Sageuk Lover

She's actually quite popular in Korea (not the most popular, but a bit more popular than what international fans think of) because she really shone in her historical dramas and movies like Princess's Man and War of the Arrows (even Painter of the Wind). In fact I tried to translate Korean comments on Flower of Evil videos, most of them mention Lee Joon Gi and Chae Won in a historical drama would be good because both have strong sageuk image.

I highly suggest you watch Princess's Man, Painter of the Wind (her role and relationship with a character here is so unique and different from all other, you'll know why), and War of the Arrows.

If she was a man, I feel that she would be at least as popular as Kim Soo Hyun or Song Joong Ki for international fans. All three were recognized as serious actors when they starred (or at least important cameo for Song Joong Ki) in popular historical dramas back in mid-late 2011 to early 2012. All three got really popular in early 2010s because they were three of the actors in their 20s back then that were considered really talented. Unlike the other two though, Chae Won is a girl. The other two saw their careers rising more when they were paired with hallyu actresses from the 2000s in big budget romantic comedies that gave a rise in their careers. While Chae Won's two romantic comedy movies didn't really make noise (it's harder for movies to make noise then kdramas). It doesn't help that Chae Won doesn't really star in romcom dramas.

I noticed also that while there are many popular Korean male actors that are Chae Won's age (born between 1985-1988) that I can name that has been acting at least since 2010, I can rarely think of popular lead actresses from the same age range that has been acting since at latest 2010 (aside from Chae Won, only Han Hyo Joo, Moon Geun Young, and Park Min Young).

Here's what I think of why Chae Won is not as popular as other popular lead actresses . During the early 2010s, she had 3 really good dramas. My personal favorite of the three is Princess's Man. While Princess's Man was a favorite for sageuk fans, during that time, most people actually avoid sageuk. Then came Innocent Man and Good Doctor. Except for maybe Good Doctor, the other shows she did were not romcom. She also did War of the Arrows movie. As much as these projects were quite successful, they didn't really trend as much for international fans back then because they were not romcom. These years were the first few years after Boys Over Flowers. High School dramas and romcom were the most popular thing. Then along came 2016, the year when more people discover kdramas than ever. Popular shows that are still often recommended today from Moon Lovers to Descendants of the Sun to Goblin etc. Chae Won's drama however, went up against Descendants of the Sun in TV, it didn't help her costar didn't have as much star power as the Songsongcouple. After 2016, more kdramas from different genres were actually watched by more people, but alas the kdramas she did were not considered good. Flower of Evil is her comeback actually after so many years, in the I'm grateful for that show. This is my explanation for why she's not popular today.

Here's what I noticed on the most popular kdrama actresses today in 2021:
(PS: no hate on the actresses fitting these categories, I even think they're talented, I'm even a fan of some of them, just mentioning my observation on why they are popular among international fans)
1. You have to be an idol, big plus if you work in popular kdramas in the years 2016 and after.
2. You have to be an early wave kdrama actress (meaning you initially got popular in the early 2000s) and you must have a popular kdrama/movie with a popular actor in the last few years to make you more popular today
3. If you're an actress that wasn't popular before, you must have been in dramas/movies that if not popular, must be considered good by the majority in the last few years since 2016
4. You must be the lead female in popular romcom dramas
5. Be a former child actress that has considerable success in your transitional role to adulthood.
Moon Chae Won (except recently in Flower of Evil) and Moon Geun Young do not fit among the five categories I mentioned, that's why they are not popular today. Ha Ji Won is another early wave hallyu actress, and while people still remember her, I don't think she has a lot of new international fans since she didn't star in a popular kdrama after 2016.

I hope the success for Chae Won and all the other actors in the future. I hope Moon Chae Won gets more popular and recognized by international fans.

PS: This is just my personal opinion from my personal observation over who's often trending over the years among kdrama international fans (particularly among people in my country). I could be wrong.

I noticed that older kdramas (pre-2016) tend to have lower ratings. (I'm talking mainly about historical dramas, not the cheesy romcoms). Maybe some older kdramas (especially sageuk) don't cater to the present international audience. Also, less popular shows and older kdramas have lesser reviews and lesser people to watch them, thus the bigger tendency to get lower ratings if the fewer people who watched them didn't like them.

She's so underrated, partly because most of her dramas that did really well aired before 2016 (when more people got introduced to kdramas than ever before). Nevertheless, Lee Joon Gi deserves all the praise since he did really well here.

If you want to add her on your list (I have my own), you can just click edit on your current list, type her name on the "search to add new title" blank (the one above the pictures of the actors on your list, not below), then click her name from the options shown on results (you might need to scroll down to find her with her picture there could be a possibility that someone shares her name).

What list? I dont understand?

Though he received the most awards from DOTS, I don't consider it as the drama that shows SJK acting skills and versatility. These are the dramas/movie where Song Joong Ki did really great as an actor:
1. ARTHDAL CHRONICLES (2019 drama) - It is an imagined version of Korean prehistory. if you watch at least until the 7th episode, you will see why Song Joong Ki role is so interesting and challenging. The drama is planned for many seasons but due to covid 19, they couldn't film the future seasons. Season 1 is divided into 3 parts, and is thus far the season that is released already. I put the titles to the three parts of the first season in the recommendations (here in mydramalist) for this drama. He didn't really get any awards for his acting here, but SJK fans consider the role as one of his best and he also gained fans from doubters, some include fans of more senior and established actors like Lee Byung Hun and Lee Joon Gi (from what I saw on twitter).
2. THE INNOCENT MAN (2012 drama)- SJK character is kinda complicated here. It's hard to describe the complexity of his character but what I can summarize is he played a man who is out for revenge against the woman who betrayed him by using her stepdaughter. It is his first leading role in drama. He also showed so much chemistry between the two female leads. One of the female leads is played by Moon Chae Won (whose best drama is 2011's sageuk Princess's Man) of the recently finished drama Flower of Evil, so you can expect a great performance from her too. For this role, SJK won top excellence at both KBS 2012 awards and APAN Awards.
3. SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL (2010 drama) - SJK breakthrough role. He was the third male lead (the three male leads and the female lead are called Joseon F4 in this drama). In this historical drama about students from Joseon era, SJK role here is of a playboy and flirt, who nevertheless is still very smart and ended up being a loyal friend to the other leads. His winks and other antics made many people fall in love with his acting in this drama. He shows a lot of charisma, charms, and comedy skills for this role. Personally, I felt that his and Yoo Ah In's (the second male lead) acting is better than the main female and male lead here. He won popularity award for this role in KBS 2010 awards.
4. TREE WITH DEEP ROOTS (2011 drama) - SJK role here is only the younger version of the king who is the main character, appearing only in the first four episodes plus episode 8 or 9 (don't miss the additional episode I mentioned). Though his breakthrough was Sungkyunkwan, this was actually the drama that made critics consider him as an actor to be taken seriously in challenging roles (not just cutesy stuff). He held up on his own and shone as an actor against respected senior veteran actors, who are the actors he mostly share scenes in this drama. Written by the same writers of Arthdal Chronicles, I believe his performance here is the reason he was cast in Arthdal many years later. He won producers award at SBS Awards 2011 for this role.
5. A WEREWOLF BOY (2012 movie) - directed by the same director as SJK recent movie Space Sweepers (haven't seen that one myself though). He plays a man-wolf. He only has a few lines and had to rely on purely his acting, but he still really did great on this movie. This movie is still the highest grossing melodrama film in Korea. For this role, he was nominated for Baeksang Awards 2013 (against veteran actors like Lee Byung Hun and Ryu Seung Ryong) and won other awards as well.

I can’t believe she’s married and have kid. My image of her is of a cute young girl due to her small role in Painter of the Wind. Great job there.

I just hope this will be better than Moon Embracing the Sun (didn’t like rhat drama after the characters grew up). I want a good mixture of art, politics, and romance just like Painter of the Wind.

Trivia: this is at least Kim Yoo Jung’s third historical drama as a painter. She was previously the kid version of Moon Geun Young painter character in Painter of the Wind (2008 drama) and she was also a talented painter in Gumiho Tale of the Fox Child (2010 drama). In both shows, we can see her painting.

I think people who want to watch this show should see Painter of the Wind. It’s the first collaboration between Yoo Jung and this director, the show is also about painting.
I think this show will be like bookends for me as someone who really liked Yoo Jung since young, since I first saw her as the child version of Moon Geun Young’s character in Painter of the Wind and now she’s starring in this show (directed by the same director as Painter).

It aired in 2006. If you’ve noticed, almost all historical dramas that aired before Boys Over Flowers (most overrated drama for me) are kind of underrated by most international fans of kdrama today

I know right? We would not be able to see the popular fusion sageuks today (Moon Lovers, Love in the Moonlight) if not for this drama. This drama was the first of its kind! Before this drama most sageuks tend to be more similar to Dae Jang Geum.

Me too, though I personally get annoyed when people only mention Yeo Jin Goo, Kim Yoo Jung, and Kim So Hyun. Lee Tae Ri was in this drama too (he also did a great job as Yangmyung).

His eyes are really striking. The way he acts with his eyes from the two dramas I’ve seen him so far (Flower of Evil, Iljimae) is really fantastic. Especially in Iljimae where he is wearing a mask. It’s really hard to act with a mask covering most of your face (trivia: it’s the reason why the mask in Phantom of the Opera 1986 musical and 2004 movie is in half), but he does it so well. I see the sadness in his eyes when he was looking at the tree where he and Han Hyo Joo’s character spend a lot of time together before he rudely broke up with her because he felt they can never be together.

Also based on the clips of him I saw in Moon Lovers, if Korea ever make a Kdrama version of Phantom of the Opera, they should cast him as the Phantom (I wont cast any kdrama actress as Christine, I want a musical theater actress with soprano role to play her next to Joon Gi).

They announced back in Feb 2020 that they will make season 2, but covid happened. It’s hard with the pandemic since they shoot some of the locations from overseas countries (ex: Brunei) for season 1, so they might need it for season 2. I hope they can somehow find a way to show season 2 fast though (I read somewhere they did cgi for the Italy scenes of Vincenzo, I hope the producers of this drama do the same).

Tree with Deep Roots has the same writer as Arthdal by the way. SJK’s younger version of the main lead in Tree acting was one of the main reason he was cast in Arthdal.

Seriously. This guy has been acting since 1998, why isn’t he offered lead roles? Even second lead roles? I would be happy if he gets second lead role (even if he deserves main lead).
Meanwhile other actors his age who only started acting a few years ago, are given lead roles fast.

He’s not the main lead in Sungkyunkwan Scandal (historical drama with romcom elements), but he’s one of the two other male supporting leads. His role there as a happy go lucky “nobleman” student is one of the highlights of the show. It is his breakthrough role so watch it. Also, do not miss out Tree with Deep Roots (historical drama, more serious than Sungkyunkwan), although he did Sungkyunkwan the year before, it was Tree that made critics think that he can be seriously taken as an actor (that can do heavy and serious roles, not just for romcom). Watch the first four episodes for him (he’s the younger version of the King, who is the main character of the drama). If you enjoy the drama, please continue watching it even if he’s not there anymore since it’s a great drama in general. If you didn’t, you need to check out his bonus scene later in episode 8 or 9 (forgot which of the two), because his performance there is fantastic.

The story is based on a folktale from Goguryeo period. The king though is a real person and he has a wikipedia page. Goguryeo is rarely done in kdramas. Goguryeo started in BC era and ended in 600 something AD when the kingdom of Silla conquered it and unified Korean peninsula. (During Goguryeo era, there was a period called "Three Kingdoms period" because three kingdoms ruled the Korean peninsula, namely Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje). There is someone who recommended My Country the New Age with this kdrama in the recommendations for this drama because they said it's the same time period, but it's so wrong because there is 800 years between this one and that one (My Country the new Age happened at the beginning of Joseon era). The only Goguryeo dramas in my mind right now aside from this one are Jumong, Kingdom of the Winds, and Ja Myung Go.
Keep in mind that Goguryeo is different from Goryeo (setting of Moon Lovers, Empress Ki). Goryeo is the period between 900 something AD until late 1300s (it's the kingdom that ended Silla), while Goguryeo ended in 600 something AD. Goryeo got its name because it's founder was a descendant of the former Goguryeo kingdom.

Seung Yoo is not in line for the throne. He is not royal.