Choi Min-sik

 ( 20th-century South Korean Male Actors ) 

In the next two years, he played a trumpet player in Springtime, a struggling former boxer in Ryoo Seung-wan's Crying Fist, and a child murderer in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, the last film in Park Chan-wook's vengeance trilogy.

In Springtime, Choi takes on a role Hyon-woo, a dissatisfied classically trained trumpet player, who fails to achieve his desired career path and settles for part-time teaching at an academy. His personal life is fraught with arguments with his mother and unresolved feelings for his ex-girlfriend. Seeking change, he accepts a job as a band teacher in a small town, where the music program's success is crucial for its survival. Despite challenges, Hyon-woo embraces his new role, connecting with the locals, including pharmacist Soo-yon and troubled student Jae-il. This role demands a greater sense of tranquility and gentleness compared to his typical emotionally intense characters.

In 2005, Choi and Song Kang-ho were accused by director and Cinema Service head Kang Woo-suk of demanding a share of profits for so-called "contributions" when no contributions were made. Kang later rescinded the statement and apologized.

At various points during 2006, Choi and other South Korean film industry professionals, together and separate from Choi, demonstrated in Seoul and at the Cannes Film Festival against the South Korean administration's decision to reduce the Screen Quotas from 146 to 73 days as part of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. As a sign of protest, Choi returned the prestigious Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit which had been awarded to him, saying, "To halve the screen quota is tantamount to a death sentence for Korean film. This medal, once a symbol of pride, is now nothing more than a sign of disgrace, and it is with a heavy heart that I must return it."

Over the next four years, Choi went on a self-imposed exile from making films, begun in protest over the screen quota but also partly due to the studios' reluctance to hire the outspoken and politically active actor. Instead he returned to his theater roots in 2007. He also starred in the 2003 London production of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman, his first play in seven years.

During the retrospective on Choi held at the 14th Lyon Asian Film Festival in November 2008, the actor was asked his reaction to the upcoming remake of Oldboy, and he admitted to the French reporters present that he was upset at Hollywood for using what he described as pressure tactics on Asian and European filmmakers so they could remake foreign movies in the United States.

Choi made his comeback in Jeon Soo-il's 2009 art film Himalaya, Where the Wind Dwells, in which he was the only South Korean actor working with locally cast actors. Though Kim Jee-woon's 2010 action thriller I Saw the Devil drew criticism from some quarters for its ultra-violent content, reviewers agreed that Choi's performance as a serial killer was memorable and the film emerged as a box office success. Choi did voice acting for Leafie, A Hen into the Wild, which in 2011 became the highest grossing South Korean animated film in history.

In his 2012 follow-up , Choi played another complex, layered antihero, and the Yoon Jong-bin film was both a critical and box office hit and earned him the Best Performance by an Actor award at the 2012 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film gave rise to numerous unforgettable moments and quotable lines, becoming a frequent target for parody in popular television variety shows like Gag Concert and Infinite Challenge. Comedians would imitate the hairstyles, fashion, and even the catchthe phrase sara itne (, loosely translated as 'feeling alive') uttered by Choi Min-sik's character Choi Ik-yun. The song "I Heard a Rumor" also became popular.

Choi's next film was Park Hoon-jung's New World, a 2013 film noir about an undercover cop in the world of gangsters, which also became successful critically and commercially.

For his English-language debut, Choi appeared in Luc Besson's Lucy (2014), in the role of Mr. Jang, a Korean drug lord who kidnaps a girl and forces her to become a drug mule, but she inadvertently acquires superhuman powers. In order to secure Choi's involvement, Besson and his team traveled to Korea to meet with the actor, discuss the story, and it was only towards the end of their conversation that Choi expressed his interest in joining the project. Director Luc Besson praised Choi's performance, stating that he was the "best villain" Besson had scripted since Gary Oldman's character Norman Stansfield. Besson described Mr. Jang as the embodiment of ultimate evil, contrasting Lucy, the film's protagonist, who represents ultimate intelligence.

He then played Yi Sun-sin in the blockbuster period epic about the Battle of Myeongnyang, regarded as one of the admiral's most remarkable naval victories. Roaring Currents became the all-time most watched film in South Korean film history, the first ever to reach 15 million admissions and the first local film to gross more than .

Choi next starred in the period film , where he played a hunter.

Choi had two films in 2017; he played an unscrupulous mayor in the political film The Mayor, and headlined the remake crime thriller Heart Blackened.

In 2019, Choi and Han Suk-kyu joined forces once again in Hur Jin-ho's period film Forbidden Dream. Written by Jung Bum-shik and Lee Ji-min, the movie is a true story adaptation that explores the dynamic between Sejong the Great (Han Suk-kyu), king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea, and his relationship with his greatest scientist, Jang Yeong-sil (Choi Min-sik).

On December 10, 2021, Choi contract with C-JeS Entertainment ended. He decided to stay as free agent afterward.

In 2023, the 27th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival organized a special actor exhibition titled 'I Saw Choi Min-sik'. The exhibition showcased the acting career of Choi Min-sik spanning over 30 years. Ten feature films personally selected by Choi Min-sik were screened, including films Our Twisted Hero, Shiri, Happy End, Failan, Oldboy, Springtime, I Saw the Devil, , Forbidden Dream, and In Our Prime. In addition, two of his short films, Steam and Winter Road, were digitally restored and released in collaboration with the Korean Film Archive as part of the exhibition.