Liam Oh has lived in Brooklyn for close to three years now, but he still carries Chicago with him. “I spent the first 23 years of my life in a couple-square-mile perimeter,” says the 26-year-old actor, who grew up in Wilmette, graduated from New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, and studied theater at Northwestern University in Evanston.

Oh found early success here. At 18, he snagged a featured supporting role in Next to Normal at Glencoe’s Writers Theatre. The play was directed by David Cromer, who’d won a Tony the year before. “That experience taught me how to be a professional actor,” says Oh.

More recently, he scored a prominent TV gig: as a star of Netflix’s Boots, an ensemble drama set at a Marine Corps boot camp in 1990. Though the show was well received by critics when it debuted last October, it was not renewed for a second season. The cancellation came as a surprise to Oh. “It has prepared me for the realities of trying to make a living in this industry,” he says. “I got a taste of some success, and that was encouraging. I got a taste of bitter disappointment, and that was really disheartening. I have to find a way to balance those things.”

So what’s next for him? “Back into the soup,” he says with a grin. “This is the first time since I graduated from college that I’ve had a break, which is pretty great and kind of scary.”

Givenchy denim overshirt with couture seams, $1,450, and cotton button-down shirt, $820, Neiman Marcus, 737 N. Michigan Ave. Brunello Cucinelli wool fresco trousers, $1,000, 937 N. Rush St. Brooks Brothers silk tie, $118, 4999 Old Orchard Center, Skokie

On why he became an actor: “My oldest brother, Charlie, started doing children’s theater in Winnetka. I must have been about 5 years old when he got cast as Peter Pan. The theater got a rigging system, put him in a harness, and there were dads backstage with ropes. When your brother, who is also your hero, is literally flying — it was pretty much game over for me after that.”

Sacai cotton jacket, $1,040, zip-front cotton shirt jacket, $755, and nylon twill cargo shorts with belt detail, $820, Ikram, 15 E. Huron St. Prada nylon and suede Collapse sneakers, $995, 30 E. Oak St.
Ann Demeulemeester lamb leather Raf blouson, $1,494, SVRN, 171 N. Aberdeen St. Comme des Garçons Play cotton shirt, $260, and Sacai Doeskin wool and nylon pants, $945, Ikram.

On making Netflix’s Boots: “After spending my entire life being a theater kid and going to art school, I showed up on set to do Boots and I was like, This masculine energy is crazy! It was this funny mixture: me, a theater kid; a bunch of gay actors; and then some bros. I would turn around and see a couple of guys having a pull-up competition.”

Tom Ford felted cashmere sweater, $2,100, and the Row leather Kai derby shoes, $1,590, Neiman Marcus. Simone Rocha wool and polyester trousers with jet-beaded cuffs, $1,280, Ikram.
Louis Vuitton wool knit cardigan, $3,300, LV x The Darjeeling Limited embroidered viscose shorts, $1,840, and LV Tilted suede calf leather sneakers, $1,210, 919 N. Michigan Ave. Urban Outfitters sock, $10, 1521 N. Milwaukee Ave.

On Chicago’s International Museum of Surgical Science (the location for this photo shoot): “I love a niche museum. It comes from my mother, who is a niche museum queen. She always searches out esoterica. I’ve gone to the museum once or twice with her to see the iron lung and the eyeballs in jars. I think my favorite weird museum is the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. He was a 19th-century architect who filled every inch of his house with astonishing artifacts. It’s like walking through a madman’s maze.”

Gucci wool sweater, $1,600, and denim La Famiglia pants, $1,400, 900 N. Michigan Ave.
Hermès cotton seersucker and linen cardigan, $2,525, and shirt, $2,375, both with mother of pearl buttons, and leather trousers, $17,800, 25 E. Oak St.

Grooming: Cammy Kelly/Distinct Artists
Photo assistants: Nina Kallas and Jaxon Dobbins