ICYDK, These 5 Korean Actors Started Out As K-Pop Idols
Did somebody say "triple threat"?
If you’ve watched the rom-com curveball that is Sweet & Sour on Netflix, you would have noticed that Krystal Jung from the famous second generation K-Pop group, f(x), played Han Bo-Yeong, a.k.a. Jang-hyuk’s (Jang Ki-yong) work mate and the woman she cheated on his girlfriend with.
While the movie’s plot made our jaws drop, Krystal’s character, talent, and acting skills also stole the show…and to think that she started as a K-Pop idol! A true triple threat, indeed!
K-Pop idols doing cameos in Korean dramas do happen a lot, but only a few have really ventured into acting. If you’re wondering who the triple threats in the industry are, here are 5 actors who started out as idols. We also tell you where you can watch them!
Krystal Jung from f(x)
ICYDK, Instagram’s It Girl Krystal Jung actually started out as a member of the girl group f(x), which debuted in 2009. Her supporting role at the 2013 drama The Heirs / The Inheritors (with Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye) gave her fans a glimpse of her talent as an actress.
Since then, she has starred in several Korean dramas, such as My Lovely Girl (2014), The Bride of Habaek (2017), Prison Playbook (2017), Player (2018), Search (2020), and many more.
Despite her being a drama rookie back in 2014, My Lovely Girl’s director Park Hyung Ki has this to say about Krystal: “Despite taking on a difficult character, she shows her determination to pull it off through her gaze to the point you can see sincerity in Krystal when she's in front of the camera."
Bae Suzy from Miss A
If there’s a woman who can do it all, it’s probably Bae Suzy.
She debuted as part of the girl group Miss A back in 2010, and, along with her co-members Jia, Min, and Fei, reached number one rank on the Gaon Digital Charts with their first single.
Her first acting stint was in 2011 when she starred in the hit TV series Dream High with other idols, such as 2PM’s Ok Taec Yeon and Jang Woo Young, T-Ara’s Ham Eun Jung, and solo singer IU. She definitely wowed the audience after this, as she continued to be booked and busy for the years to come.
You can watch her on Architecture 101 (2012), which was one of the most-watched films on the year it was released. Her dramas Uncontrollably Fond (2016) and Start-Up (2020) are proof that Suzy is, indeed, one promising actress.
Her long list of K-Dramas doesn’t mean she’s forgotten about music. In fact, she continues to release occasional singles, and often posts her song covers on Instagram. Did we mention that she knows how to play the guitar too? She’s super cool!
IU
It’s quite impossible not to fangirl when we’re talking about Lee Ji-eun, popularly known as IU.
She debuted as a solo artist in 2008 at the age of 15, and immediately proved that she deserves the spotlight. She’s known as South Korea’s “little sister,” and earned the number one spot at Billboard’s “100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s” list.
She was part of Dream High (2011)’s star-studded cast, and in 2013, she starred in two more Korean TV series, You Are the Best! And Bel Ami. But the list doesn’t stop there! IU really shocked the Internet when she played Go Ha-jin in the 2016 drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. She then starred in My Mister (2018), Persona (2019), and Hotel del Luna (2019) in the following years.
Her continued success both in music and acting are proof that you can have it all!
Do Kyung-soo from EXO
Now, who wouldn’t feel kilig when EXO’s D.O. (whose real name is Do Kyung-soo) looks at you like that? Having entered the music industry as part of the boy group EXO in 2012, D.O. is no stranger to the cameras.
He started acting in the 2012 TV series It’s Okay, That’s Love as Han Kang-woo, followed by roles in Hello Monster (2015) and the 2016 web series Be Positive. In 2018, he got his lead role in the K-drama 100 Days My Prince. His performance was so phenomenal that he even won “Best Actor of the Year” at the 2019 Soompi Awards!
Choi Min-ho from SHINee
SHINee’s Minho definitely has a stacked resume! Aside from being a songwriter, singer, and dancer, this multi-hyphenate is an actor, too.
Since SHINee’s debut in 2008, Minho has starred in five films and 10 television series, including Pianist (2010), Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016), and The Battle of Jangsari (2019), for which he won the Jury’s Special Prize at the 2021 Golden Cinema Film Festival!
