7 Korean actors heading to Hollywood in 2022: Blackpink’s Jennie and HoYeon Jung will act with Lily-Rose Depp, Cha Eun-woo has a gig with Rebel Wilson, and Park Seo-joon is in Disney’s The Marvels
Hallyu, or the “Korean wave” of pop culture, has spread globally and become even more popular thanks to the meteoric successes of Parasite, Squid Game and K-pop’s biggest boy band BTS. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, and as the phenomenon continues to grow, it paves the way for even more Korean stars to conquer Hollywood.
From Blackpink’s Jennie starring in The Weeknd’s MV to Park Seo-joon in the MCU, who else is making a name for themselves in American showbiz?
1. Blackpink’s Jennie
“As soon as I read the scenario, I thought that the story was very charming and so I wanted to be a part of it. I’m excited and I’ll do my best, so I hope that everyone will tune in warmly,” she said, though details of her role are yet to be revealed, per All K-pop.
Produced by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, The Idol follows the relationship between a young female pop star and her cultish “self-help guru”.
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2. Park Seo-joon
Marvel fans speculate that Park may be playing Korean-American teenage hero Amadeus Cho, the son of Dr Helen Cho, though Screen Rant has contradicted the theory.
Park, 33, is known as “King of K-drama romcoms” in South Korea, thanks to a string of successful dramas including She Was Pretty (2015), Fight for My Way (2017), What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018) and Netflix’s Itaewon Class (2020). He also had a cameo in the Oscar-winning thriller Parasite (2019).
3. HoYeon Jung
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Strutting on the runway from age 16, the model went back to her fashion roots after Squid Game’s success, as an ambassador for Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Chanel.
4. Yoo Teo
Actor Yoo Teo nabbed the lead role of A24’s movie, Past Lives, with Greta Lee, per Deadline. The film will tell the love story of a man and woman who met in South Korea when they were young and reunited after becoming adults.
Although this marks Yoo’s Hollywood debut, he has already appeared in various global projects. He actually rose to stardom in Russian film Leto (2018) and has appeared in the Vietnamese Bitcoin Heist (2016) and Thai drama The Moment (2017). He was recently in Dr Brain and Love to Hate You.
Back home in South Korea, his outstanding works include Arthdal Chronicles (2019), Vagabond (2019) and Netflix’s The School Nurse Files (2020).
5. Cha Eun-woo
Meet Cha Eun-woo, the Astro and True Beauty star about to conquer Hollywood
Debuting with his group Astro in 2016 as the vocalist, Cha’s good looks have also boosted his increasing popularity in hits like My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018) and True Beauty (2020). He is ranked as having the highest-earning “second job” as an actor, according to Mnet’s TMI News Show.
6. Bae Doona
Korean star Bae Doona is returning to Hollywood to join Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi film Rebel Moon, per K-drama Stars. Bae will show off her combat skills alongside Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou and Ray Fisher.
Directed by Zack Snyder, famous for 300, Wonder Woman and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Rebel Moon will be set in a space colony where a soldier takes the mission of seeking help from other planets to save her residents.
Bae is already a familiar Korean face in Hollywood, starring in Cloud Atlas (2012), Jupiter Ascending (2015) and Netflix’s Sense8 (2015). Most recently, she was on Netflix with Kingdom (2019 – present) and The Silent Sea (2021).
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7. Lee Jung-jae
- Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae made his directorial debut with Hunt in Cannes, and signed with an agency that represents Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and George Clooney
- Yoo Teo is set to star in A24’s Past Lives with Greta Lee, while Bae Doona will work with Zack Snyder, the director behind Wonder Woman and 300, for Rebel Moon
