He‘s really here. Choo Young-woo is at his peak with his leading role in a drama.

After debuting in a web drama in 2021, he rose to the top of the list of most-requested dramas in just 4 years, and has confirmed five leading roles this year alone. His leading roles have also gained great popularity overseas, successfully expanding into the global realm.

Choo Young-woo led the historical drama ‘Madame Ok’s Story’, which ended on the 26th, to box office success. He garnered attention for his captivating performance as ‘Romantic Jeon Gi-su’ Cheon Seung-hwi. In particular, despite his short acting career, he boasted solid acting skills, adding to the fun of naturally playing two roles, Cheon Seung-hwi and Sung Yoon-gyeom.


The drama, which started with a viewership rating of 4.2% (Nielsen Korea) with Chu Young-woo‘s appearance standing out, jumped nearly twice (8.5%) in just four episodes, and recorded its own highest rating of 13.6% in the last episode.

In ‘Trauma Center’, which was released on the 24th, he showed a 180-degree different side and properly made a face.

In the medical drama set in a university hospital’s trauma team, he played the role of Yang Jae-won, a humane doctor. He is the number one disciple of genius surgeon Joo Ji-hoon who is almost like a slave, but his character stands out with his quirky charm that is just 2% lacking.

Thanks to him, Chu Young-woo has emerged as another main character who made Netflix‘s ‘Most Watched TV Show in the World’ (as of the 30th, according to FlixPatrol) #2.

For the first time since his debut, he ranked second in a survey of TV and OTT drama actors’ popularity, following Lim Ji-yeon, who took first place.

Chu Young-woo has also been cast in the Netflix series ‘The Square’ and the tvN drama ‘The Fairy’, which is scheduled to air in June.

‘The Square’, which finished filming last year, is a noir action drama about Ki-jun (So Ji-sub), who cut his own Achilles tendon and left the world of the square, returning 11 years later to dig up the background for revenge after the death of his younger brother, who was the ‘number two in an organization’.

In the drama, he plays the role of Geum-son, a current prosecutor, and even challenges himself with action scenes.

Another leading role, ‘The Fairy’, is a drama about a high school shaman who saves her first love (Choo Young-woo), and he stars alongside Jo Yi-hyun.


Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.