Controversial Nominee: Yoo Ah-in Up for Best Actor Amid Drug Scandal

By Jeeyoung, Jo

Apr 22, 2025

Controversial Nominee Yoo Ah-in Up for Best Actor Amid Drug Scandal



Actor Yoo Ah-in, who caused controversy over drug administration at the 23rd Directors' Cut Awards hosted by the Korean Film Directors Association (DGK), was selected as a candidate.

The Director's Cut Awards continued the tradition of an award ceremony held in 1998 by directors of a young film director's group, DGK in 2017, and has developed the tradition of having fun without formality, and due to the expansion of OTT content, a series division has been established since 2022. The Director's Cut Awards, which selects candidates and winners through voting by Korean film directors, awards the Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best New Director, and Best Vision (Independent Film). In particular, it has selected a male and female actor award that does not distinguish between main actors and actresses and a new male and female actor award given to actors who have shown faces that have not been seen so far.

On the morning of the 22nd, DGK announced the candidates for each category of the 23rd Director's Cut Awards, which will be held on the 20th of next month. The award ceremony was selected for the film and drama series directed by DGK Jung and Joon-ho, which was announced between January 1, 2024 and March 31 this year.




Nominees for this year's Director's Best Director Award include 'Pmyo' (directed by Jang Jae-hyun), which drew 10 million viewers last year due to the theater's occult syndrome, and a new film 'Battle' (directed by Kim Hyung-joo), which went through many twists and turns until its release. Created by Warner Bros., 'Mickey 17' (director Bong Joon-ho) was also selected as a candidate, drawing attention. In the series, Netflix 'Squid Game 2' (directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk) and 'Co-worker' (directed by Park Chan-wook) were nominated.

The nominees for the Best Actor Award are also all-time. Kim Go-eun showed off her potential as a candidate for the Best Actress Award by listing both works as candidates for the Best Actress Award, such as 「"Pumyo" and 「"How to Love the Large City." The nomination for the Best Actor Award was also made by Robert Pattinson of 『Mickey 17" and Lee Byung-hun, who played even his fingers in 'Victory', was also selected as the candidate.

Controversial Nominee Yoo Ah-in Up for Best Actor Amid Drug Scandal
There is an actor who attracts particular attention even among the candidates with colorful faces. Yoo Ah-in, who played a two-top role with Lee Byung-hun in "Victory", was also nominated for this year's Director's Cut Awards Male Actor Award. In September last year, Yoo Ah-in was sentenced to one year in prison in the first trial for habitual drug use and was arrested in court, effectively stopping his acting activities. In the second trial held in February this year, he was released after being sentenced to one year in prison and two years of probation, but the public resentment surrounding him still continues. He has been selected as a candidate for the Director's Cut Awards and is expected to cause a backlash once again.




New works filmed by Yoo Ah-in were kept in storage for a long time due to a shocking drug scandal, which could not be released or released, and last year, the Netflix series 『Endless fool』 caught fire when it was released at all risks. The box office failed at the time of the "end-of-life fool" and the risk of drug use by toddlers, but the atmosphere has changed since then. After a long period of trouble this year, 'Victory' was released, and the work itself was well received, attracting 2 million viewers in 27 days, continuing a tearful race. Following this atmosphere, Yoo Ah-in's other new work 'High Five' was also seen in four years.

When looking at Yoo Ah-in, who became a candidate for this year's Director's Cut Awards, it can be seen that the directors' evaluation is still high as 'actress Yoo Ah-in' excluding privacy. However, it is also true that in many ways 'Candidate Yoo Ah-in' is a burdensome part as some of the public continue to view 'Candidate Yoo Ah-in'.

Controversial Nominee Yoo Ah-in Up for Best Actor Amid Drug Scandal
That's true, the Director's Cut Awards previously caused public outrage for his remarks surrounding Kim Min-hee at the 2016 awards ceremony. Kim Min-hee, who won the Best Actress Award at the Director's Cut Awards through 「Lady」 (directed by Park Chan-wook), did not appear in public in Korea due to criticism after admitting an affair with director Hong Sang-soo, but director Lee Hyun-seung said to Kim Min-hee, who did not attend the ceremony. Along with the words "(Kim) Min-hee, I don't think about anything else in acting and cinematic passion", he publicly supported, " Min-hee, the directors love you." Lim Seung-yong, CEO of Films, a production company that co-produced `Lady' also won the award on behalf of Kim Min-hee, saying, `I will make sure to deliver the award and let you know that the directors support Kim Min-hee"It became controversial when he said.




This year's Director's Cut Awards is also drawing attention to whether directors who support Yoo Ah-in will continue to make official comments. Attention is focusing on whether the directors will be able to love Kim Min-hee and Yoo Ah-in, who is also a drug teacher.



soulhn1220@sportschosun.com