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Meet Jirisan’s Oh Jung-se – after Netflix hit It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, the star appears in TVN’s upcoming big-budget K-drama alongside Jun Ji-hyun and Ju Ji-hoon

Oh Jung-se plays a park ranger in TVN’s upcoming big-budget K-drama Jirisan. Photo: @praintpc_official/Instagram

With over a decade in the Korean entertainment industry, it seems impossible for anyone not to recognise Oh Jung-se’s face. The veteran actor has appeared in Korean films and TV shows since the early 2000s, as well as a string of commercials for brands like McDonalds and Ridi Books in South Korea.

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Dubbed by his Korean fans as “a millionaire of characters” for his acting range, Oh gained international recognition for his heart wrenching performance as an adult man with autism in the 2020 hit drama It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. This year, he returns in TVN’s 15th Anniversary Special Drama, Jirisan.

But what else do we know about the well-respected thespian?

He didn’t work for three years

South Korean actor Oh Jung-se in a still from Jirisan. Photo: iQiyi

Starting out as a theatre actor, Oh transitioned into television in a minor role in Someday in 2006 and landed his first main role in the 2014 K-drama Plus Nine Boys as a washed-up production director. However, in his early career the actor saw days without pay cheques. Speaking to Allure Korea, he said, “Honestly, I was really happy even when I only had bit parts. And when I didn’t have a project for three years, even though I was struggling to survive, I also had a lot of fun during that time.”

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay star Oh Jung-se. Photo: Netflix

Dubbed “one of the key actors for Korean cinema” by the Korean Film Council, Oh is known for his roles in hit TV shows like Vampire Detective (2016), When the Camellia Blooms (2019), Hot Stove League (2019) and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020). “I’ve done projects that made me upset, disappointing projects and dramas that earned zero per cent ratings,” he continued, “but these days, every project I do has been receiving a lot of love. I’m grateful, and I’m really enjoying it,” he shared in the same interview with Allure Korea.

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He also earned praise for his film performances such as his role as a sleazy reporter in The Unjust (2010) and in flicks like How to Use Guys with Secret Tips (2013) and Extreme Job (2019).

He won back-to-back best supporting actor awards

Veteran actor Oh Jung-se has received numerous awards for his TV and film performances. Photo: @praintpc_official/Instagram
The versatile actor won his first award back in 2017 for the disaster mystery show Missing 9 at the MBC Drama Awards. Afterwards, his winning streak continued at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards where he bagged best supporting actor two years in a row with When the Camellia Blooms and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay respectively. In his speech for the latter win, Oh thanked both his co-stars Seo Ye-ji and Kim Soo-hyun, who loudly applauded him in the audience.

He suffers from face blindness

Oh Jung-se’s performance in When the Camellia Blooms earned him the best supporting actor award at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards. Photo: Handout

The 44-year-old star has difficulty recognising faces as he suffers from a cognitive disorder called prosopagnosia or face blindness, which prevents one from recognising familiar faces. During a broadcast interview, Oh admitted that he even had difficulty identifying his own son.

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“If I had met you on the street, I wouldn’t have recognised you. It’s not because I don’t remember, but I can’t perceive [different faces],” he said on SBS Power FM’s Park Sun Young’s Cine Town. As quoted from Soompi, he also said, “People with prosopagnosia may need to repeatedly see others’ faces multiple times to recognise them.”

He dated his wife for 19 years before getting married

Oh Jung-se. Photo: @praintpc_official/Instagram

Oh’s wife Ahn Hee-sun, who he met in junior school, was his first love. The couple dated for 19 years before tying the knot in 2006, according to Preview. “[The schoolteacher] told me to become partners with someone we liked, so we became partners. I also proposed to her then,” he gushed during an episode of KBS2’s Happy Together.

He is not slowing down

Oh Jung-se plays a park ranger named Jung Goo-young in Jirisan. Photo: TVN

As a Korean star in high demand, there is no slowing down for Oh. Currently, he plays a park ranger named Jung Goo-young in the big-budget drama Jirisan opposite Ju Ji-hoon and Jun Ji-hyun. In a recent online press conference, Oh shared that they all had a blast during the shoot.

“Jun Ji-hyun got so into character as Seo Yi-kang that for a scene where she hits me on the head and laughs, she started laughing even before she hit me,” he said.

He will appear in Uncle and The Good Detective 2 next.

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  • His performances in Camellia Blooms and It’s Okay were so striking that he bagged best supporting actor awards at the Baeksang Arts Awards twice in a row
  • Oh has also done commercials for McDonalds and Ridi Books in Korea, and is set to appear in Uncle and The Good Detective 2 next