What was Won Bin’s last project? All we know on actor's hiatus amid first public appearance in years at Kim Sae-ron's funeral

On Monday, February 17, 2025, South Korean actor and model Won Bin was spotted at the funeral of Kim Sae-ron, a 24-year-old South Korean actress who passed away on February 16. Won Bin and Kim Sae-ron were known to be co-stars in the 2010 film The Man from Nowhere. The actor's attendance at the funeral marks his first public appearance in over 14 years, dating back to the start of his acting hiatus.

Given that the actor has not made a public appearance in a long time, his attendance at Kim Sae-ron's funeral to pay his respects to his late co-star left many fans emotional. As fans continued to talk about the same, the actor's hiatus became a topic of discussion, with some netizens being unfamiliar with the actor.

Won Bin is one of the most renowned actors in the South Korean industry. However, Won Bin's last project was in 2010, with the release of The Man From Nowhere. Since his wife, Lee Na-young, continued to pursue her career as an actress, several people naturally directed their queries on the actor's possible return to the industry to Lee Na-young. During a press interview in 2018, the actress stated the following regarding her husband's hiatus:

"I don't know why he's not doing it. I think he wants to tell stories through his work. He wants to convey messages of humanism to the audience, so he's looking for scenarios in that genre, but there don't seem to be many."

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All you need to know about the South Korean actor Won Bin

Won Bin debuted in 1997 through a minor role in Propose and took up many other small-scale roles until his big-break releases, Kkokji and Autumn in My Heart. The latter received much recognition both provisionally and across Asia. As he continued to roll out other famous films like Taegukgi, My Brother, and The Man From Nowhere, he paused in 2010.

The actor didn't take up any acting roles after his last project, The Man From Nowhere, and his hiatus continued following his marriage to Lee Na-young, a South Korean actress, in 2015. After the birth of the couple's first child, the actor shifted his focus to his family. In 2016, he was reportedly offered the lead role for the Korean remake of Umberto Pasolini's film' Still Life.

He rejected the same due to a few differences between him and the movie's director. Additionally, when The Man From Nowhere was in talks for an American remake, Won Bin showcased his interest. However, the same couldn't last through a few disagreements between the actor's team and the movie's production team.

He was offered another role in the 2019 South Korean series The Immortals, a ₩40 billion drama directed by Jang Young-woo. While he was interested in the series due to its intriguing script and screenplay, he eventually turned it down due to the pressure he felt of returning to the industry.

While many began to speculate about the possible retirement of the actor, Ji Chun-hee, a close friend of Won Bin and Lee Na-young, revealed that he is interested in returning to the industry. However, the pressure of returning keeps preventing him. Here's what she said in November 2024 during her appearance on the KBS variety show Boss in the Mirror:

"It's not that he doesn't want to act, but I think he feels a certain pressure. He's constantly reviewing scripts."

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Regardless of whether the actor will return to the industry, fans and netizens were emotional and touched to see Won Bin's attendance at Kim Sae-ron's funeral.