These K-Drama Stars Are Also Theater Actors

Ji Chang-Wook

Before we fell in love with him on “Empress Ki,” “Healer,” and “The K2,” Ji Chang-wook began his entertainment career in musical theater. He studied performing arts at Dankook University which led him to acting. He debuted on stage with “Fire and Ice” and subsequently acted on stage plays like “Thrill Me,” the Korean jukebox musical “The Days,” “Jack the Ripper,” “Brothers Were Brave,” and he even participated in a musical staged by the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) titled “Shinheung Military Academy Musical.”

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Kang Ha-Neul

He won our hearts on “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo,” “When the Camellia Blooms,” and in the movie “Midnight Runners.” But did you know that Kang Ha Neul actually began his acting career as a theater actor and even has a long, impressive list of work on stage? He debuted on “The Celestial Watch” followed by “Carpe Diem,” “La Vida,” “Thrill Me,” “Spring Awakening,” “Prince Puzzle,” “Assassins,” “Harold and Maude,” “Fantasy Tale,” and “Black Mary Poppins.” He also participated in the musical that Ji Chang-wook was also part of called “Shinheung Military Academy.” His training in theater led him to further success with him winning the Best Actor award at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards and even ranked 23rd on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list in 2020.

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Uhm Ki-Joon

Not only can Uhm Ki-joon take pride in the longevity of his acting career but he can also flex his impressive theater career. Before his villainous turn on “The Penthouse: War in Life” and his stellar works on other K-dramas like “Innocent Defendant,” “Heart Surgeons,” “Dream High,” “Scent of a Woman,” and “The Virus,” he made his acting debut in 1995 through the stage play “Richard III.” He cemented a strong reputation as one of the best musical theater actors by starring in “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Grease,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Jack the Ripper,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “Catch Me If You Can,” and “Rebecca.”

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Photo Credit: @werther777

Kim Seon-Ho

Kim Seon-ho, who debuted in a K-drama via “Good Manager” in 2017, recently scored big time with K-dramas “Start-Up” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” but before all this fame, he was already an established theater actor. While in college, he found himself joining a theater group and loving acting. He debuted onstage with “New Boeing Boeing” in 2009 and started working on plays such as “Rooftop House Cat,” “Sherlock,” “Words I Couldn’t Say for 7 Years,” “Goal of Love,” “True West,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Almost,” “Maine,” “True West Resorts,” “Closer,” “Voice of Millennium,” and “Memory in Dream.” After his success on “Start-Up,” he made a theater comeback in 2021 with the play “Ice” where he played a detective investigating a murder case. In an interview published in “The Korea Times,” he once shared, “The stage is where I have much to observe and to learn. Whenever I lose confidence in acting, I think about theater plays. There is a connection between actors with the audience. It’s a place filled with passion, where I pour out my acting.”

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Jeon Mi-Do

She may have been a breakout star very recently on the hit K-drama “Hospital Playlist” and is currently starring in another high-profile series with Son Ye-jin and Kim Ji-hyun in “Thirty-Nine,” but Jeon Mi-do actually has a career spanning 15 years in plays and musicals. She made her acting debut in the musical “Mr. Mouse,” and has starred in other theater projects such as “Agnes of God,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Mephisto,” “Some Girls,” “Doctor Zhivago,” and “Sweeney Todd.” In between the first and second seasons of “Hospital Playlist,” she returned onstage via the musical “Maybe Happy Ending.” She was quoted by “The Korea Times” as saying, “There’s nothing quite like performing in front of a live audience. There is nowhere that’s been more comforting to me than a stage. I feel like this is a blessing.”

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Photo Credit: www.playdb.co.kr

Jo Jung-Suk

Jo Jung Suk is an established actor with hit movies and K-dramas under his belt with notable works such as “Hospital Playlist,” “You’re the Best,” “Oh My Ghost,” “Don’t Dare to Dream,” “My Annoying Brother,” and “Exit.” But he has always wanted to be on stage and built a successful career on it, too. In 2004, he made his acting debut on “The Nutcracker” and has since acted in 25 musicals during the first nine years of his career which includes “Janggeum the Great” (musical adaptation of Jewel in the Palace), “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Grease,” “The Island,” “The Vagina Monologues,” and “Spring Awakening.”

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Park Hae-Soo

“Squid Game” made a worldwide sensation out of Park Hae-soo but apart from gracing our small screens with other quality projects like “Prison Playbook,” “Racket Boys,” “Time to Hunt,” and “Chimera,” he shines onstage with theater projects. He actually kicked off his acting career in theater with “The Strongest Comedy:Mr. Lobby” in 2007 and has worked on other stage plays such as “Annapurna,” “39 Stairs,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Macbeth,” “Frankenstein,” and more. He will be seen next as Berlin in the upcoming Korean adaptation of the Netflix hit series “Money Heist.”

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Photo Credit: @haesoopark_official

Kim Sung-Cheol

Kim Sung-cheol received much love and attention on “Prison Playbook” and “Arthdal Chronicles” as well as his cameos in “Sweet Home” and “Vincenzo.” Recently, he played the second male lead in K-drama “Our Beloved Summer.” His effective portrayal of various roles has shown how versatile he is, owing to his training in theater. In 2014, he debuted in the musical “Puberty” and subsequently starred in musicals like “My Bucket List,” “Werther,” “Fan Letter,” “Big Fish,” and the plays “Romeo and Juliet” and “Sweeney Todd.” He won the rookie award for Best Musical Actor at the Stagetalk Audience Choice Awards after his debut. He won another award as Best New Actor for his role in “Sweeney Todd” at the Korea Musical Awards. Note that he not only possesses incredible acting skills, he’s also great at singing.

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Photo Credit: @sungcheol2

Seohyun

Seohyun is best known as a member of the legendary K-pop girl group “Girls Generation” and she also ventured into acting with K-drama roles in “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo,” “Bad Thief, Good Thief,” “The Time,” and “Private Lives.” Apart from K-pop and K-drama projects, the Theater Acting major of Dongguk University also made her theatrical debut in the musical “Moon Embracing the Sun” in 2014. The following year, she was cast in the role of Scarlett O’Hara on the Korean version of a French musical based on “Gone with the Wind.” In 2016, she played the role of Sophie in the iconic musical “Mamma Mia.” You can catch Seohyun on Netflix right now with her newly-released film “Love and Leashes.”

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Kwak Dong-Yeon

He gained fans with his memorable roles on “Love in the Moonlight,” “My ID is Gangnam Beauty,” and “Vincenzo,” as well as his cameo in “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.” But this K-drama actor also showed another side of him and made his theater debut in 2017 via “The Elephant Song” and worked on another musical in 2020 with “Something Rotten.” When asked by Pinkvilla, an Indian online entertainment website, to choose between theater and acting in front of the camera, Kwak Dong-yeon readily replied, “Both forms of media are so attractive that it feels impossible to choose between the two. I want to act in various ways in various places.” He was last seen with an appearance on the Netflix and SBS drama “Our Beloved Summer.”

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Photo Credit: @kwakdongyeon0

Chae Soo-Bin

This actress is a familiar face for K-drama fans with her roles on “Love in the Moonlight,” “Strongest Deliveryman,” “I’m Not a Robot,” “Where Stars Land,” and “A Piece of Your Mind.” But she also expanded her horizon with theater projects such as her stage debut in 2012 with “Thursday Romance,” followed by projects like “Blackbird” and “Henri Grandfather and I.” In an interview with “Cosmopolitan Korea,” Chae Soo-bin shared her thoughts on working on a musical, saying, “The energy received by the stage and the audience are really great. I feel very happy that the audience responds to the emotions of the actors, and it is immediately felt on the stage.” She was recently seen in the period adventure film “The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure.”

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Photo Credit: @soobinms

Lee Kyu-Hyung

The actor gained prominence with his roles on K-dramas “Prison Playbook,” “Hi Bye, Mama,” “Doctor John,” “Voice,” and made cameo appearances on “Tale of the Nine Tailed,” “Hospital Playlist,” and “Racket Boys.” But he’s always been a theater actor at heart. He was involved in theater production as early as high school and continued his passion long after he graduated from college. He debuted onstage in 2007 with “Heartbeat” and went on to star in several stage productions such as “The Great Gatsby,” “Fan Letter,” “Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” “Cyrano,” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”

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Cho Seung-Woo

The son of established musical performers, Cho Seung-woo is born to be in theater and the entertainment industry. He is best known for K-dramas “Stranger,” “Life,” and “Sisyphus: The Myth,” and in hit movies such as “The Classic,” “Marathon,” and “Tazza: The High Rollers.” It wasn’t until after debuting in his first movie that the actor kicked off his successful career in musicals and theater. On stage, he impressively starred in high-profile projects such as “Jekyll & Hyde,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Doctor Zhivago,” and “Sweeney Todd.”

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Yoo Yeon-Seok

Yoon Yeon-seok easily won fans for his portrayal of Ahn Jeong-won in “Hospital Playlist,” and has been a constant presence in the K-drama scene with projects like “Reply 1994,” “Dr. Romantic,” and “Mr. Sunshine.” But apart from these, he’s an accomplished theater actor who debuted onstage in 2008 with “The Good Person of Szechwan,” and has impressed the audience with productions of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” and “Werther.”

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Yoo Jun-Sang

Recent K-drama fans may remember Yoo Jun-sang in his lead roles in “The Uncanny Counter” and “Graceful Friends,” as well as his special appearance in “The Penthouse: War in Life” season 2, but his acting career on mainstream media actually traces back to 1994. His theater debut followed the year after that. He graduated from Dongguk University with a bachelor's degree in Theater and Film and a master's degree in Theater Arts. Some of his notable works in theater include titles like “Grease,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Jack the Ripper,” “Robin Hood,” and most recently, “Beetlejuice.”

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