Kim Jung Hyun is a South Korean actor prominent for his versatile and sincere acting. Over the years in the acting industry, he showed his talent in different genres that frequently pop up in kdrama recommendations. If you’re interested in a specific genre or trope, his work probably would be on the list. His never-ending passion is reflected in his various projects, creative ad-libs, and thoughtful interviews.
Biography
Kim Jung Hyun was born in Busan, South Korea, on 5th April 1990. He showed his interest in acting back in high school where he founded a theatre club with his schoolmates. After finishing school and his military service, Kim Jung Hyun continued following his passion for acting and graduated from the Korea National University of Arts. He started off as a theatre actor and performed in several plays and musicals on stage. Later on, he chose to pursue his career in screen.
Despite having the same name as another actor, Kim Jung Hyun decided to remain his original name for his acting career:
“The name is what my parents gave me, so I don’t want to change anything about it.”
Kim Jung Hyun officially debuted on 5th May 2015 with the indie movie “Overman” which premiered at Busan International Film Festival. The film got a warm welcome and was awarded for promoting independent cinema.
Eight years ago Kim Jung Hyun’s career started and the actor promises to continue his work, conveying different characters for fans and viewers.
School 2017
My personal journey to discover Kim Jung Hyun as an actor started with KBS2’s kdrama “School 2017”. At the time, I didn’t find school dramas too appealing but this one was talked about everywhere while it was airing. I was watching another kdrama at the time and the comment section was full of praises for this new school series. People were excited and couldn’t wait another week for new episodes. It sparked my curiosity and there was no turn back from being a Kim Jung Hyun fan for me.
The drama tells the story of Ra Eun Ho, a girl who has low ranks at school but dreams high about her career as a webtoon artist. She gets inspiration from the school’s mysterious troublemaker “Student X” for her webtoon. Ra Eun Ho finds herself in trouble when she gets suspected of being the Student X herself and she promises to find the real culprit and clear her name.
As the story progresses, we see youths struggle with their studies, prospects in life, and the injustice of the world. Young students are not naïve and understand how cruel the world is and naturally, they rebel against what they consider wrong. Together they grow, heal from their wounds, and find ways to punish those who deserve it.
Kim Jung Hyun played the role of the school director’s son, a rich boy, Hyun Tae Woon. He rebelled against his father and under the disguise of Student X persona made silly pranks. Things got serious when Ra Eun Ho became a suspect in those pranks. To clear her name, Student X makes an appearance and exposes the school’s principal. But the story only gets started after that.
Kim Jung Hyun’s solid acting as Hyun Tae Woon got him noticed. On the surface, Tae Woon is a prankster, a rich guy who got bored and decided to make the school his playground. But his rebellion has deeper roots. Kim Jung Hyun is a master of portraying nuanced characters like that.
If you haven’t watched this school drama yet, I recommend putting it on your list. Even if school dramas aren’t your thing, this one has very mature topics and an assembled cast’s great performance. Besides, a lot of now popular actors and actresses were there, it is really talent-packed cast.
Welcome to Waikiki
A comedy gold kdrama from JTBC that captured viewers’ attention and to this day is recommended as the must-see kdrama. It got so popular the drama got extended episodes and cast commentary. Later on, with a different cast, the drama got season 2, I think that says a lot about its popularity.
The drama reminds me of the old American movie “Three Men and a Baby”, just like in the movie, three men find a baby and now have to take care of it. Waikiki is the guest house where the group of main characters live and hilarious episodes happen daily.
Kim Jung Hyun plays a typical tsundere character, harsh and grumpy outside but actually very sweet-hearted inside. He’s the biggest loser out of three men and believe me, the other two are losers too, the bar was already low from the start.
If you want something light and funny, this is the drama for you. Feel down? Watch Waikiki. Feel sick? I hope you get better and watch this “chicken soup” remedy. Feel bored? Tss, watch Waikiki, a good mood is guaranteed.
Time
For melancholics who want to spend time feeling torn apart by feelings and shed rivers of tears, this is the drama for you. The production of this drama started shortly after the shooting of “Welcome to Waikiki” ended and it’s amazing how Kim Jung Hyun made a 180 turn to portray Cheon Soo Ho: an arrogant chaebol with a deep trauma from witnessing his mother’s suicide. As he discovers that his time among living is running out, he decides for one time to do the right thing. Watching his surroundings and what kind of family raised him, you start to understand why Cheon Soo Ho acts the way he does.
This is a drama where nothing good happens. Episode after episode we witness one bad accident after another. We see a female lead who lost everyone she loved. We see Cheon Soo Ho trying to come to terms that he inevitably going to die. We see the second male lead losing his good heart.
Despite troubles with production and changes in the script, the drama is worth watching, especially for anyone interested in Kim Jung Hyun’s acting. Cheon Soo Ho’s sad yet beautiful narrations shows the drama’s great writing and the depth of his character’s pain. It is also interesting to see this drama from two opposite perspectives. One man has everything but can’t save himself, and the other has nothing and climbing the social ladder, losing himself in the process. One man goes from the darkness to the light and makes the right choices before he dies. Another rises from nothing to the heights people can dream of but loses his conscience.
MrQueen
Like a dessert, I left my all-time favorite drama to the last. Considering my blog is mostly MrQueen fanfictions, is it really surprising? We all have our preferences in genres and tropes and for me personally, MrQueen is the perfect drama that has everything I love: it’s historical with beautiful costumes, consists of great writing with an amazing assembled cast, and has a nice ost album. Besides, it’s good in portraying my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, unrequited love being secretly very requited, and backfired rejection (because let’s be real, King Cheoljong was deeply regretful he rejected her).
In this drama, Kim Jung Hyun had a challenging task: make an appealing character with subtle acting. Across him was the brilliance of Shin Hae Sun’s portrayal of Queen Kim Soyong who is much more expressive in her emotions due to identity crisis and the case of possession. Queen Soyong is a hurricane, a tornado of double emotions of two souls living in one body. Meanwhile, King Cheoljong is a deceivingly calm and quiet ocean but once the storm is coming: hold your hats, corrupt ministers!
Kim Jung Hyun’s passion for acting is especially noticeable in this project. He made countless ad-libs that became fan-favorite scenes and got praise from senior cast members. But that wasn’t all, Kim Jung Hyun was inspired by the story so much that he wrote a song conveying King Cheoljong’s feelings for his Queen.
Of course, a few passages won’t show all my love for this drama and it deserves a separate (and very long review) that I’m yet to write. So I end this on: watch it if you love historical dramas or watch it even if you don’t like historical dramas, thanks to the modern twist, this drama is for everyone!
Other notable projects:
His debut film Overman (2015) is a good story showing two young students bonding and showing their vulnerable sides.
The miniseries Binggoo (2017) is a nice romantic drama for the wintertime about a man who froze in the late 70s and woke up in the modern world. It’s a story about moving on after giving everything you could to loved ones.
Crash Landing On You is a high-rated kdrama, a big hit that is still on almost all watch lists for newbies in kdrama world. Here Kim Jung Hyun had a second lead role but his Alberto got so popular his name was trending on Twitter closer to the ending. The second couple was so popular, they got their mini-reunion on “Dinner Mate” kdrama where Kim Jung Hyun made a cameo (he agreed and just bought himself a ticket to the shooting site and did it for fun without anything in return).
I could go on and list his whole filmography but everyone can open asianwiki. For the most part, Kim Jung Hyun picks very interesting projects for everyone’s taste.