South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in to make movie comeback after drug case
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The announcement came with photos from a table read that included Yoo Ah-in.
PHOTO: NEW
SEOUL – South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, whose career was derailed by a drug conviction, is returning to the big screen with the upcoming supernatural thriller Vampir, distributor NEW said on Aug 18.
The announcement, which came with photos from a table read that included Yoo, confirms his first project since his legal troubles began in 2023.
The 39-year-old stepped away from public life after allegations that he had habitually used propofol, a controlled anaesthetic, with other drugs.
In Vampir, Yoo plays a hitman who is hired by a priest to hunt down a shadowy cult. The film is the latest from writer-director Jang Jae-hyun, whose occult thriller Exhuma became one of South Korea’s biggest box-office hits of 2024.
Lee Sung-min, Lee Joon-hyuk, Yoon Kyung-ho and Choi Hyun-wook round out the cast. Principal photography began in August, and Vampir is targeting a 2028 release, according to the distributor.
Considered one of the most talented actors of his generation, Yoo broke through as the villain in the cop actioner Veteran (2015) and the doomed Crown Prince Sado in the period drama The Throne (2015). He reached international audiences with South Korean director Lee Chang-dong’s film Burning (2018), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
As the drug case made headlines, Netflix dropped him from the second season of TV series Hellbound (2021 to 2024), while brands pulled advertisements featuring him.
In 2025, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld Yoo’s one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, along with a fine of two million won (S$1,830).
Two films featuring Yoo – The Match, a drama about the rivalry between professional Go players, and the superhero comedy Hi-Five – were released in cinemas in 2025.
Both movies had wrapped filming before the drug investigation began, and their releases had been delayed by years as a result. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
