bum was cast in Kim Ki-duk's drama film Human, Space, Time and Human.
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In 2019, Ryoo Seung-bum starred in the third installment of the Tazza film series, Tazza: One Eyed Jack.
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Ryoo Seung-bum is friends with Gary and Gil, who comprise the hip hop duo Leessang.
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Ryoo Seung-bum has appeared in several music videos for their songs, including Ballerino and The Girl Who Can't Break Up, The Boy Who Can't Leave, which were both directed by his brother Ryoo Seung-wan.
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Ryoo Seung-bum won the Music Video Acting award at the Mnet KM Music Festival for Leessang's I'm Not Laughing.
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Ryoo Seung-bum began dating actress Gong Hyo-jin after they grew close on the set of 2001's Wonderful Days; the two had in fact shared one class in elementary school before Gong transferred out.
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In 2010 Ryoo Seung-bum made a cameo in Gong's TV series Pasta, and he complimented her in an interview in 2011.
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In 2020, Ryoo Seung-bum married a non-celebrity Slovak girlfriend who is 10 years younger than him and that he had a daughter.
42.
Ryoo Seung-bum's wife is known to have worked as a painter in France.