Kim Jong-in, better known as Kai, is a South Korean singer, model, actor, and dancer. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy group Exo, its sub unit Exo-K, and South Korean supergroup SuperM. Apart from his group's activities, Kai has also starred in various television dramas such as Choco Bank , Andante, and Spring Has Come .
Early life
Kai was born on January 14, 1994, in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. He began dancing when he was eight years old. He originally did jazz dance, but after watching The Nutcracker he began to train in ballet while in the third grade. He stated that his parents initially wanted him to learn Taekwondo and the piano. After participating in the SM Youth Best Contest with the encouragement of his father, he won and signed with the company in 2007 at thirteen years old. He began training in hip hop after joining SM Entertainment. Kai graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul in February 2012.
Career
2011–15: Debut and Career beginnings
Kai was the first Exo member to be formally introduced to the public on December 23, 2011. He made his first televised performance alongside fellow EXO members Luhan, Chen and Tao as well as other SM Entertainment artists at the year-end music program SBS Gayo Daejeon on December 29, 2011. The group officially debuted in April 2012 and has since gained significant popularity and commercial success. In October 2012, Kai participated in the promotional group Younique Unit alongside labelmates Eunhyuk, Henry, Hyoyeon, Taemin and Luhan. The group released a single titled "Maxstep" as part of the collaboration between SM Entertainment and Hyundai. Later in December 2012, he joined the dance group SM The Performance, along with fellow member Lay, TVXQ's Yunho, Super Junior's Eunhyuk and Donghae, Shinee's Minho and Taemin. The group first made its appearance at the event SBS Gayo Daejeon on December 29, and performed their single "Spectrum". The single was officially released the next day. In August 2014, Kai was featured in the song "Pretty Boy" from Shinee member Taemin's debut album.
2016–present: Acting career and SuperM
In January 2016, he made his official acting debut as the male lead in the web drama Choco Bank, which achieved record-breaking viewership. In December 2016, he starred in two episodes of the special web drama First Seven Kisses which was produced by LotteDuty Free. In January 2017, Kai was announced to be starring as the male lead in the KBSteen dramaAndante, playing a high school student. In February 2017, he was cast in the Japanese dramaSpring Has Come, based on the Japanese novel of the same name. The drama marks the first time a non-Japanese actor taking a lead role on a drama produced by the broadcasting stationWOWOW. In December 2017, Kai was chosen as the cover model for December's issue of The Big Issue, which is a magazine known for helping the homeless. The magazine sold out 20,000 copies within the first two days, and until now, 80,000 copies have been sold, which records the highest number of copies sold since the magazine's start in July 2010. In 2018, Kai was cast in KBS' melodrama Miracle That We Met. On August 7, 2019, Kai was confirmed to be a member of SuperM, a "K-pop supergroup" created by SM Entertainment in collaboration with Capitol Records. The group's promotions are scheduled to begin in October and are aimed at the American market. Kai has been selected as the first Gucci Eyewear Men Global Ambassador in Korea. SuperM debuted with the group’s self-titled debut EP on October 4, 2019.
