[Throwback Thursday] A Look Back on Hyun Bin’s 12-Year Career

Hyun Bin (birth name: Kim Tae Pyeong)

Birthday: September 25, 1982

Year of Debut: 2003

For this week’s edition of Soompi’s Throwback Thursday, we will delve into Hyun Bin’s accomplished past. Great timing since fans are excited to see his return through the upcoming SBS Wednesday-Thursday drama “Hyde, Jekyll, I.”

Our handsome star debuted in the 2003 KBS drama “Bodyguard” as a stalker. He has definitely come a long way since then. His small role involved being a model who stalked another model and we have cheesy swimsuit pictures to cherish it.

Interestingly enough, he actually debuted as a model and was successful in transitioning to acting.

2004 was a fruitful year full of many projects. Hyun Bin acted in popular sitcom series “Nonstop 4” with Han Ye Seul, drama “Ireland” with Lee Na Young and the movie “Spin Kick.”

His big breakthrough came with the hit drama, “My Name Is Kim Sam Soon” which he co-starred in with Kim Sun Ah. Which K-drama fanatic hasn’t watched this drama?

Despite the great success of this drama, his following projects did not do as well commercially. These works include “Snow Queen” with Sung Yuri (2006), “A Millionaire’s First Love” with Lee Yeon Hee (2006), and “Worlds Within” with Song Hye Kyo (2008). Even though he had great chemistry with his costars, especially with former girlfriend Song Hye Gyo, they were all considered flops.

Hyun Bin struck gold with “Secret Garden” in 2010 with his sparkly tracksuit. The extremely popular drama boasted a stellar cast which included Ha Ji Won, Yoon Sang Hyun, Lee Jong Suk, and more.  While his film with Tang Wei, “Late Autumn,” wasn’t expected to perform very well in Korea, it ended up doing better than expected after it was released locally following Hyun Bin’s “Secret Garden” success.

Tears of fans were flowing when Hyun Bin joined the Marine Corps to fulfill his mandatory military service. Fans rejoiced when he fulfilled his duty and returned with compulsory military abs.  His glorious muscles were featured in his comeback film, “The Fatal Encounter,” which received mixed reviews, but did pretty well in the box office, although it didn’t meet expectations.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the upcoming “Hyde, Jekyll, I” will be added to his list of hits rather than his list of misses.

Who is your favorite Hyun Bin costar? Vote in the poll below!