Heo Sung-tae ( , born 20 October 1977) is a South Korean actor with over sixty film and television credits. He came to national prominence in the 2016 period thriller film ''

The Age of Shadows ''The Age of Shadows'' (; lit. "Emissary") is a 2016 South Korean period action thriller film directed by Kim Jee-woon and written by Lee Ji-min and Park Jong-dae. The film is set in Shanghai and Seoul in the 1920s and stars Song Kang-ho and Gon ...

''.

Early life

Heo was born in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

, South Korea. He graduated from Pusan National University, where he majored in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. Prior to acting, he sold televisions in the Russian market for

LG Corporation LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is t ...

. He later joined the planning and coordination department of a

shipbuilding company A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Career

Heo began his acting career in 2011, when he entered SBS's talent show ''Miraculous Audition'' (기적의 오디션). According to Heo, he drunkenly signed up to audition after seeing a commercial for the show. He came to national prominence as Ha Il-soo in the 2016 period thriller film ''

''.'' Heo had to learn the

Manchu language Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qin ...

for his role in '' The Fortress'' (2017). Heo starred as the gangster Jang Deok-su in the 2021

Netflix original series Netflix is an American global Internet streaming-on-demand media provider that has distributed a number of original streaming television shows, including original series, specials, miniseries, and documentaries and films. Netflix's original pro ...

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-r ...

''.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Web shows

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Heo Sung-tae profile at Hanahreum Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heo, Sung-tae Living people 1977 births Pusan National University alumni South Korean male film actors South Korean male television actors Male actors from Busan 21st-century South Korean male actors