O Yeong-su (오영수 O Yeong-su?) is a South Korean actor who portrayed the elderly participant Oh Il-nam in the television series Squid Game. He began acting in theatre in 1967, and has, according to himself, appeared in over 200 productions. He later began acting in film and television, often portraying monks due to his experience with Buddhist plays.
In 2021, he portrayed Oh Il-nam in the first season of the Netflix survival drama Squid Game, which gave rise to his worldwide popularity and won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film, as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Controversy[]
On November 25, 2022, prosecutors in Suwon announced that Yeong-su had been indicted on sexual misconduct charges relating to an incident in which he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. He was accused of various cases of sexual misconduct in which he had inappropriately hugged, made lewd comments towards, laid in the same bed with, and kissed the victim across multiple incidents. Although he was charged in 2017, he was not indicted until 2022.
Due to his scenes in Squid Game being filmed in 2020, the show's Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and Netflix Korea were not aware of his actions. During his trial in February 2024, the prosecution sought only 1 year jailtime for him, he reportedly denied the charges. A month later, he was found guilty and was sentenced to an 8 month suspended prison term, as well as being ordered to attend 40 hours of classes on sexual violence.[1][2]