Im Si-wan

While attending Chin Chin Song Festival in Busan, Star Empire recruited him as a trainee.[7] He entered a nine-member group called "Children of Empire", where he trained for three years. In 2009, they group started doing guerrilla performances around the country.[8] On January 7, 2010, the group debuted with their EP, Nativity under the name ZE:A.[9] He is also a member of the sub-unit, ZE:A-Five.[10]

Im joined the cast of the period drama Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), playing the young version of Heo Yeom.[11][12] Moon surpassed 40% ratings and gained "national drama" status, launching Im to fame.[13] Later that year, Im was cast in the revenge drama Man from the Equator, playing a cold young man that has a sad story behind his negative outlook on life.[14] This was followed by the sitcom Standby (2012),[15] and Drama Special Waiting for Love (2013).[16]

In September 2013

In 2013, he starred in the courtroom drama film The Attorney, playing a young student activist detained and tortured by the police on accusations of being a communist sympathizer.[17] The film was a critical and commercial success, selling more than 11 million tickets to become the 8th best-selling Korean film of all time.[18] Im won Best New Actor at the Max Movie Awards and the Marie Claire Film Festival.[19][20]

Im returned to television in 2014 and starred in two drama series. In Triangle, he played the youngest of three brothers separated at childhood, who grew up in a cold chaebol household.[21] While in the webtoon adaptation and cable hit drama Misaeng: Incomplete Life, he reprised his role in Incomplete Life: Prequel as a former baduk player who learns to adapt to Korean corporate culture.[22] Misaeng: Incomplete Life was a commercial hit and recorded high viewership ratings, with a peak of 8.4%; and was dubbed as a "cultural phenomenon".[23] Im won the Excellence Award in acting at the 4th APAN Star Awards for his performance,[24] as well as Best New Actor awards at the 9th Cable TV Broadcasting Awards and 51st Baeksang Arts Awards.[25][26]

Im then took on his first big-screen leading role in war drama film A Melody to Remember (2016), playing a good-hearted soldier who is hoping for a miracle even in a desperate situation.[27][28] He was also cast in the Chinese-South Korean web drama My Catman alongside Chae Soo-bin and Kim Myung-soo.[29]

In a departure from his usual "nice guy" roles, Im plays a cunning con-man in the crime caper movie One Line (2017).[30] He deviated even farther from his clean-cut image in The Merciless (2017), a crime action film where he played an undercover cop who works for a drug-smuggling ring. Im was invited to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time.[31][32] The same year, Im starred in historical melodrama The King in Love, playing an ambitious crown prince.[33]

In 2019, Im was cast in the thriller drama Hell Is Other People, based on the webtoon of the same name. This marks his first project after enlistment.[34][35] The same year, he was cast in the period sports film Boston 1947.[36] In 2020, he was also cast in the disaster film Declaration of Emergency.[37]

On July 11, 2017, he officially began his mandatory military service.[38][39][40] Im was chosen to be an assistant instructor for new recruits due to his good performance.[41] Im was discharged on March 27, 2019.[42]