Kim Nam-gil (김남길) is a South Korean actor, producer, director, and singer born on March 13, 1980, in Seoul. He made his television debut in 1999 with a small role in School 1, before going on to make several supporting appearances. During the early years of his career, he also used the stage name Lee Han.
His real breakthrough came in 2009 with the historical drama Queen Seondeok. His portrayal of Bidam, an unpredictable and charismatic character, was a huge success and earned him widespread popularity both in South Korea and internationally. He followed that up in 2010 with Bad Guy, in which he plays an antihero driven by revenge, before temporarily putting his career on hold to complete his military service.
Back on screen, Kim Nam-gil stars in, among other things, Shark in 2013, and then Live Up to Your Name in 2017. At the same time, he has built a successful film career with movies such as The Pirates, Pandora, The Shameless and Memoir of a Murderer.
In 2019, he enjoyed another major television success thanks to The Fiery Priest. In it, he plays Kim Hae-il, a hot-tempered priest involved in a criminal investigation. The role became one of the most iconic of his career, and he reprised it in The Fiery Priest 2 in 2024.
He then explores darker themes with Through the Darkness, Island and Song of the Bandits. In 2025, he played Lee Do in Trigger and also appears in Karma. In 2026, he made a cameo appearance in How to Become a Building Owner in Korea, while he has been cast in the lead role of Kim Tae-i in Akmong (Nightmare), scheduled for 2027.
