TEO YOO IS AN ACTOR DRIVEN BY A FASCINATION WITH THE MEANING OF WORDS AND THE EMOTIONAL LAYERS THEY CARRY. GROWING UP AS A GYOPO – A TERM FOR KOREANS RAISED ABROAD – HE EXPERIENCED CULTURAL DISSONANCE, NAVIGATING HIS IDENTITY WHILE IMMERSING HIMSELF IN A GLOBAL ACTING INDUSTRY THAT WAS STILL ON THE CUSP OF EMBRACING ASIAN CONTENT ON A LARGER SCALE. YOO'S JOURNEY IS A TESTAMENT TO PERSEVERANCE, HONING HIS SKILLS THROUGH RIGOROUS TRAINING ACROSS EUROPE AND THE US. FLUENT IN THREE LANGUAGES, HE’S ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUED BY THE INTERSECTION OF IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATION – PARTICULARLY HOW NUANCES OF EMOTION CAN BE LOST IN TRANSLATION. HIS PERFORMANCE IN PAST LIVES BROUGHT THESE THEMES TO LIFE AND MARKED A TURNING POINT IN HIS CAREER. THE ROLE TRANSFORMED HIS PERSPECTIVE BY ENCOURAGING A DEEPER INTROSPECTION AS A STORYTELLER AND THE SENSIBILITY REQUIRED TO CONVEY UNIVERSAL EMOTIONS THROUGH THE UNIQUE LENS OF HIS MULTIFACETED IDENTITY.

Shirt, top and pants **Dries Van Noten**, jewellery **Cartier**

Can you tell us about the moment you realised you wanted to pursue acting?

It was the year I turned 21 in 2002, and I planned to try acting school as an experiment, to do something outside of my career which was more in physical education. For those first few weeks in New York, on my exchange, I just wanted to work and get experience. I viewed acting from more of a street performer archetype because I grew up watching a lot of circuses and street performers back in Germany. That made me pretty happy, so I just decided to dedicate my life to the craft.

Shirt **Dolce & Gabbana**, jewellery **Cartier**

You grew up in Germany. How did you get started in the Korean entertainment industry?

It wasn't a conscious decision, more of a necessary one because I felt like there weren't a lot of opportunities back in Europe or in the US when I was looking at the auditions and the castings and what type people were looking for back then. So, I felt like I had better opportunities making the country of my parents my home.

Left Coat **Junya Watanabe Man**, pants **Maison Margiela**, shoes **Christian Louboutin**, shirts and turtleneck stylist’s own
Right Knitwear and pants **Tod’s**, Necklace **Cartier**

You gained significant international recognition through your role in Past Lives. How has global attention shaped your approach to acting?

I wouldn’t say it was because of the recognition that the film got. But it changed my way of approaching my craft in a profound way because, if you just look at the content of the film, it is about someone who believes in reincarnation and hoping therefore that the protagonist can find some sort of closure because something before or after is going to happen. I knew that I could only play that role and that last scene in a sympathetic way if I believed in it. So, that film changed me a lot. Now, I think about the concept of inyeon [fate] towards the roles that I play. If I get offered a role, and I believe that inyeon is in place, then I already have been living the lives of all the characters that I'm supposed to portray in the future. So, there's more of a private quest in terms of spirituality attached to it.

Vest **Maison Margiela**, turtleneck stylist’s own, watch and jewellery **Cartier**

What was your biggest challenge in the preparation for the role? And do you have any favourite memories from set?

It was more of an affirmation of my own vulnerability as a man, and I am saying specifically as a man because of the way men were educated through media growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Knowing that I could be totally and fully vulnerable was really cleansing. My favourite memory was that we all knew, when we were on set in New York shooting it, that it was something insulated and special. Simply because of the context in film history that people like us wouldn't get, Greta [Lee] talks about that too. I would have never imagined myself to be the romantic lead in a film, funded and distributed by the American market because of the way East Asian men were dehumanised and desexualised throughout Hollywood history, specifically.

Left Coat **Junya Watanabe Man**, pants **Maison Margiela**, shirts and turtleneck stylist’s own
Right Full look **Dior Men**

How do you decide on the roles you take on?

All the way up to Past Lives, it was never my own choice, but more, a necessary decision because I needed to survive. Because I get paid to do a job whenever I go to a casting. I was just very lucky to have a very diversified CV in that sort of sense. But it was never my choice to be in all of those different films other than there was no other job that would accept me at that moment in time. With The Recruit, that was the first time I consciously decided to curate my career towards a certain goal, which was fun.

Left Vest, pants and shoes **Maison Margiela**, turtleneck stylist’s own, watch and jewellery **Cartier**
Right Shirt, top and pants **Dries Van Noten**, jewellery **Cartier**

What can we expect from your role in The Recruit?

I play a Korean NIS agent who is smart and cunning and goes head-to-head with Owen Hendricks, played by Noah Centineo. And you quickly realise that my character is willing to risk everything that he believes in.

Knitwear and pants **Tod’s**, Necklace **Cartier**

Are there any particular types of stories you’d like to explore next?

I like westerns. I try to frequently go to Texas and work on a ranch with horses and cattle. I go through cattle trailing, separating the cows from the babies and just doing the old-fashioned cowboy work. I also love the sci-fi genre, like the Black Mirror series, for example. Then to be more specific, I love the subject of the rise of Korean cult leaders in the United States. For me, that's an interesting topic with many cultural layers that can be explored in storytelling.

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Discover the full story in our SS25 Issue - out now.

Interview by Gabrielle Valda Colas

Photography by Jen Kang

Fashion by Kukseon Hyun

Casting and Production by Dj Lee

Hair by Hyejin Lee

Make-Up by Seyeong Ahn