Choi Min-shik first made a name for himself in theater before breaking
into the film world with a role in Park Chong-won's acclaimed film 'Our
Twisted Hero' (1992). In the mid-nineties he continued to act in
theater productions as well as in several TV dramas, including Moon
Over Seoul with Han Seok-gyu. 1997 marked his return to motion
pictures, with a role as a tough-talking police investigator in Song
Neung-han's
No. 3 (1997). His biggest role
came in 1999, when he was cast in Korea's most successful film ever,
Shiri (1999). His portrayal of a North
Korean agent garnered him much praise and a Best Actor Award from the
1999 domestic Grand Bell Awards.
After starring in a theater production of Hamlet in spring of 1999,
Choi took on the role of a husband who discovers his wife's infidelity
in
Happy End (1999), and in early
2001 starred as a third-rate gangster opposite Hong Kong actress
Cecilia Cheung in the acclaimed
Failan (2001). In 2003 he starred in the
now classic
Oldboy (2003).