Gong Yoo rose to fame when he played his first role as the main character in the South Korean drama series Coffee Prince in 2007. Through the drama’s popularity, he was solidified as a leading man and also made him one of the best Korean actors. He is best known for his roles in several television dramas Coffee Prince (2007), Silence (2011), Big (2012), A Man and A Woman (2016), and Goblin (2016–2017). In this article, Channel-Korea will provide you with a detailed piece of information about the top 5 Gong-yoo dramas and films you must watch. So, stay tuned!
2007 – Coffee Prince
Coffee Prince is a popular South Korean television series aired on MBC on Mondays and Tuesdays from July 2nd to August 28th, 2007, for a total of 17 episodes. The hit drama is starring Yoon Eun-hye, Gong Yoo, Lee Sun-kyun, and Chae Jung-an. It is based on the novel of the same title written by Lee Sun-mi. The drama centers around the love life and dreams of four young people who meet together at a café. The story of the drama is about an unlikely romance between a tomboyish woman, who is disguised as a man in order to get a job, and her male boss. It contains homoerotic elements because the male boss initially does not know of the actual gender of the tomboy employee. In this drama, Gong Yoo played the role of Han-gyeol, a smart young man who hates to be tied down to one career in his life. He also hates the idea of joining a family business. However, he was ordered by his grandmother to manage a café. Unable to refuse his grandmother’s orders, he reluctantly takes over the responsibility of managing a café and begins to immerse himself in the gourmet coffee business. One day, he meets Eun-chan, a tomboy employee who dresses like a man in order to be able to work at his café. Eun-chan is a cheerful girl who has an unpredictable personality. Through ups and downs, they both learn the meaning of true love. The drama achieved several awards: Main Roles:
Yoon Eun-hye as Go Eun-chan Gong Yoo as Choi Han-kyul Lee Sun-kyun as Choi Han-sung Chae Jung-an as Han Yoo-joo
Supporting Roles:
Lee Eon as Hwang Min-yeop Kim Dong-wook as Jin Ha-rim Kim Jae-wook as Noh Sun-ki Kim Chang-wan as Hong Gae-shik Kim Young-ok as Han-kyul and Han-sung’s grandmother Kim Ja-ok as Han-kyul’s mother Choi Il-hwa as Han-kyul’s father Han Ye-in as Go Eun-sae Park Won-sook as Eun-chan’s mother Lee Han-wi as Mr. Ku Kim Jung-min as DK, Yoo-joo’s ex-boyfriend Ban Hye-ra as Yoo-joo’s mother
2011 – Silence
Silence is a South Korean drama film based on the novel The Crucible by Gong Ji-young. The film premiered in 2011 and starring Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-mi. The story is based on events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School, a school for the hearing-impaired, where young deaf students were the victims of repeated sexual harassment by faculty members for five years in the early 2000s. Upon its release in September 2011, the film sparked public outrage because of the story of the film that depicts crimes and court proceedings that allow teachers to get only minimal sentences. It eventually resulted in the reopening of the investigation into the incidents. With more than 4 million people in Korea watching the film, the demand for legislative reform finally reached its way to the South Korean National Assembly, where a revised bill, dubbed Dogani Bill, was passed at the end of October 2011 to abolish laws restricting sexual crimes against minors and disabled people. In this film, Gong Yoo played the role of Kang In-ho, the newly appointed art teacher at Benevolence Academy, a school for deaf children in the fictional city of Mujin, North Jeolla Province. He has a painful and dark past where his wife committed suicide a year ago, and his sick daughter is taken care of by his mother. He is eager and excited to teach his new students, but the children keep the distance and try to avoid him as much as possible. In-ho does not give up and try to approach and show the kids that he cares. Finally, the students open up and tell him the shocking and ugly truth about the school and what they have been enduring these past years. It turns out that over the past years the children have been repeatedly physically and sexually abused by their teachers. Awards: Cast:
Gong Yoo – Kang In-ho Jung Yu-mi – Seo Yoo-jin Kim Hyun-soo – Yeon-doo Jung In-seo – Yoo-ri Baek Seung-hwan – Min-su Kim Ji-young – In-ho’s mother Jang Gwang – headmaster twin brothers Im Hyeon-seong – Young-hoon Kim Joo-ryung – Yoon Ja-ae Um Hyo-sup – police officer Jang Jeon Kuk-hwan – Attorney Hwang Choi Jin-ho – prosecutor Kwon Yoo-jin – judge Park Hye-jin – headmaster’s wife Kim Ji-young – Sol-yi Eom Ji-seong – Young-soo Lee Sang-hee – auto repair shop owner Nam Myung-ryul – Professor Kim Jung-woo Jang So-yeon – courtroom sign language interpreter Hong Suk-youn – school custodian/guard
2012 – Big
In 2012, Gong Yoo acted in the romantic comedy-drama, Big. Big is a romantic comedy/body swap drama series aired on KBS2 from June 4th to July 24th, 2012, for 16 episodes. The series is starring Gong Yoo and Lee Min-jung. Big was Gong Yoo’s first television series after Coffee Prince in 2007 and since being discharged from his military enlistment. The series was written by the Hong sisters. The drama was initially well-received by viewers, but later it was heavily criticized for its ending. In this drama, Gong Yoo acted as Seo Yoon-jae, a kind and handsome doctor. The story begins with a substitute teacher struggling to get her certificate. She is engaged to Seo Yoon-jae. At the same time, Gil Da-ran meets Kang Kyung-joon who is an 18-year-old transfer student from the United States. Kyung-joon is being polite to everyone except Da-ran. One day, Kyung-joon and Yoon-jae get into a fateful car accident and the two of them cross the guard fence and fall into the deep waters. Yoon-jae tries to save Kyung-joon but in the process, Yoon-jae ostensibly dies and Kyung-joon ends up in a coma. Kyung-joon then wakes up and finds himself in Yoon-jae’s body. The drama was nominated for several awards in several categories but only won 1 award. Main Cast:
Gong Yoo as Kang Kyung-joon/Seo Yoon-jae Lee Min-jung as Gil Da-ran Bae Suzy as Jang Ma-ri Shin Won-ho as Kang Kyung-joon
Supporting Cast:
Baek Sung-hyun as Gil Choong-shik, Da-ran’s brother Jang Hee-jin as Lee Se-young Kim Seo-ra as Ahn Hye-jung, Yoon-jae’s mother Ahn Suk-hwan as Gil Min-kyu, Da-ran’s father Yoon Hae-young as Lee Jung-hye, Da-ran’s mother Jo Young-jin as Seo In-wook, Yoon-jae’s father Choi Ran as Kim Young-ok, vice principal
