Kim Woo-bin’s Best K-drama Characters

Kim Woo-bin digs deep into the emotional recesses of his portrayals, bringing out each aspect of who they are and their lives, and I’d say “in a way” that gives them a striking sense of realism. His attention to realism shows in each of his characters—whether he’s playing a reclusive individual, a spoilt brat, a dying superstar, a commoner, or an unlikely delivery driver—making him the talented actor that Kim Woo-bin is—an actor of candid performances such as the following.

Park Heung-soo – School 2013 (2012)

The high school drama is about student issues on and off campus. Kim plays Park Heung-soo, who enrolls in this high school and fails to make a first impression. He gives off a negative vibe, a rough guy who finds it difficult to fit in the class. However, there’s greater depth to who he is in terms of his past events and how he feels as a result. 

Kim was commended for the way he embodied the role’s nuances, winning the Best New Actor award at the second APAN Star Awards in 2013. 

Choi Young-do – The Heirs (2013)

Starring Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Kim Woo-bin, Kim Ji-won, Park Hyung-sik, Kang Ha-neul, Kang Min-hyuk, and Krystal Jung, among others, The Heirs, aka The Inheritors, is a classic K-drama that transpires at a distinguished high school of rich kids.

Kim’s Young-do, heir to the Zeus Hotel Group, is a bully; he’s manipulative, crafty, and an unwelcome company to keep in the school. Even so, Young-do is a disturbed prince fighting inner struggles and family demands.

Kim’s expressive skills are par excellence, a reason why he excels in roles that call for more depth, like Young-Do—conceited and confusing—but also inwardly a caring and romantic guy, only waiting to be understood.

Shin Joon-young – Uncontrollably Fond (2016)

This popular romance K-drama was Kim Woo-bin’s first television lead role where he had Shin Joon-young, a household name who reunites with his first love Noh Eul (Bae Suzy), now a documentary filmmaker. 

Uncontrollably Fond was quite a hit, with Kim impressing with his subtle performance of a complex man living with a fatal illness—a real and detailed picture of the emotions of a fleeting life, the pangs of suffering, the fears, and the profound, life-altering repercussions of his predicament. 

Joon-young’s experience vividly conveys the struggles and psychological effects that receiving a life-threatening diagnosis can have. It’s an insight into his innermost conflicts, his actions and decisions, and how his thoughts, attitudes, and feelings evolve as he works through the hardest time and faces what has happened to him.

Park Jeong-joon – Our Blues (2022)

The omnibus series, set on the picturesque island of Jeju against a panorama of the waves and the Jeju oilfield, features Kim alongside a stellar ensemble and follows the day-to-day routines of its people—their relationships, pasts, and present.

As the narrative rolls, we meet Han Ji-min’s character Lee Young-ok, a Haenyo and a vivacious woman for whom Kim’s Park Jeong-joon develops feelings. He’s a ship captain, a straightforward man with a heart of gold.

Jeong-joon’s appeal is rooted in the fact that perhaps the most unassuming of characters can show profound depth and understanding, defying that emotional outbursts or attractive self-portrayals are required to qualify as an interesting and likable character.

Kim effortlessly inhabits Jeong-joon, a man free from pretenses and facades. He’s cool and frank with genuine warmth; he’s like hope in a society that’s growing ever more complicated and characterized by guarded emotional expression. 

5–8 – Black Knight (2023)

The grim, dystopian Black Knight tells a tale of human endurance and survival instinct. It takes place in 2071, a year of terribly polluted air that makes it hard to survive without a respirator. Given that most of Korea is now a wasteland and only a minority of its population remains, delivery men are critical to their survival.

5-8 (Kim), a delivery driver of great strength, meets a refugee who wants to be like him. To take on the Cheonmyeong Group, a corporate behemoth, now controlling society, the two join forces with a team.

5-8 is a hero in a dystopian space where the harsh reality of crumbling infrastructure and a dangerous natural environment has left the inhabitants little more than ghosts of the past. He braves all threats to ensure that they get the necessities of life. With unyielding determination and an arsenal of incredible fighting skills, he stands as a guardian and protector in a world that seems to have forgotten the true meaning of humanity.