The world of the K-Drama enthusiasts will spot the same actors returning again and again across various productions, but that K-Dramas will more often than not feature one or two actors in their casts who didn’t start out as such. More specifically, there are several idols who debuted as of a K-Pop group and then decided to add acting to their resume as their careers progressed.

It’s not uncommon for celebrities who began their careers and rose to fame in the music scene to make the switch to acting—that’s true in South Korea as it is in the rest of the world. The pipeline from idol to actor, though, seems to be shorter in South Korea, with several already successful idols becoming equally successful actors. It’s also a good plan when it comes to job security, since not all K-Pop groups that debut manage to remain active for more than a decade.

10 While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Suzy Of Miss A

While You Were Sleeping is a K-Drama that mixes together a series of elements that have become a staple of this particular genre. That’s because While You Were Sleeping is a ionate workplace romance of the legal inclination, revolving around a field reporter, a prosecutor, and a police officer, with a sprinkling of fantasy. The three main characters have all gained the ability to see the future through their dreams, something that they use to solve crimes and eventually defeat their common antagonist.

Starring in the role of reporter Nam Hong-joo is actress Bae Suzy, known monogamously as Suzy and a true household name in the South Korean entertainment industry. While most of her recent career focused on acting, Suzy first stepped onto the scene as an idol. She was a vocalist in the quartet Miss A, a second-generation girl group under JYP Entertainment. Throughout their seven years of activity, which went from 2010 to 2017, Miss A released a series of songs that have become incredibly well known to all K-Pop fans, from “Bad Girl Good Girl” to “Hush”.

9 Revolutionary Love (2017)

Siwon Of Super Junior

Revolutionary Love is a chaebol story that follows rich and carefree Byun Hyuk, the son of a powerful businessman, who finds himself having to live as a “regular” person as a consequence of his bad behavior. He ends up roaming with street-smart Jae-hoon, who hates Hyuk’s family but doesn’t initially know his identity—the perfect recipe for a swoon-worthy K-Drama romance.

The term "chaebol" refers to a large business conglomerate held by a single family. Rich chaebol heirs or heiresses are a staple of the K-Drama range of characters.

The lead actor of Revolutionary Love, playing the stereotypical role of the rich boy who is soon going to be hit with a good dose of reality Byun Hyuk, is Choi Si-won, who has built himself a considerable career in acting both in South Korea and China but who started out as a member of a K-Pop boy group. Not just any group either, since he was part of Super Junior, a group that was a pillar of both the second K-Pop generation and the Korean Wave as a whole.

8 Once Upon A Small Town (2022)

Joy Of Red Velvet

Colorful and lighthearted, Once Upon A Small Town revolves around another beloved story trope not just in K-Dramas but in romantic comedies everywhere around the world. That is, someone from a big city suddenly has to move to a small town and get used to the life there. In this case, city veterinarian Han Ji-yul relocates to a village where he takes over his grandfather’s clinic. In said village, he meets Ahn Ja-young, a police officer who will teach him all there is to know about his new place and his residents.

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The name Park Soo-young might not be immediately familiar, but the stage name Joy definitely is. She’s been an active member of girl group Red Velvet ever since 2014, continuing to promote with her group alongside pursuing her solo career. Red Velvet is one of the most prominent girl groups of the third generation, pioneers of the double concept that allows them to easily switch genres between more pop tracks and others focused more on R&B and hip hop.

7 100 Days My Prince (2018)

D.O. Of EXO

There are plenty of period pieces to be found among K-Dramas, taking inspiration from South Korea’s rich history while adding in those story elements that make for a plot full of twists and turns. In the case of 100 Days My Prince, all those twists and turns are provided by the fact that the crown prince loses his memory and believes he’s a low-status man, something that, of course, causes all sorts of trouble.

100 Days My Prince is still one of the highest-rated series on South Korean cable television.

The role of the prince was taken on by Doh Kyung-soo, another actor who started out as an idol better known by his stage name. Not everyone might know Doh Kyung-soo, but anyone who hangs around K-Pop-adjacent fandom spaces knows D.O., the main vocalist of blockbuster boy group EXO. EXO is one of the groups who carried the third generation on their backs, winning every prize available in the industry and putting out a whole series of classics, from “Lotto” to “Monster” to “Love Shot”.

6 Under The Queen’s Umbrella (2022)

Chani Of SF9

Under the Queen’s Umbrella deals once more with royalty in the Joseon period, focusing on the effort of a fictional queen to transform her unruly sons into proper princes who are perfectly prepared to take the reins of the kingdom in the future—all while she herself has to navigate the complicated palace life among servants, concubines, and their own children. It’s among these children that hides a K-pop idol.

Prince Uiseong is the son of one of the King’s many concubines and he’s played by Kang Chan-hee, better known to audiences by his stage name Chani.

Prince Uiseong is the son of one of the King’s many concubines, and he’s played by Kang Chan-hee, better known to audiences by his stage name Chani. His idol career actually happened right alongside his acting one, since he started out as a child actor way before he debuted as the youngest member of boy group SF9 in 2016. He continues to play both roles, though, making music with SF9 and taking part in some of the most famous K-Dramas of recent years, like Sky Castle, where Chani played arguably his best-known role to date.

5 The Fabulous (2022)

Minho Of SHINee

K-Dramas love their workplace romances, and audiences can find one set in pretty much every field imaginable. Since South Korea has become a fashion powerhouse in recent years alongside pushing its Korean Wave forward, it makes sense that there is at least one story that takes place in the world of fashion. The Fabulous follows the lives of two exes, Woo-min and Ji-eun, who navigate their complicated feelings for each other and the incredible competitiveness of their chosen field of work.

Starring as freelance photo retoucher Woo-min is Choi Min-ho, a pillar of the South Korean entertainment industry ever since his debut in 2008 as a member of the boy group SHINee. Bridging the gap between the second generation and the third, SHINee was—and still is—another one of those groups who has contributed to making K-Pop the global powerhouse that it currently is. Several of the group’s songs, from “Ring Ding Dong” to “Lucifer” to “Sherlock,” have become iconic and are beloved by K-Pop fans across the board.

4 Snowdrop (2021-2022)

Jisoo Of BLACKPINK

Snowdrop is a romance story set in a real and troubled period of South Korean history, namely the 1987 Democracy Movement which led to democratic elections at the end of that same year. Against the backdrop of political troubles and upheaval, university students Soo-hoo and Yeong-ro meet and fall in love.

Snowdrop was the first leading role for Jisoo, vocalist of powerhouse girl quartet BLACKPINK, one of those groups that is always surfing right at the top of the Korean Wave and widely recognized as the “biggest girl group in the world”. Jisoo has been promoting with BLACKPINK ever since the group’s debut in 2016, adding on a solo music career starting in 2023. Fans of BLACKPINK, though, were always aware of Jisoo’s interest in pursuing acting, which had resulted in several smaller roles and cameos before she took center stage in Snowdrop.

3 Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016-2017)

V Of BTS

Hwarang fictionalizes a historical fact that really happened in the Kingdom of Silla, one of the three kingdoms that occupied the area where South Korea stands today, in the 6th century CE. It centers around a group of young nobles who form an elite team of warriors dedicated to protecting and serving the future king.

The Hwarang, a term that literally means “flowering youths,” were a real group of elite warriors, whose also dedicated themselves to cultural and religious studies.

Hwarang has quite the stacked cast. Among the people playing one of the Hwarang are actors like Park Seo-joon and idols-turned-actors like Choi Min-ho, but Hwarang is also the acting debut of Kim Tae-hyung, better known to K-Pop fans everywhere as V of BTS. V debuted with the group that would go on to become the most widely recognized K-Pop group arguably of all time in 2013 and continues to make music both with the other six of the group and a soloist.

2 Squid Game

T.O.P. Of Big Bang & Yuri of IZ*ONE

The second season of international sensation Squid Game sees main character Gi-hun willingly return to the game he barely survived in season one, in the hope of toppling the whole thing from within by rallying the other players to his cause. Of course, though, the terrible Front Man is not going to simply watch by as his well-working domain is destroyed. In a show with so many characters, it should be no surprise that some of the most prominent players of this new game are idols.

Squid Game features two of them, whom sharp-eyed audiences immediately recognized. One is the purple-haired rapper Thanos, who is played by Choi Seun-hyun, better known as T.O.P. of BIG BANG. Unlike Thanos, T.O.P. is an excellent rapper and remains one of the faces of the second generation, even though he’s no longer officially part of the group. The second one is Jun-hee, who s the game to provide for her unborn child. Jun-hee is played by Jo Yu-ri, a former member of the girl group IZ*ONE, formed at the end of the survival show Produce 48.

1 Hotel Del Luna (2019)

Soloist IU

Hotel Del Luna has quite the unique premise, made of that mix of realism and fantasy elements that K-Dramas do so well. The plot takes place inside a special kind of hotel meant as a halfway stop for ghosts who still need to settle some affairs before moving on to the afterlife. It’s owned by Jang Man-wol, who has been tied to the hotel for more than a thousand years as atonement for a great sin she committed when she was alive.

The leading role of Jang Man-wol remains one of the most iconic ever taken on by soloist Lee Ji-eun, better known to the public as IU. Arguably the most popular soloist in South Korea, IU’s music career has reached the top of all charts in her native country and consistently stayed there with each release. She ventured into acting for the first time in 2011 and has starred in quite a number of K-Dramas, of which the most famous, together with Hotel Del Luna, are undoubtedly Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and My Mister.