To All the Fans of Park Hae-jin, You’ll Get Shocked (Or Not) by His Transformation!
Park Hae-jin, the charming Korean actor that starred in Cheese in the Trap as Yoo Jung sunbae (a term for senior in Korea), does not always look like a cold-hearted guy like in the drama, he has played as a medical college student, doctor, the second son of CEO, and even an army sergeant. Ever since he made his debut in 2006 in one of KBS’ dramas, he has portrayed a lot of different characters in a number of dramas and movies. And My Love From the Star is a drama that made his name gain a lot of popularity. Since he made his debut, almost fifteen years ago, are you curious to know what he looked like before compared to what he looks like now? Do you think that he has always been as handsome as now, even at the time when he hadn’t made his debut yet? Well, to satisfy your curiosity, let’s just take a look at all of his transformations in time!
Pre-debut photo revealed: Did He Undergo Plastic Surgery?
When Park Hae-jin debuted and starred in a drama for the first time, he was 23 (24 according to the Korean age system) years old. His face in the graduation photo looks very different from his face when he started appearing on the small screens, and even more different if we compare it with his current image. But let’s just take a look at his pre-debut picture and see how big of a difference there is.
The right photo is Park Hae-jin when he played as Yoo Jung sunbae in high school. He was around 33 years old when he played that character. Compared to the left picture, where he is actually a high schooler, which is more than 15 years earlier, he looks so different and mature. He has got a different hairstyle, which makes him looks totally different. But is it too early to claim that he has really done plastic surgery? Let’s take another look at his then-and-now photo. This is another headshot of him when he was younger. Actually, in his high school photo, he doesn’t appear to be very different from his current figure. His face hasn’t really changed that much, only some small parts can be noticed if we take a little closer look. Hmm. Let’s see another pic, shall we? We can trace his transformation from when he was just a kid to around the time when he made his debut. It’s a bit difficult to notice the changes since he used to wear glasses back then. It could be because of puberty that his looks seem a bit different from now. If you still want to know how much his face has changed from when he was young until today, let’s take another look at his post-debut transformation!
Post-Debut: Drama Transformation
1. Famous Chil Princesses (2006)
This is the first drama of Park Hae-jin first made an appearance on the small screens. He played the character Yun Ha-nam in Famous Chil Princesses or also known as Famous Chil Sisters. He portrayed an army sergeant who was interested in one of the main characters, Seol-chil. He only got a small role in this drama but just by looking at how cute he is before, viewers had their attention’s stolen.
2. Heaven and Earth (2007)
This is only a year after Park Hae-jin made a debut on the small screens, but he already got a role as the main character. Heaven and Earth is a family drama and Park Hae-jin played the role of the son of the family, a guy named Jung Mu-young. His love interest was Seok Ji-soo who was portrayed by actress Han Hyo-joo. If we compare his acting as Jung Mu-young, with his previous role in Famous Chil Sisters, we can say that he looked a bit different, as he played a tough-guy here rather than the geeky-guy from his previous role.
3. East of Eden (2008)
Again, only a year after he finished his previous drama, he came back again to star in the MBC drama titled East of Eden. This is an action drama with a little bit of romance inside. He didn’t get the main role but his character is quite important, a man named Shin Myeong-hun. He played as the antagonist who wanted to snatch the main character’s lover. His hairstyle in this drama looks a bit different from his usual style and that made him look strange. But his face is still the same as before, only it kind of looks younger.
4. Hot Blood (2009)
He came back again exactly a year after his last drama. He finally got to play the role of the main character, and this time the drama was from KBS2. He played as a poor guy who works in a car dealership that’s craving for success. He played with Cho Yoon-hee and Chae Jung-ahn as his love interests in the drama. He had a change of hairstyle; brushed-up his hair and showed up his forehead. Seems like he doesn’t look very different from what he looked like in his previous drama, right?
5. My Daughter, Seo-young (2012-2013)
This time, Park Hae-jin took a break for several years before coming back with a new drama. In 2012 he starred in a KBS drama that also featured Lee Bo-young and Lee Sang-yoon. His role is that of a medical college student that in a later episode will end up to be a doctor named Sang-woo, also the brother of Lee Seo-young, Lee Bo-young’s character. He has a love interest in two girls, Choi Ho-jeong who is portrayed by Choi Yoon-young, and Kang Mi-Gyung who is portrayed by Park Jung-ah. He finally came back with a new kind of hairstyle. He looks a lot more mature than ever before with a calm vibe.
6. My Love From the Star (2013-2014)
This is the drama that brought him a lot of fame. My Love From the Star was a popular drama, which also featured Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun as his co-stars. In this drama, he might not have played the main character, but he still got everyone’s attention as the second lead. He played as Lee Hwi-kyung, the best friend of Jun Ji-hyun’s character named Cheon Song-yi. He got friend-zoned by Cheon Song-yi, while Chon Song-yi’s best friend, Yoo Se-mi, portrayed by Yoo In-na, had a crush on him.
His character came from a wealthy family but he still worked as a standard employee in his own father’s company. He acted so well and looked so cute in this drama. Who else fell in love with him for the first time after watching him play Lee Hwi-kyung? If we compare his acting in My Daughter Seo-young, we can easily notice that the two characters he has played are totally different, yet he was still able to capture our hearts! It just goes to show how good he is at acting.
7. Doctor Stranger (2014)
After he played an innocent cute guy in My Love From the Star, he got an antagonist role again in his next drama. Han Jae-joon, a surgeon that always looks serious and fierce in Doctor Stranger. He once again played the second male lead, opposite Lee Jong-suk’s character, Park Hoon. He managed to make us amazed by his evil character in the drama, one who wants to take an act of revenge. He looks devilishly charming, right?
8. Bad Guys (2014)
After his bad character in Doctor Stranger, he again played the bad guy in a drama titled, well, Bad Guys. However, this time, his character is truly unique. He played the role of Lee Jung-moon, a psychopath serial killer who is locked in prison and has an amazingly intelligent brain. As a psychopath, his character doesn’t talk that much. He acted so well by showing a dark aura in a calm way. Again, what an amazing act by Park Hae-jin!
9. Snow Is on the Sea (2015)
Park Hae-jin finally got his first appearance on the big screen in a movie titled Snow is on the Sea. In his movie debut, he played the main character named Lee Sang-woo, the same name with his character in Seo-young My Daughter. This movie was of the romance genre and he played a very sweet guy. Anyway, he didn’t very different from usual, right? His hairstyle doesn’t really change that much and he still looks as handsome as before.
10. Cheese in The Trap (2016)
Now, this is the time of Yoo Jung sunbae! If you have watched Cheese in The Trap, you have definitely been hypnotized by how caring and loving Yoo Jung sunbae is, despite his sociopath background that makes everything turn and twist. Oh, by the way, have you noticed that he finally gets to play the leading male character?
Yeah, after playing supporting roles in several dramas, since the last time he played as the main character, he finally got the chance to be the lead again. Yoo Jung sunbae is the perfect boyfriend material of Hong Seol, the main female character. He succeeds in portraying a sociopath, a guy with a cold aura that only does what he wants to do, loves to manipulate and acts a bit childish sometimes.
