Ko Kyung-pyo (; born June 11, 1990) is a South Korean actor. He began his career in 2010 and became a cast member of the comedy show Saturday Night Live Korea for its first three seasons (2011–2012). He then gained wide recognition for his roles in the television dramas Reply 1988 (2015–16), Don't Dare to Dream (2016), and Chicago Typewriter (2017). Ko's performance in Park Chan-wook's film Decision to Leave (2022) made him a recipient of a Best Supporting Actor nomination and a Popular Star Award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. He has since transitioned into leading roles in television series Strongest Deliveryman (2017), Cross (2018), Love in Contract (2022), and comedy film 6/45 (2022).
Early life and education Ko Kyung-pyo was born in 1990 in Incheon, South Korea. He has an older sister. His name uses the characters Kyeong (庚) and Pyo (杓). His parents run a buckwheat noodle (makguksu) restaurant in Incheon. He attended an all-boys middle school and high school. In his second year of middle school, he was scouted by an agent while on the street but did not enter the entertainment industry at the time. Instead, he began attending an acting academy in his second year of high school.
While attending the Film Department at Konkuk University, he made films with classmates including the short film Good Kyung-soo, that won him the Best Actor Award during the university's film festival. He passed an audition arranged by YG Entertainment and trained as an actor for more than a year while at university. However, he left YG when the film he was set to star in, 70 Days (Into the Fire), was canceled.
Career 2010–2014: Beginnings and SNL Korea
In 2010, Ko initially planned to complete his mandatory military service but postponed it after passing an open audition for a drama. He then portrayed Bong Il-tae in the drama Jungle Fish 2 (2010), marking his debut as an actor while at university. He became a cast member of the live sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live Korea for its first three seasons from 2011 to 2012. He then featured in the sitcom Standby (2012).
His role as the clumsy student teacher Ko Byeong-sin in a segment titled "Escape" of the film Horror Stories 2 (2013) caught the attention of director Kim Byung-wook who gave him a leading role in the sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3 (2013). He gained recognition for his friendly image and resemblance to Olaf, the snowman from the Frozen film franchise. He then featured in dramas My Cute Guys (2013) and Naeil's Cantabile (2014).
2015–2018: Breakthrough and rising popularity
Ko gained wider recognition with his roles in Reply 1988 (2015) as the dutiful son and friend Sung Sun-woo. In January, Ko and the rest of the casts and crews went to vacation in Phuket, Thailand, which was organized by the Reply 1988 production crew as a reward for the success of the drama. There, Ko and other three other cast members were "kidnapped" by director Na Young-seok. He brought them to Namibia in southern Africa for his travel show over Youth Over Flowers where the filmed in Africa for 10 days.
The following year, Ko starred in Don't Dare to Dream (2016). He received the New Star Award at the 2016 SBS Drama Awards for his performance. In 2017, Go starred in tvN's fantasy-romance drama Chicago Typewriter. The same year, he was cast in his first leading role in the KBS drama Strongest Deliveryman alongside Chae Soo-bin. He then starred in medical thriller drama Cross which premiered in January 2018.
2020–present: Leading roles
After completing his mandatory military service, Ko made his television comeback in the 2020 JTBC drama Private Lives. In 2021, he made cameo appearances in the tvN drama My Roommate Is a Gumiho and Netflix series D.P.
In 2022, Ko appeared in Park Chan-wook's mystery film Decision to Leave as Soo-wan. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where Park Chan-wook won Best Director. His portrayal earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards, and won him a Popular Star Award. Also in 2022, he starred in Park Gyu-tae's comedy film 6/45. It was released on August 24, 2022. He also starred in film Seoul Vibe which was released on Netflix on August 26, 2022. Ko then had a leading role in the television series Love in Contract. It aired on tvN from September 21 to November 10, 2022. He then appeared in Takashi Miike's streaming series Connect. It premiered on Disney+ on December 7, 2022.
In 2024, Ko starred in the television series Frankly Speaking. It premiere on JTBC on May 1, 2024 and is also available for streaming on Netflix in selected regions. The following year, he starred as a cast member in the TvN's variety show Sixth Sense: City Tour. He next starred in tvN's workplace comedy Undercover Miss Hong.
Personal life Ko enlisted for his mandatory military service on May 21, 2018. He was discharged on January 15, 2020.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 Graduation Trip Short film A Millionaire on the Run Hyung-chul 2013 The Story of Man & Woman Short film Horror Stories 2 Go Byung-shin Segment: "The Escape" Believe Me Yoon-seong 2014 One Summer Night Joon-ki Short film Man on High Heels Jin-woo The Admiral: Roaring Currents Oh Duk-yi 2015 Casa Amor: Exclusive for Ladies Pyo Kyeong-soo Cameo Coin Locker Girl Chi-do The Treacherous Grand Prince Jinseong 2018 Seven Years of Night Seo-won 2022 Uracai Haruki Yeo Ryeom TVING Short Film Decision to Leave Soo-wan 6/45 Sergeant Park Chun-woo Seoul Vibe DJ Oh Woo-sam Netflix film 2024Amazon BullseyeDirector Choi
Television series Year Title Role Notes 2010 Jungle Fish 2 Bong Il-tae 2011 I Believe in Love Kwon Pil-young 2012 Operation Proposal Song Chan-wook Standby Kim Kyung-pyo Quiz of God 3 Seo In-gak Cameo (Episodes 10–12) 2013 Flower Boys Next Door Oh Dong-hoon Potato Star 2013QR3 Noh Min-hyuk 2014 Naeil's Cantabile Yoo Il-rak 2015 Warm and Cozy Jung-min Cameo (Episodes 1–2) 2015–2016 Reply 1988 Sung Sun-woo 2016 Don't Dare to Dream Go Jung-won 2017 Chicago Typewriter Yoo Jin-oh Strongest Deliveryman Choi Kang-soo 2018 Cross Kang In-gyu 2020 Private Lives Lee Jung-hwan 2021 My Roommate Is a Gumiho Sanshin Cameo (Episode 7, 10–11,13–14) 2022 Love in Contract Jung Ji-ho 2024Frankly SpeakingSong Gi-baek 2026 Undercover Miss Hong Shin Jeong-woo
Web series Year Title Role Notes 2017 The Best Moment to Quit Your Job Lee Min-woo Cameo 2021–2023 D.P. Corporal Park Sung-woo Season 1–2 2022 ConnectOh Jin-seop
Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2011–2012 Saturday Night Live Korea Cast member Seasons 1–3 2016 Youth Over Flowers: Africa 2024 The Backpacker Chef Season 2 2025 Sixth Sense: City Tour Episodes 1-8 2025–2026Reply 1988 10th Anniversary
Music videos Year Title 2025 "Hyehwa-dong (or Ssangmun-dong)"
Music video appearances Year Song Title Artist 2021 "Noting special with the day" () Im Chang-jung
Discography Soundtrack appearances TitleYearAlbum"I Wake Up Because of You" with Kim Seul-gi 2013 My Cute Guys OST"Lalala" 2017 Strongest Deliveryman OST "Hyehwa-dong (or Ssangmun-dong) ())" 2025 Reply 1988 10th Anniversary OST
Singles TitleYearAlbum"...We were in love..." (...사랑했잖아...) 2024
Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Baeksang Arts Awards 2016 Best New Actor – Film Coin Locker Girl Blue Dragon Film Awards 2013 Best New Actor Horror Stories 2 2022 Best Supporting Actor Decision to Leave Chung Jung-won Popular Star Award KBS Drama Awards 2017 Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Strongest Deliveryman SBS Drama Awards 2016 Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Romantic-Comedy Drama Don't Dare to Dream New Star Award The Seoul Awards 2017 Best Supporting Actor (Drama) Chicago Typewriter tvN10 Awards 2016 Two Star Award Reply 1988 & SNL Korea
References
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