11 shows starring Lee Min-ho that are worth a watch

The role of Gu Jun-pyo was Lee Min-ho’s breakout role in the South Korean remake of the popular manga that led to the Taiwanese classic Meteor Garden. The show needs little introduction as most of us would be familiar with this fan favourite where he played the rough and fearless leader of the F4 (with the iconic curly hair).

Acting opposite Son Ye-jin, Lee Min-ho plays struggling architect Jeon Jin-ho who ends up living with her character Park Kae-in. Hilarity, misunderstanding and love ensue as Park Kae-in mistakenly thought that Jeon Jin-ho is gay as they develop feelings for each other.

The 2011 action-drama brought Lee Min-ho’s name to new heights. He played Lee Yoon-sung, a presidential bodyguard with the code name “City Hunter” who is bent on avenging his fallen comrades. With guns and fighting galore, the thrilling show also starred Park Min-young, a fellow bodyguard and Lee Yoon-sung’s love interest.

Fans of the time-travelling genre should tune into Faith. The historical medical drama stars Kim Hee-sun (Yoo Eun-soo) who gets kidnapped and brought back to the Goryeo period by Lee Min-ho (General Choi Young). The two eventually fall for each other and their relationship gets complicated as Choi Young has to get Yoo Eun-soo back to her time period before the portal closes for good.

Fans of Korean drama would likely name The Heirs a must-watch drama. Another show that become widely popular, Lee Min-ho played chaebol Kim Tan, a wealthy heir to the Jeguk Group, who has to make the hard decision between love and family business as he falls for the significantly less well-to-do Cha Eun-sang (played by Park Shin-hye).

Gangnam Blues marked Lee Min-ho’s return to the big screen after last playing minor roles in 2008. It was also another departure for him as he shed his pretty chaebol image to play a tough role in the action gangster film. The movie was a commercial hit too.

Inspired by a Korean legend, K-drama fans will also not find The Legend of the Blue Sea unfamiliar. Lee Min-ho plays a witty con artist Heo Joon-jae who ends up in a love story with mermaid Shim Cheong played by Jun Ji-hyun. The fantasy romcom then tests the couple as the drama goes on to achieve stellar ratings.

Bounty Hunters is currently the last movie that Lee Min-ho starred in. In the Chinese-South Korean-Hong Kong action comedy, Lee Min-ho played Lee San who has to work with Wallace Chung (Ayo) as they enlist team members to help clear their name of a terrorist bombing they did not engage in.

Lee Min-ho has been known to work with the top actresses in Korea. Here, she partners with Kim Go-eun in the fantasy romance drama where he played king Lee Gon. The highly anticipated film also featured a stellar cast and was another partnership with writer Kim Eun-sook whom he had worked with on The Heirs. PS: You also get to watch him ride a horse.

History buffs would love Pachinko, a film based on a bestselling novel that delves into the topic of the zainichi, or people of Korean descent living in Japan during the colonial rule of the peninsula. Also starring beloved actress Youn Yuh-jung and Kim Min-ha, Lee Min-ho plays zainichi Korean man Koh Hansu.

Lee Min-ho’s slowly but surely expanding his body of work. The upcoming drama Ask the Stars is a sci-fi romcom where he will play Gong Ryong, an obstetrician-gynaecologist who goes to the space station as a tourist. There, he presumably meets and falls for astronaut Eve Kim, played by Gong Hyo-jin.

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