5urprise: A Throwback to K-Pop’s First All-Actors Group

5urprise was the first K-pop group featuring five Korean actors—Yoo Il, Seo Kang-joon, Gong Myung, Kang Tae-oh, and Lee Tae-hwan—underpinning K-pop’s acting-idol trend.

5urprise was a significant departure from the traditional trajectory of K-pop success, as its members were actors first and then musicians. And while it pushed the boundaries between different artistic disciplines, 5urprise testified to Korean popular culture’s growing influence.

In 2011, Actors League, an initiative meant to identify potential actors who undergo a period of training ahead of making their debut, was launched by Fantagio, a top Korean entertainment company that also has a name for cultivating and producing artists through specialized training. In 2013, this drive led to the selection of 5urprise’s members. 

Before joining the band, Yoo Il (Park Sang-il), its frontman, appeared in the Korean variety show Allzzang Generation (2009), while Seo Kang-joon had stints in K-dramas including To the Beautiful You (2012) and Good Doctor (2013). As for the remaining three members, Gong Myung, Kang Tae-oh, and Lee Tae-hwan, their acting debuts happened through 5urprise.

The members of the avant-garde ensemble started with After School: Lucky or Not (2013), a web series following the pretty boys, their “Lucky or Not Club,” and a coy high school girl, Kim So-eun. She incidentally gets called upon and chosen as the club’s leader. In the ensuing days, they take on exciting challenges—upending Kim’s typical life, helping her break the box, and letting out the gutsy girl hidden inside of her.

I don’t know how many of you’ve seen the series, but it’s worth checking out in terms of its storytelling, characterization, and the length of each episode (each one lasts roughly 15 minutes, so it’s about the length of a movie when taken as a whole). In any case, watching popular Korean actors in their earliest appearances makes it more nostalgic, I’d say. A somewhat different coming-of-age K-drama and quite the one for a K-drama flashback, there’s also cute romance tucked in between the circle of friends in the story.

5urprise released the song “Hey U Come On” on the drama’s OST preceding their debut single, “From My Heart” (2014). Other single albums by the act include 5urprise Flight (2015) and Shake It Up (2016). The band members likewise appeared in select episodes of the Korean reality show Taste of Others (2015), a look into the lives of stars with distinct tastes, alongside season one’s fourth episode of Netflix’s Busted! featuring Korean entertainers collaborating with A-list K-drama actors to crack cases.

Unfortunately, 5urprise’s existence came to an end in 2020, and after seven years, the members all signed with different labels, departing Fantagio. However, its narrative—a passion for performing and discovering new artistic horizons—needs to be shared. 5urprise, a collective of ambitious artists, broke the status quo and ventured into Korean entertainment, not following the path of most idol groups who begin as musicians and then branch out into doing other things. Each member moved on with a solo career after the group’s disbandment, but their days with 5urprise will always bring back memories.