Hydrogel actuators have water-sweollen ability on account of including hydrophilic polymer and can produce movement by various stimuli depending on the monomers, polymers, and particles used for synthesis. Gold nanoparticles are one of the most widely utilized particle materials because of their processability and stability, and above all things they have a biocompatibillity and photothermal effect that can be used for biotechnology like biosensor or drug delivery. In this study, we synthesized bilayer type hydrogel soft actuator consisted of photothermal effect using gold nanorod(AuNR). The fabricated hydrogel soft actuators can work reversibly affected by an exposure of an near-infrared laser. The FT-IR spectra, equilibrium water content, compressive strength, and bending behaviors were analyzed.