Korean pop music has always been considered the only contributor to this mighty achievement ever since the Korean wave hit the world. While this may hold some truth, it is about time we give credit to those who made a positive shift in their respective fields and helped put Korea on the map.
Below are the top 10 Korean actors who successfully represented their country and made it big in Hollywood.
1. Lee Byung Hun
In addition to his roles in GI Joe, Terminator Genisys, The magnificent seven, and Squid Games, Lee Byung-hun is regarded as one of the top actors in Korea and is known for five film titles selected for South Korea's highest-grossing list. Byung-hun is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was the first Korean actor to present an Oscar at the Los Angeles ceremony.
2. Steven Yeun
He is known for his role as Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead (2010-2016). Yeun recently starred in and produced Minari (2020), which earned him global recognition and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the first Asian-American actor to do so. Yeun has been a part of multiple productions such as - Okja, I Origins, Mayhem, and many more.
3. Ki Hong Lee
The Maze Runner film series' Minho and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmid's Dong Nguyen are some of his most notable credits. Hong Lee made headlines by becoming a part of such mainstream projects.
4. Ken Jeong
A licensed physician, Jeong is best known for his roles as Leslie Chow in the Hangover films and Ben Chang in the NBC series Community. He created the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken in which he plays a vital role and has been a part of films like knocked up, The Duff, crazy rich Asians, etc.
5. Nicole Bilderback
Nicole's credits include shows like Dark Angel and Dawson's Creek, as well as films like Bring It On and Bad Girls From Valley High. She also appeared in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode The Wish in the unaired Buffy pilot as one of the Corvettes, Cordelia Chase's friends. She also played Ashley's buddy in a couple of episodes of Season 6 of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
6. Bobby Lee Jr.
Lee was a cast member on MADtv (2001 to 2009), and he co-starred in the ABC sitcom Splitting Up Together with Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson from 2018 to 2019. Lee has also appeared in the movie Harold & Kumar: Escape from New York and Harold & Kumar: Escape from New York, Visit White Castle (2004), Pineapple Express (2008), and The Dictator (2009). On FX on Hulu's Television comedy series, Reservation Dogs, he made a guest appearance as the cynical, burned-out Dr. Kang.
7. Margaret Cho
In It's My Party, she played Charlene Lee, and in Face/Off, she played John Travolta's FBI colleague. In the Lifetime Television series Drop Dead Diva, Cho played Teri Lee, a paralegal assistant. Her appearance on 30 Rock in Dictator Kim Jong-il earned her an Emmy award nomination.
8. John Cho
When he starred in Searching in 2018, he became the first Asian American actor to be a part of a blockbuster thriller movie in Hollywood. Cho is known mainly for his roles in Harold & Kumar movies and Star Trek reboot trilogy movies. When he played Henry Higgs in the 2014 sitcom Selfie, he made history as the first Asian-American actor cast as a romantic lead in American television in the twenty-first century.
9. Arden Cho
Arden Lim Cho is best known for her role in Teen Wolf as Kira Yukimura. She also starred in Youtuber Ryan Higa and Wong Fu Productions' short film Agents of Secret Stuff. And it was released in 2010.
10. Rain
In the 2003 drama Sang Doo! Let's Go To School made his acting debut. Rain debuted as a Hallyu star in 2004 with the pan-Asian smash drama Full House. He began his Hollywood career with Speed Racer in 2008 and starred in Ninja Assassin (2009), in which he won the first MTV award for a Korean actor.
