Love Life
Oh Man-seok married his friend from the same college, Jo Sang-gyeong, in 2001 after a year and a half of dating. His wife is a costume designer for notable dramas such as Tazza: The High Rollers, Oldboy, The Host, and Modern Boy. She gave birth to their daughter, and they named her Oh Young-joo. The couple divorced in 2007. Oh Man-seok’s agency revealed the reason behind the couple divorcing was because of a “disparity in character”. The rumor of the two parting actually started spreading the year before, but both of them were still denying it. The finalized divorce was set for late May, and Oh Man-seok gained custody of his six-year-old daughter. After Oh Man-seok played in Jolly Widow, he began dating his co-star Jo An for two years, but they broke up in 2011. Early this year, Oh Man-seok’s agency gave an official statement saying that the actor married his non-celebrity girlfriend. The two began dating last year.
Dramas
Oh Man-seok just played a minor character for his first drama role in 2003. His major critical role was in 2005 when he played the Buddhist monk character Won Hyeon in the historical drama Shin Don in 2005. He received a lot of popularity after that. In 2006, his first leading role in a drama was in The Vineyard Man, and it also received a lot of love from audiences. He even received the Best New Actor Award for his role in the respective drama. His role in 2010 when he starred in the drama Jolly Widows also hit fame due to his acting, and he won the Best Actor Award. Here is the list of Oh Man-seok’s dramas.
Age of Warriors – Yangpyo / KBS1 (2003) Shin Don – Wonhyeon / MBC (2005) MBC Best Theater “That Man’s Jealous” – Korean language teacher / MBC (2006) The Vineyard Man – Jang Taek-gi / KBS2 (2006) Hyena – Choi Jin-beom / tvN (2006) Surgeon Bong Dal-hee – Oh Jung-min (guest, episodes 13-14) / SBS (2007) Drama City “Transformation” – Monk / KBS2 (2007) The King and I – Kim Cheo-seon / SBS (2007) Chil-woo the Mighty – Kang Chil-woo’s father (cameo, episode 1) / KBS2 (2008) Jolly Widows – Han Jin-woo / KBS1 (2009) Road No. 1 – North Korean soldier (guest, episodes 16-17) / MBC (2010) Drama Special “Spy Trader Kim Chul-soo’s Recent Condition” – Kim Chul-soo / KBS2 (2010) Drama Special “Special Task Force MSS” – Noh Chul-gi / KBS2 (2011) Warrior Baek Dong-soo – Crown Prince Sado / SBS (2011) What’s Up – Sunwoo Young / MBN (2012) Wild Romance – Jin Dong-soo / KBS2 (2012) Drama Special “The True Colors of Gang and Cheol” – Noh Chul-gi / KBS2 (2012) Wang’s Family – Heo Se-dal / KBS2 (2013) Prime Minister & I – Gangster (cameo, episode 12) / KBS2 (2014) Pluto Secret Society – Choi Ki-chan’s colleague (cameo, episode 4) / EBS (2014) Another Oh Hae-young – Film director Oh Man-seok (cameo, episode 18) / tvN (2016) Squad 38 – Park Deok-bae (cameo) / OCN (2016)
Movies
Oh Man-seok’s first major role in a movie was when he starred as the leading character in Our Town. His role as a crime fiction novelist in the thriller drama led him to more success in his career. He even got nominated for his role at the Grand Bell Awards for Best New Actor, but unfortunately, he did not win the category. Here is the list of Oh Man-seok’s movies.
To My Love (short film) (2000) Liar – Alex (2004) A Cruel Attendance – Sponge (cameo) (2006) Fly Up – Narration (documentary) (2006) Soo – Jeom Park-yi (2007) Our Town – Kyung-ju (2007) Finding Mr. Destiny – Kim Jong-mook (cameo) (2010) Countdown – Swy (2011) Chasing 340 – Bus driver (2016) Detour – Eun-dong (2016) The Bros – Representative Oh (Cameo) (2017) True Fiction – Lee Kyong-Seok (2018)
Musical Plays
Oh Man-seok has been known as a bona fide musical actor. He played in many musical plays from 2001 and hit critical fame when he portrayed the East German transgender singer in the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which he got a positive response to and won Best New Actor and Most Popular Actor at the Korea Musical Awards for his role. Other critical hits include Finding Kim Jong-wook (2006) and A Day (2007) when he also received other awards for his roles. Here the list of Oh Man-seok’s musical plays.
A Serenade of Sorrow (Hangul: 애수의 소야곡) – Chang-ho (2001) The Rocky Horror Show – Rocky (2001) Oh! Happy Day – Eros (2002) Return to the Forbidden Planet – Bosun (2002) Indangsu Love Song (Hangul: 인당수사랑가) – 1인 다역 (2003) Grease – Danny Zuko, Doody, Eugene Florczyk (2003-2004) Dalgona (Hangul: 달고나) – 1인 다역 (2004) Geum River Opera (Hangul: 가극 금강) – Ha-nui (2004) Singin’ in the Rain – Don Lockwood (2004-2005) Hedwig and the Angry Inch – Hedwig (2005, 2012, 2017) Assassins – Samuel Byck (2005) Winter Traveler (Hangul: 겨울나그네) – Min-woo (2005) Finding Kim Jong-wook (Hangul: 김종욱찾기) (2006) A Day (Hangul: 하루) – Kang Young-won (2007) The Organ in My Heart (Hangul: 내 마음의 풍금) – Kang Dong-soo (2008) Dreamgirls – Curtis Taylor Jr. (2009) The Toxic Avenger – Melvin Ferd the Third, Toxie (2010) 200 Pounds Beauty (Hangul: 미녀는 괴로워 일본 공연) – Han Sang-jun (2011-2012) Rebecca Maxim DeWinter (2013, 2014) Those Days (Hangul: 그날들) – Jeong-hak (2013, 2016, 2017) Kinky Boots – Lola (2014-2015) Okepi (Orchestra Pit) – Conductor (2015-2016) Man of La Mancha – Cervantes/Don Quixote (2018)
Theatrical Plays
Oh Man-seok started his career as a theatrical actor in 1999 when he played in Faust. His critical hit that turned over his career in the industry was when he played the androgynous court jester Gong Gil in the theatrical production Yi. His first role as Gong-gil was in 2000. After that, he played the role four more times in 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2010. Here is the list of Oh Man-seok’s theatrical plays.
Faust – Wagner (1999) Tae (Hangul: 태) – Danjong (2000) Ot Goot-Sal (Hangul: 옷굿–살) – Chorus (2000) Yi (Hangul: 이; Hanja: 爾) – Gong-gil (2001, 2003, 2006, 2010) The Seagull – Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplyov (2004) Woyzeck – Karl (2004) True West – Lee (2010, 2011, 2016) Nassim (2018)
Projects as Theater Director
Oh Man-seok began to direct theatrical play in 2008 when he made an adaptation of Lee Joon-ik’s film The Happy Life. Oh Man-seok not only directed the stage but also wrote the musical’s lyrics and the script. In 2011, Oh Man-seok directed another theatrical performance titled The Toxic Avenger where he also played the leading role. The comedy musical was a big hit, and Oh Man-seok successfully brought out his role and received praise from the audience. Here is the list of Oh Man-seok’s projects as a theatrical director.
The Happy Life (Hangul: 즐거운 인생) (2008-2009) The Organ in My Heart (Hangul: 내 마음의 풍금) (2010-2011) The Toxic Avenger (2011) True West (2015) True West (2016) Three Days of Rain (2017)
Discography
Oh Man-seok is a vocalist for the band Little Wing. Oh Man-seok also owns OD Musical Entertainment Company where he produce several musical albums of which he starred.
“The Sword of Damocles” – The Rocky Horror Show cast recording (2001) “Great Balls of Fire”, “The Young Ones”, “Born to Be Wild” – Return to the Forbidden Planet cast recording (2002) “Those Magic Changes” , “Beauty School Dropout” – Grease cast recording (2003) “The Origin of Love”, “Wicked Little Town”, “Angry Inch” – Hedwig and the Angry Inch cast recording (2005) “종욱과 나라의 Love Theme”, “한양서 김서방 찾기“, “이젠 정말 만나야 할 때“, “좋은 사람“, “나라와 만석의 Love Theme” – Finding Kim Jong-wook cast recording (2006) “봄이다. 그치?”, “커피향, 웃는 이유“, “소풍, 때려쳐?!”, “홍연이 안 왔어요“, “나비의 꿈“, “나의 사랑 수정“, “Springtime”, “내 마음의 풍금(Springtime/나비 Reprise)” – The Organ in My Heart cast recording (2008) “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”, “You Are My Dream”, “Family” – Dreamgirls cast recording (2009) “별 (Star)”, “누가 나를 알까?” – 200 Pounds Beauty cast recording (2011) “어떻게 변해요 (How Can I Change)” – Wild Romance OST (2012) “Springtime” – What’s Up OST (2012) “Tear Me Down”, “The Origin of Love”,”Sugar Daddy”, “Angry Inch”, “Wig in a Box”, “Wicked Little Town”, “The Long Grift”, “Hedwig’s Lament”, “Exquisite Corpse”, “Wicked Little Town (Reprise)”, “Midnight Radio” – Hedwig and the Angry Inch cast recording (2012) “At the Abyss”, “Help Me Through the Night”, “God, Why?”, “Never Was a Smile That Cold”, “Manderley in Flames” – Rebecca cast recording (2013)
Concerts
Oh Man-seok, aside from portraying a character on stage, has also become a guest in concerts. His notable concert was Hedwig and the Angry Inch concert which he joined three times.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Concert (2005) Passion of the Rain (2005, 2006) Hedwig Concert Together with John Cameron Mitchell (2007) HEDWIG 10th Anniversary! Hedwig Concert with John Cameron Mitchell and Oh Man-seok (2008)
