5 of Hyun Bin’s career-defining film and TV roles, from K-drama Secret Garden to Netflix hit Crash Landing on You, which ended in a real-life romance

Korean actor Hyun Bin, who celebrating his 41st birthday on Monday with his wife, actress Son Ye-jin, and their son, made his debut in 2003 K-drama Bodyguard
We recall five of his career-defining roles, from his breakthrough in the 2005 drama My Lovely Sam Soon to Netflix hit Crash Landing on You

Asian cinema: Korean films

Kwak Yeon-soo

Published: 2:15pm, 25 Sep 2023

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Hyun Bin, one of Korea’s biggest actors, celebrated his 41st birthday on Monday – this year with an addition to his family. His wife, actress Son Ye-jin, gave birth to their first child, a boy, last November.

The new dad has remained professionally active in 2023 despite his busy personal life, starring in action movie The Point Men and wrapping up filming on Harbin, a spy thriller about Korean independence activists fighting Japanese colonial rule in the early 1900s.

Hyun Bin made his acting debut in the 2003 K-drama Bodyguard. He had a role in sitcom Non Stop 4 (2003-2004) and later a starring part in K-drama Ireland (2004) – which put him on the radar of many K-drama fans.

The actor has come a long way since then – here are five screen roles that have defined his career.

A promotional shot for “My Lovely Sam Soon”.

1. My Lovely Sam Soon

Hyun Bin landed his breakthrough role in the 2005 drama My Lovely Sam Soon, which achieved a peak viewership rating of 50 per cent in South Korea.

He played the owner of a French restaurant who offers Sam-soon (Kim Sun-a) a job as pastry chef. The two characters start their relationship on the wrong foot but end up falling madly in love with each other.

This is no Cinderella story – it has some plot twists and features a strong independent female lead. The series has been remade in China, the United States and the Philippines.

A still from “Secret Garden” starring Hyun Bin and Ha Ji-won. Photo: SBS

2. Secret Garden

Hyun Bin’s career was boosted further by his role in the 2010 drama Secret Garden, a fantasy romcom that sees the rich heir of a conglomerate group and a stunt woman (Ha Ji-won) swap bodies.

The two characters go from being in absolute denial about each other to admitting their feelings. Hyun Bin – and his character’s sequin-encrusted tracksuits – became a sensation after this series aired, and he won the grand prize award for Television at the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards.

In a 2018 interview with entertainment site Entertainment Weekly, he credited Secret Garden as a turning point in his acting career.

The 10 most famous K-drama actors of all time, ranked – including Hyun Bin

3. Late Autumn

When choosing movie roles, Hyun Bin tends to veer away from shallow, heartthrob parts and instead experiments with different characters. In the 2010 English-language film Late Autumn, he plays Hoon, a gigolo on the run from a businessman’s fury for having an affair with his wife.

Hyun Bin starred opposite Chinese actress Tang Wei and, although the two have little verbal interaction, theirs is a relationship that transcends language. The film was not commercially successful at the time but received high praise from critics.

The China-South Korea-US co-production was screened at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival in Germany and the 25th Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland.

Hyun Bin (right) and Son Ye-jin in “Crash Landing on You”. Photo: tvN

4. Crash Landing on You

The actor received international recognition for his performance in the 2019 romantic comedy Crash Landing on You, for which he won the grand prize at the 2021 APAN Star Awards.

The Netflix series became a huge word-of-mouth hit – Hyun Bin starred as Ri Jeong-hyeok, a North Korean army captain who falls in love with a rich South Korean heiress who crash-lands in North Korea – and Hyun and his co-star, Son Ye-jin, made their on-screen romance a reality by falling in love and marrying in March 2022.

Hyun Bin (left) and Daniel Henney in a still from “Confidential Assignment 2: International”.

5. Confidential Assignment 1 & 2

The Confidential Assignment films (2017, 2022) are Hyun Bin’s highest grossing movies so far, with the first instalment drawing 7.8 million film-goers to Korean cinemas and its sequel 6.98 million.

In the action blockbuster series, Hyun Bin portrays a top North Korean agent who goes to South Korea to carry out joint missions with a South Korean detective. The actor is the perfect comedic foil to co-star Yoo Hai-jin.

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