Top 5 ASTRO's Cha Eun Woo dramas: True Beauty, Gangnam Beauty and more

K-pop idol ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo is an all-around star. The 24-year-old idol can sing, dance, compose, model, host and act. His fame skyrocketed in 2018, when he played the quintessential lovey-dovey college boy next door in My ID is Gangnam Beauty. Cha Eun Woo has become a known face in both the K-pop and K-drama worlds, being among the few idols whose shift to dramas has been extremely successful.

Cha Eun Woo, real name Lee Dong Min, entered the South Korean entertainment industry in 2014 with a minor role in Song Hye Kyo’s movie My Brilliant Life. He later debuted in 2016 with Fantiago’s boy group ASTRO but continued experimenting with his acting simultaneously. When he’s not on stage either MCing or dancing and singing, he’s behind-the-cameras either endorsing a brand or acting his heart out in a new drama.

With multiple movies, web dramas and TV dramas in his kitty, here's a look at the five top projects where Cha Eun Woo played unforgettable characters.

---

Top 5 Cha Eun Woo dramas to binge watch

5) Top Management (2018)

Based on a novel by Jang Woo San, the web series Top Management focuses on a group of five friends played by Seo Eun Soo, Ahn Hyo Seop, Cha Eun Woo, Jung Yoo Ahn and bang Jae Min. This fantasy romcom revolves around Eun Sung (played by Seo Eun Soo), a former idol trainee who can foresee the future who becomes the manager of a struggling new boy group called S.O.U.L.

---

4) Sweet Revenge Season 1 (2017 - 2018)

Sweet Revenge is a supernatural drama with a similar story foundation to the popular anime Death Note. The difference is that the drama focuses on a relatable predicament often seen in K-dramas: high school bullying. A quiet, always picked-on girl, who is friends with a K-pop idol, finds a mysterious app in her phone that lets her take revenge on anyone whose name she writes in the app. The show stars Kim Hyang Gi, Park Solomon, Kim Hwan Hee and Cha Eun Woo.

---

3) Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung (2019)

Cha Eun Woo embraces royalty as he plays Crown Prince Yi Rim in this romantic sageuk drama. The story revolves around Shin Se Kyun’s Goo Hae Ryung, who sets off on the path to becoming the first female palace historian in the Joseon royal court. In a world where women are always looked down upon, Goo Hae Ryung proves her worth and gets romantically involved with Yi Rim, who hides his secret.

---

2) My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

Also known as Gangnam Beauty, the romcom is based on a webtoon of the same name. This particular show propelled Cha Eun Woo’s popularity to another level. The idol played Do Kyung Seok, a cold and aloof middle-school student who falls in love with Kang Mi Rae, played by Im Soo Hyang. The story tackles the impossible beauty standards South Korea is notorious for holding its females to, and high school bullying.

---

1) True Beauty (2020)

Falling into a similar category as Gangnam Beauty, True Beauty has Cha Eun Woo playing Suho, a rich, popular student with a painful past. Suho gets stuck in a love triangle with Lim Joo Kyung (Moon Ga Young) and Han Seo Joon (Hwang In Yeop). It focuses on the message that true beauty lies inside, as Joo Kyung goes to various lengths to hide her real face by applying makeup to look flawless.

Meanwhile, the K-pop idol has been finalized as one of the leads in the upcoming supernatural-fantasy K-drama Island. He is currently working on an action-thriller movie with Lee Jong Suk, titled Decibel.

---

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinion of its writer.