Gong Yoo turns 46: Coffee Prince to Squid Game, why every generation wants to claim him

The other day, an innocent Twitter user called Gong Yoo, the Squid Game star. Hackles were raised. ‘Squid Game’ star, when he has been around for two decades, almost defining each era with a vast range of genres? Fans who had loved him in the 2016 bittersweet fantastical drama Goblin were appalled. But not as appalled as the ones who had watched him in the 2009 Coffee Prince. Somewhere in between, Train to Busan fans chimed in with indignation.

Yet, as someone rightly noted, there’s a Gong Yoo for every era—and every generation claims him as their own. Some even became fans after watching The Trunk, a psychological thriller that received mixed to negative reviews. Still, the awe for him endured.

And that’s the magic of Gong Yoo: you can’t pin him down. He isn’t just your charming romcom lead—though he’s done his fair share of them. If the 2000s had Coffee Prince’s rebellious charm, the 2010s belonged to the melancholic mythos of Goblin. And just when the world thought they had him figured out, he shattered expectations with the raw sacrifice in Train to Busan—then returned years later with a cameo so chilling in Squid Game, fans begged for more screen time.

In Goblin, he blended romance with myth, playing a Korean deity cursed to wander the earth for 900 years, waiting for his bride to pull a sword from his chest. In that story itself, he portrayed powerful enigmatic depths---a wounded, broken man who wants to just finally find peace in death, and yet, how his resolve changes, after meeting Kim Go-eun. And yet, even though he gets his wish, it’s a rather heartbreaking climax, and Gong Yoo sank himself so deeply into the role of grief and shock, that when he later recalled the episode to close friend Lee Dong-wook, he got tearful.

Gong Yoo is searing, perhaps one of the most convincing actors in portraying raw grief. It showed in the final moments of Train to Busan, after he sacrifices himself to protect his son. It’s not the horror of a zombie that hurts. It’s the devastation that he brings forth. You reel. 

And then, it’s the latest complete diabolic switch with Squid Game. He was actually the best in the show, rivalling Lee Jung-Jae, even in his cameo as a recruiter. In the first season, his eerie smile as he plays the heinous game of DDakji, before he gears up to slap his opponent. And, he takes it forward in the second season, even if it’s just for an episode. He literally plays Russian Roulette with our spirits, playing with the tension and the madness of it all. He turns so completely terrifying and unhinged, and you still walk away from Squid Game 2 wishing there had been more of him. And, maybe you can’t help muttering, that if he had been part of the third season, it would have been a lot better.

There’s magic in Gong Yoo, even if he quietly selects his films and television shows. You know he, will be worth it.  So no, Gong Yoo isn’t just “that Squid Game guy.” He’s the face of every era, a shapeshifter who slips between romance, horror, myth, and madness—without missing a beat. Call him what you want, but just know: the moment he appears on screen, everything changes.