Lee Sang-heon, aka Daniel Sang-heon Lee, made an explosive acting debut with Netflix’s recent series XO, Kitty. The teenage romcom is a spin-off of the streaming giant’s hit franchise To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. It introduced many fresh faces, but the 27-year-old Hong Kong-raised actor managed to achieve one million followers on Instagram thanks to both his beauty and talent.
From making fan edits even before the series released to gushing over his British accent, both international and South Korean fans have fallen in love with Min-ho, the charismatic mischievous character Lee Sang-heon portrays in the show.
The 27-year-old model auditioned for XO, Kitty at the request of his sister, Gia Kim, who also stars in the series. Gia Kim plays the role of the queen bee, Yuri. Alongside his sister, Lee Sang-heon is one of the few breakout stars of the series - and it is evident with netizens’ reaction to seeing the charming Min-ho on screen.
XO, Kitty’s rising star Lee Sang-heon has fans gushing over his accent and acting on the internet
Teenage romcom series XO, Kitty was one of the highly-anticipated projects from Netflix ever since its teaser was released a few months ago. The series merged Hollywood college romance with K-drama, complete with multiple famous K-pop songs, all of which make a great recipe for garnering attraction.
As one of the rising stars, debutante Lee Sang-heon won over fans’ hearts with his portrayal of Min-ho, the son of a popular movie star who can cook, flirt, and study well too. His enemies-to-friends arc with Kitty, aka Anna Cathcart, was also loved by fans. However, it was his British accent that bowled them over.
Check out how fans made the model-turned-actor soar to popularity below:
Meanwhile, the newly-debuted actor celebrated his 27th birthday on May 21 amidst an outpour of wishes and support. The birthday was made more memorable as he crossed one million Instagram followers on the same day. As of writing this article on May 23, the actor has 1.4 million followers, only 600k less than the official XO, Kitty account.
More about Lee Sang-heon
Lee Sang-heon was born in South Korea but was raised in Hong Kong, as per SCMP. He spent 11 years of his childhood in Hong Kong where he also attended an international school. He completed his mandatory military service before pursuing modeling.
In an interview with SCMP, the debutante also shared the story behind getting the XO, Kitty audition and the role, thanks to his older sister, Gia Kim. He also added his equation with the sister.
“My sister sent me an Instagram post [about the audition call] so I thought, OK, I should go for this. It was fun, we always congratulate each other and look out for one another.”
Meanwhile, XO, Kitty has 10 episodes with approximately 21-minute per episode. The series was released on May 18 and is available for streaming on Netflix.