Actor You Need to Know: Hyun Bin

Hyun Bin is all about continually altering patterns, embracing new ideas, and striving to be the best artist he can be. He gives his characters empathy and gets into their personalities in such a way that every time he’s on screen, it appears that he’s still feeling his oats, with each performance eclipsing the previous one. I need not mention here that Hyun Bin is a megastar, and I’m not sure if I need to write this piece to “introduce” this South Korean dreamboat (he doesn’t need one). But I do feel obligated to include him in my “Actor You Need to Know” series because I want to write about him, an artist of great dramatic capability, a prototype of politeness, and an enigmatic star who has been making the news for years.

Hyun Bin’s performances are legendary. His accomplishments include My Lovely Sam Soon (2005), Secret Garden (2010-2011), Confidential Assignment (2017), The Swindlers (2017), The Negotiation (2018), Rampant (2018), Memories of the Alhambra (2018-2019) and, of course, the iconic Crash Landing on You (2019-2020). For me, however, the actor went beyond his best in the melodramatic film Late Autumn (2010), as a gigolo (Hoon) fleeing from an influential businessman’s fury for having an illegitimate affair with his wife. It was a character praised by critics and a picture exhibited at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. If you see the movie, you’ll realize how Hyun Bin’s incredible run as Hoon paints a realistic portrait of him with an uncanny ability to make you fall in love with the character.

The guy was clearly destined to be an actor. That’s the least you should expect from a major and Master’s degree holder in Theater Studies from the elite Chung-Ang University. Following his breakout performance in the TV series Bodyguard (2003), Hyun Bin landed roles in the sitcom Nonstop and the quirky romance drama Ireland. But that wasn’t all. Hyun Bin made his film debut in Spin Kick, a film about youth sports, the same year.

His passion and hard work attracted white-hot attention two years later with the rom-com drama My Lovely Sam Soon. In it, Hyun’s depiction of the proprietor of a fancy French bistro catapulted him to Hallyu prominence. I imagine his feelings at the time must have been a mix of mindfulness and exhilaration. That’s something that ought to have intensified with his next initiatives, A Millionaire’s First Love (2006), his maiden film as a lead, and The Snow Queen (2006), which landed him his maiden Best Actor nomination at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

Between 2008 and 2011, the actor’s career took an even better turn. He began to realize his full performing potential by pursuing a career full of challenges and selecting more offbeat assignments. Ranging from playing a man with mental issues in I Am Happy (2008) to his refined acting in World’s Within (2009) and impersonating a sociopath in the gangster saga Friend, Our Legend, Hyun excelled in it all.

His career choices heralded the onset of new milestones and transcended popularity by embodying Kim Joo-won, a high-end department store CEO, in the romantic fantasy drama Secret Garden. Its global success spawned the “Hyun Bin Syndrome,” with his face popping up everywhere. Together with this, the following year, he wowed audiences once again with two films – Come Rain, Come Shine and Late Autumn – creating headlines. It was a point when the Korean juggernaut had become so dominant that no one could ignore him. He had sort of made up his mind to raise every venture to the next level.

In the latter part, Hyun Bin stated that, in retrospect, he had become wiser in terms of his acting approaches when portraying his roles. But looking back at his earlier performances, such as in My Lovely Sam Soon and Secret Garden, there is something unique and risky that he seeks to emulate moving forward. Perhaps that’s why, upon his military release, the superstar opted to play King Jeonggio in the period film The Fatal Encounter (2014), a character who suffers violent political rivalry and death plots throughout his reign. In addition, he returned to the K-drama scene in 2015 with the rom-com drama Hyde Jekyll, Me, featuring a man with multiple personality disorder.

With more than 15 years of an acting career and a flurry of roles to his credit, the star is still in quest of good material in the industry. Since 2017, he has been on a spree of essaying more meaty roles in crime and action pictures like Confidential Assignment and The Swindlers. In a bid to up his game, he embodied a negative character, his first time as a villain in The Negotiation. Likewise, we saw him in the zombie blockbuster Rampant and as a skilled game developer in the unique fantasy suspense drama series, Memories of the Alhambra.

Just look at how Hyun Bin has persistently dabbled in a variety of roles throughout. From 2017 onwards, his career underwent a resurgence, culminating with Crash Landing on You, the third-highest-rated Korean drama in cable television history. In the series, we encounter him as the dashing Captain Ri Jeong-hyuk, a North Korean elite army officer. I will not get into the specifics of his charismatic rapport with Son Ye-jin’s character or what transpired in their real lives thereafter. Instead, I’ll leave you with the pleasure of finding out for yourself.

To round off this account of Hyun Bin, his greatest strength is his ability to stand out. He displays a character with utmost precision, exactly as we would expect of him. In my mind, his acting strikes a fine blend between impersonation and creating an impression, the mark of a fine artist. To be honest, it is tough to even imagine him delivering an average performance. As an ardent fan, therefore, I look forward to more of his enigma on screen. And even though he has performed admirably in his most recent box-office hit, Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022), I’m eagerly anticipating his return to the K-drama realm.