Where you’ve seen Squid Game’s Recruiter before, including the best zombie film of all time

Gong Yoo, better known as The Recruiter in both seasons of Netflix’s Squid Game, has been a pillar of South Korean pop culture for years, appearing in everything from horror movies to romantic comedies.

We were introduced to his sculpted cheekbones and less-than-stable personality in season one of Squid Game when Seong Gi-hun played that first game of Ddakji. He featured heavily in episodes one and two of season two, before joining the list of the dead after a fatal run-in with the main character.

If like me you thought ‎Gong Yoo’s character was gone too soon, you can catch him in the other projects listed below.

‎Gong Yoo has starred in some of Korea’s biggest movies

Though it took me two seasons to clock, ‎Gong Yoo, 45, appeared in my favourite zombie film of all time, Train to Busan. Playing the main character Seok-woo, Gong Yoo attempts to save the life of his daughter onboard a bullet train driving through the zombie apocalypse. The film has an impressive 95 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score, boatloads of positive reviews, and enough blood and gore to keep even the most hungry zombie satisfied.

In fact, one review firmly stated: “This is the film that World War Z could have been.”

Outside of the zombie classic, Gong Yoo’s career has been full of record-breaking blockbusters. His first film was My Tutor Friend where he played the “best fighter” at Surim High School, followed by appearances in S Diary, She’s on Duty, and the Japanese film Like a Dragon.

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In Silenced, Gong Yoo delivered a powerful performance as Kang In Ho, a teacher who uncovered abuse at a Korean school for deaf children, and in The Suspect he took on the role of a North Korean spy. The man’s got range, let’s say that.

He’s no slouch on TV either

The very first TV show Gong Yoo appeared in was School 4, a 2001 K-drama where he played Hwang Tae-young for 19 episodes. Over the next few years, he featured in Whenever the Heart Beats, Hard Love, 20 Years, Screen, and internet drama My Room, Your Room. Though there was a gap in his TV roles due to the mandatory South Korean military service, he returned soon after with standout roles in Hello My Teacher and One Fine Day.

In what is widely regarded as the role that shunted him into the spotlight, Gong Yoo portrayed Choi Han Gyul in 2007’s Coffee Prince. It followed his character inheriting a failing coffee shop from his grandmother while simultaneously navigating themes of sexuality, gender issues, and female independence.

Despite only running for one season, one of his most popular roles came in 2017’s Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. He played immortal goblin Kim Shin who comes to blows (and kisses) with the woman destined to end his life.

Following the success of Squid Game, Netflix hired Gong Yoo again in The Silent Sea, a K-drama that followed astronauts attempting to retrieve samples from the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. It sits with 80 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

The man has not aged in years so it should not be difficult to spot him in any of the above projects.

Squid Game is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.