Ryu Seung-ryong began his acting career on stage before making a name for himself as a screen actor. In 2011, he starred in the period action film War of the Arrows, which won him Best Supporting Actor at the 32nd Blue Dragon Film Awards. In 2012, he collected more acting trophies for the rom-com film All About My Wife. That same year, he acted alongside Lee Byung-heon and Han Hyo-joo in the award-winning period drama Masquerade, which was also a commercial success with over 12 million theater tickets sold. In 2013, he played a mentally handicapped father who is wrongfully imprisoned in the smash hit tragicomedy Miracle in Cell No. 7. His performance gave him numerous acting citations, including the Daesang for film at the 49th Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2014, he joined the ensemble cast of the blockbuster epic war-action film The Admiral: Roaring Currents, which recorded over 17.6 million theater admissions and a worldwide gross of more than $138 million. In 2019, he appeared in another hit movie, the comedy Extreme Job, which scored him several Best Actor nominations and wins.

Ryu Seung-ryong earned a degree in theater from the Seoul Institute of the Arts. He and his non-celebrity wife have two sons together.