Teo Yoo plays a Korean intelligence agent in ‘The Recruit.’
The Recruit is back and the second season of the series is even more entertainingly addictive thanks to the spy vs. spy teamwork between actor Teo Yoo and series star Noah Centineo. Fans of the first season know that Centineo plays Owen Hendricks, a CIA lawyer who can’t help but get into trouble, usually dragging fellow staff members along. He’s described as the kind of person who willingly jumps into a shark tank. In the second season he heads to Seoul to meet a “graymailer,” that is a person who needs something and has CIA secrets to bargain with. There he meets Jang Kyun, the NIS agent played by Yoo.
At first Jang Kyun seems like a play-by-the-book desk worker, but he’s lethal when he wants to be and desperate to save the woman he loves. Playing an NIS agent was a wish-come-true for the German-born South Korean actor, who also happens to be fluent in English. He has long wondered what it might be like.
“It was always a little fantasy of mine,” said Yoo. “Sometimes, I daydream about it and wonder about the burden of the psychological realities of an intelligence asset.”
NIS recruiters take note. Yoo can keep a secret. “I believe keeping a secret is like a super power,” he said. “We have a saying in Germany; Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold.”
Basically, silence is golden.
Yoo’s talents are not a secret and his work in various international productions has garnered plenty of attention. He won the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Actor in 2021 for his role in the film Vertigo and in 2023 earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor for the award-winning film Past Lives. He appeared in Park Chan-wook’s film Decision To Leave and in the Korean dramas Love To Hate You, Vagabond, The School Nurse Files and Dr. Brain. He enjoyed working with co-star Centineo (The Perfect Date) in The Recruit and they grew closer while talking on set. Their characters are sometimes allies and sometimes adversaries. Allegiances can change in a matter of minutes.
“Working with Noah was one of the best experiences in my career so far,” said Yoo. “I believe on-screen chemistry comes from mutual off-screen respect. Noah is a natural leader and I learned a lot from him. Yes, it was fun.”
There are many breathless and emotionally engaging action scenes in this season of The Recruit and Yoo is in quite a few of them. He’s aced action scenes before, in films such as the 2024 thriller Karoshi and the Korean TV drama Vagabond. He describes action scenes as choreography.
“I approach all screen action like a dance,” said Yoo. “Getting fit enough to execute a choreography and if the writing of the action supports the characters emotional narrative, you hit a jackpot. But mostly, I was at the mercy of our stunt team and my stunt double. I guess it gets more fun, but also a bit harder with age.”
Yoo and Centineo’s characters are alternately allies and adversaries.
The witty well-paced action series was filmed in both South Korea and Canada. It was an experience that left Yoo with fond memories. Some things stand out.
“The privilege of working on Alexi Hawley’s writing,” said Yoo. “The little human connection I made on set. Discovering Canada’s beauty.”
His character might initially seem like a pencil pusher, but he’s a man willing to risk everything for love and that aspect of the character really appealed to Yoo.
“I have a deep understanding of having to go against the odds in the face of adversity,” said Yoo. “Especially, when my driving factor is love. And to have that vulnerability in a spy-action genre was a contrast that attracted me.”
Having tried a range of both English and Korean language roles, he’s not willing to limit himself.
“I am hoping to keep my work international,” he said.
The Recruit, which also stars Young-Ah Kim (Study Group, My Dearest Nemesis), Do Hyun-shim (Brewing Love, Doom at Your Service) and Sang-hee Lee (Mr. Plankton, Daily Dose of Sunshine), airs on Netflix.
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