When ‘Face Geniuses’ meet entertainment, a ‘twist’ happens.

BTS‘s Jin and Astro’s Cha Eun-woo, who are considered universally handsome men across generations and borders, are a hot topic with their outstanding entertainment activities. These guys, who mainly showed off their charisma on stage and in pictorials, are drawing attention by freely letting loose and revealing a friendly charm through TV entertainment programs.

Jin appeared as the first guest on tvN‘s ‘Handsome Guys’, whose nickname and name are similar, ‘월와한’, short for ‘Worldwide Handsome’. ‘Handsome Guys’ is a program that introduces local culture, nature, and people by traveling around the country. Jin, who appeared in episodes 1 and 2 consecutively, played a ‘Bingo game’ while visiting national heritage sites in the Gyeongnam region with regular cast members actors Cha Tae-hyun, Lee Yi-kyung, Shin Seung-ho, mixed martial arts fighter Kim Dong-hyun, and fencing athlete Oh Sang-wook.

In the process, Jin served as the team’s focal point with his innate drive and friendliness, and he also made the program more entertaining by writing a surprise where he alone won the final penalty. In particular, while performing the penalty mission of packing 8 tons of mackerel, his appearance of coquettishly telling the nearby merchants, “Your mother is beautiful” broke down the distance he had toward ‘global stars’. ‘Handsome Guys’ also recorded first place (1.6%) in the ‘2049 viewership ratings’, which calculates viewership ratings for those aged 20-49, from its first broadcast thanks to Jin‘s appearance.

Jin’s entertainment activities are expected to continue until next year. It has been reported that he is reviewing various entertainment appearances with the will to “go where many fans can see him. He is already hosting the YouTube entertainment content ‘Run Seok Jin’, and has also finished recording the Netflix entertainment program ‘Daehwajang Gianjang’, which is in the final stages of production and aims to air next year.

Cha Eun-woo is showing off his presence as the youngest member of tvN‘s ‘Living in a Shared Room in Finland’, which first aired on the 6th. The program depicts Cha Eun-woo and actors Lee Je-hoon, Lee Dong-hwi, and Kwak Dong-yeon renting a room in Lapland, the southernmost part of Finland. They plan to show off their ups and downs of their ‘self-sufficient life’, such as finding food on their own in an area without reliable running water and internet, and fetching water from a lake.

It has been three years since Cha Eun-woo appeared regularly on a variety show on SBS ‘All the Butlers’ in 2021. ‘Living in a Room in Finland’ in particular has garnered a lot of attention from overseas fans as it is an observational variety show format that reveals everyday life.

Cha Eun-woo not only showed his meticulous side by practicing cooking in preparation for the trip, but also showed his hidden playfulness by feeding bitter licorice jelly to his eldest brother Lee Je-hoon, calling it the “famous jelly”, earning praise from viewers for his ‘reversal charm’.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com