[4][5] He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bollywood films.

[10] Suresh Gopi was born on 26 June 1958 at Alappuzha, Kerala to K. Gopinathan Pillai, a film distributor, and V. Gnanalekshmi Amma, as their eldest son.

Gopi's comic role as sub-inspector Minnal Prathapan in Manu Uncle (1988) has over the years attained a cult status.

He played another cameo comic role as Christopher Luke, a professional killer in Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam (1989).

His other notable films during the late 1980s include Bhoomiyile Rajakkanmar, New Delhi (1987), Moonnam Mura, 1921 (1988), Varnam, Douthyam, Nair Saab (1989).

[24][25] After acting in more than 80 movies, Gopi finally got a breakthrough by playing the lead role in Shaji Kailas's Thalastaanam (1992), which was written by Renji Panicker.

The same year, he played the role of Nakulan alongside Mohanlal and Shobhana in Fazil's psychological thriller Manichitrathazhu, which is considered one of the best Malayalam movies ever made.

[29] Gopi's high budget film Yuvathurki (1996) failed to create expected results at box office.

Suresh Gopi's played a lead role alongside Jayaram in the comedy drama Summer in Bethlehem (1998).

Gopi's action thriller film Pathram (1999) directed by Joshiy was the highest grossing Malayalam movie in 1999.

[36] In 2000, Gopi starred in Mark Antony and Cover Story, an action film and a crime thriller.

In 2003, he appeared in a lead role alongside Kunchacko Boban in Rajasenan's family drama Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam.

Gopi's fanbase slowly started to diminish during the mid-2000s with many of his movies released in 2006 becoming a failure at the box office.

[39] This includes films such as Lanka, Rashtram, Pathaaka, Ashwaroodan, Bada Dosth and Smart City.

[40] However, his legal thriller Chinthamani Kolacase directed by Shaji Kailas was a blockbuster at the box office in 2006.

It includes movies such as Detective, Paranju Theeratha Visheshangal, Black Cat, Kichamani MBA and Time all of which released in 2007.

In 2009, he was praised for his role as Ramesh Menon in the anthology film Kerala Cafe in the segment Lalitham Hiranmayam.

In 2010, he played the role of a father seeking revenge upon those who raped his daughter in Janakan which earned him appreciation.

The same year, Gopi acted in the film Melvilasom which received wide critical acclaim upon its release.

In March 2019, he made a comeback announcement in acting by joining Vijay Antony starrer Tamil film Tamilarasan.

[48] Gopi made his comeback in Malayalam cinema by playing a pivotal role in Varane Avashyamund in 2020, after a five year long hiatus.

[54] In 2012, he hosted the game show Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran on Asianet, which was the Malayalam version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

Prathapan and secured third position behind the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Rajaji Mathew Thomas (who came second).

He said that he was asked by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to contest in the legislative assembly election.

However, he lost to P. Balachandran of CPI, coming third after INC candidate Padmaja Venugopal, securing a total of 40,457 votes.