My Acting Favorites

My Top Ten Actors (in alpha order). Originally, this list was going to be five, but there are too many I like to limit it to five.

1. Choi Jin Hyuk - I liked him as the serious Woo Duk in Pasta, even before his changed his screen name. He completely won my heart (and a lot of other people's) with his performance in Gu Family Book, to where I cried for him after one episode and cried even more after his redemption. His ability to be effervescent and joyful and then self-contained and dark make him an actor I enjoy watching.
2. Gong Yoo - I first saw him in the movie, Finding Mr. Destiny, and then I watched Coffee Prince, but it wasn't until I started watching Big did Gong Yoo cement himself as one of my favorites. Not because Big was the greatest series ever, but just because it struck me just *how much* of a range this man has.
3. Hyun Bin - I think it's the glimmer of intelligence and confidence he always seems to have in his eye that makes me love him, as well as he can make being a total butthead seem like the most logical course of action. I first watched him in Secret Garden and it wasn't until I was halfway through with My Name is Kim Sam Soon did I realize it was the same man. Range.
4. Joo Won - As I watched Baker King, Kim Tak Gu, I liked his intensity, but something about his character didn't make him endearing. But after watching his performance in Good Doctor, I am definitely a fan. One thing I appreciate about him is that he seems to give everything in each of his performances, to where there's a real sense of integrity to them.
5. Lee Seung Gi - I wouldn't have initially thought that he would be in my top ten, but as I was recently watching King2Hearts it struck me that every series that I've watched him in, I've heartily enjoyed, partially *because* of him. He adds a touch of goofy as well as earnestness to his characters that I find endearing and it never takes me very long to warm up to his character. Even when he's arrogant, he's likeable from the beginning because he's a *nice* arrogant.
6. Lee Min Ho - I first met him as Gu Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers and since then, I have appreciated the vulnerability he has brought to his characters. Even as he's kicking butt and taking names, he's soulful and self-examined. Plus, the man has charisma oozing out his pores.
7. Lee Sun Kyun - He won my heart with his great performances and with that voice of his. The way the words rolls out of his mouth is equaled by no one. The don't call him Mr. Voice for nothing.
8. So Ji Sub - One thing I love about his man is the relish with which he embodies the character he's playing. His character in Master's Sun... I don't think I've seen a hero quite so arrogant, or so 'there' in his acting.
9. Sung Joon - my first encounter with him was in Lie to Me and since then, I've enjoyed his grumpy Ji Hyuk, his defiant Chi Hoon and his stoic Gon. I don't know what exactly it is that makes me love him so, but I really, really do. I think it's the utter sincerity of his acting and the vulnerability he adds to his characters, who are in no way wimps!
10. Yoo Yun Suk - Another actor from Gu Family Book who won my heart. Out of my top ten, he's the best crier and I think it's because of how he throws everything into his performance. I know I wouldn't have loved Tae Seo nearly as much as I did if someone else had played him and that's all because of this man.

My Top Ten Actresses

1. Bae Suzy - She may not have won my heart in Big, but she definitely stole it in Gu Family Book. And unlike a lot of female characters that are supposed to be strong and tough, but come across as conflicted and unconfident, her Yeo Wool was able to kick butt, take names and still be a girl. Not once did I feel like she was just trying to be strong, she *was* strong; but it was wrapped in a girlie shell, even if that girl hated wearing dresses and was terrible at cooking.
2. Ban Hyo Jun - My favorite halmeoni, she is the epitome of dignity in any character she's portraying, even if it is one who is a biker chick in black leather. Maybe it's because she reminds me of my own grandmother, but every time I see she's in a series that I plan on watching, it immediately makes me smile.
3. Gong Hyo Jin - One of her talents is playing a character whose life is a mess, one who sometimes seems as though the slightest wind will blow her down, and still she fights for what she wants. Even when a character's absolutely pathetic, she gives her an accessibility which endears, rather than repulses, the audience. She's a great crier and when she weeps, I find myself weeping, too.
4. Ha Ji Won - I first encountered her in Secret Garden and have since seen King2Hearts and Empress Ki. What I appreciate about her characters is that they are strong, period. Whether a super stunt woman, the first female drill instructor in the Northern Korean Army, or the leader of a bunch of bandits, her characters aren't afraid to stand up to anyone, even as she's wearing high heels.
5. Jung Hye Young - What I love about this woman is her layered performances. In Gu Family Book, she portrayed so many emotions with just a glimmer of a reaction on her face. In Mischievous Kiss, she was the mother of a sour-to-everyone genius who was just so sweet. Again, it was those micro-expressions that communicated so much.
6. Kim Sun Ah - She made a woman who sometimes reminded me of a fishmonger's wife one of my all-time favorite characters. Her grounded confident performance, even as she played a character that was quite unconfident, makes her an actress I absolutely love and her simply being in a drama makes me want to watch it.
7. Moon Chae Won - In Shining Inheritance, she was guilt-ridden about how she went along with her mother's schemes, and in Good Doctor, she was a woman with growing romantic feelings toward someone with autism. She excels in showing the internal conflict of a character. The way she makes her soul-searching so accessible, so that we love her even when she does things we hate, but love her more when she's fighting to do what's right, is one of the reasons why I love her.
8. Park Min Young - When I think of her, I think of her smile, which is so genuine and *there.* She has an ordinary, everyman quality to her, so that she feels like she's you, or your best friend. In both City Hunter and Sungkyunkwan Scandal, she was doing a job that women normally didn't do and she wasn't doing it to prove something; she was just doing it to be true to herself. And that's why I think she appeals to me, that earnestness with which she portrays her characters.
9. Shin Min Ah - The thing I love about her is the joy, vulnerability and strength that are all rolled up in a very tiny package. She is the reason that her character was so winning in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, because she's instantly likeable and the more you get to know her, the more you know that your first instinct was right.
10. Yoon Eun Hye - I'm sure it's not a surprise that she's on my list. Trying to sum up all the reasons that I like her would take too long. I think it's the authenticity with which she *is* her characters that makes her so appealing. That and that she leaves it all on the table with every scene she's in. She can be a tomboy or a stunning beauty, but she always feels like she's your best friend, even if she is more attractive than you are.