This week the actor spotlight falls on “the nation’s little brother,” Park Bo-gum. Currently starring in tvN’s Boyfriend alongside Song Hye-gyo, Park Bo-gum’s career continues on the upswing with another critical success, and an ever-growing fandom.
Born in 1993 in Seoul, South Korea, Park Bo-gum focused on music for many years until he turned his talents to acting. He made his debut in 2011 with a small role in the film Blind. He then built his resume with a wide range of supporting roles, gaining credibility and attracting notice. In 2013 he won a leading role in weekend drama Wonderful Mama, but 2015 was really Park Bo-gum’s breakout year. 2015 started with I Remember You, and ended with Answer Me 1988. Catapulted into fame after the huge success of both Answer Me 1988 and Moonlight Drawn By Clouds the following year, Park Bo-gum quickly became a household name and was given the nation’s little brother nickname.
Here are some dramaland highlights from Park Bo-gum, followed by his full filmography.
I Remember You (2015)
I watched
I Remember You
after I saw
Answer Me 1988
, and something felt wrong with the universe when Park Bo-gum didn’t play the smiling puppy. Did he even smile in thus drama at all? It wasn’t exactly lighthearted:
Seo In-gook
starred as a genius profiler with a pretty disturbing and secret past. There were a lot of great reveals and twists in the drama that I wouldn’t want to spoil, but suffice it to say that
I Remember You
makes the most of Seo In-gook’s and Park Bo-gum’s talents on the screen. Add
Choi Won-young
to the mix, and you have yourself a cast that can pretty much carry any story through the requisite layers of darkness (creepy basements, serial killings, etc.), and into light.
Answer Me 1988 (2015)
Ah,
Answer Me 1988
. This installment of the
Answer Me
series had my heart in a giant knot from start to finish. The story followed a group of families in yes, 1988, and Park Bo-gum was a great addition to the strong ensemble cast. He played one of the neighborhood teens who was a quiet, reserved, baduk-playing genius. Despite really enjoying Park Bo-gum’s portrayal of this character, with all his softness and spaciness and smiles, I think I’m still recovering from the first-lead-turned-second-lead-syndrome that this drama caused me (and so many others). The series is famous for telling a story of young teens, and then teasing out which characters wound up as couples. In
Answer Me 1988
, it did not go quite as expected. You were either really happy, or really unhappy. It’s unfair to make such a fantastic drama with so much depth just about the love line between two teens, though — the story was wonderfully rich, and no character was left unexplored.
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds (2016)
One of the biggest dramas of 2016, KBS sageuk
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
topped 20% ratings and created “Moonlight syndrome” (the obsession that can sometimes occur when a drama hits all the right notes and becomes a pop culture sensation). Adapted from a serialized novel of the same name, the story followed the Crown Prince Yi Yeong, played by Park Bo-gum, as he came of age. Co-star
Kim Yoo-jung
, in a great transition role, played the girl brought up as a boy, who later became a “eunuch” at the court. In addition to having two leads that became even more popular in the wake of this drama,
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
also had a strong supporting cast of newer actors like
Chae Soo-bin
and
Kwak Dong-yeon
, whose careers have been on the rise since. Every now and then there is a huge, beloved drama that I totally miss the boat on, and
Moonlight
was one of them. Half the fun is watching it live and getting immersed in the fandom, but I think
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
is a soon-to-be K-drama classic that will bear the test of time (and some belated viewing!).
Boyfriend (2018)
tvN’s currently airing noona romance
Boyfriend
has only a few more weeks left in its run. It has been consistent with not only its ratings, but with the pace of the storytelling. It’s deliberate and steady and purposefully told. For a story about a woman with a dating scandal and a chaebol organization at her throat, this drama somehow manages (at least so far) to keep everything even keel. While I sometimes find it slow, I will not say it’s without quality, and the pace and direction are a huge part of that (just contrast it to the high-rated makjang extravaganza of
An Empress’s Dignity
). Park Bo-gum plays the boyfriend in
Boyfriend
, and his character, though gentle as a mouse, is shaking up the chaebol world around him. When this drama first started I wasn’t sure what sort of a character he would play — honestly, I expected him to be a little more edgy/dangerous/swoony. Instead, Park Bo-gum plays a sweet and smiling lamb who becomes a calming shelter for Song Hye-gyo’s heroine. I love that this story is about character, class, and collectedness winning over jealousy, greed, and more greed, and I hope it stays as strong in its final weeks. Kill them with that innocent smile, Bo-gum.
Park Bo-gum’s full filmography: