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Remember when Kim Soo-hyun was a goofy North Korean spy for those few minutes in Crash Landing on You? Or when a radiant Park Bo-gum showed up in the final episode of Itaewon Class, only for Park Seo-joon to return the favour by making an appearance in Record of Youth? Let’s be honest, all of our jaws collectively dropped when K-drama royalty Gong Yoo was revealed to be the sinister Salesman who lurked in subway stations to recruit unsuspecting people in Squid Game. One thing is for sure: K-drama viewers can always look forward to the most fun celebrity cameos. Some of these cameos play a brief role in the storyline, others are pure fan-service, but they are all tremendously entertaining.
When Gu Won (Lee Jun-ho) is baffled by the swell of jealousy he’s feeling, who better to help him navigate his emotions than a police officer played by prolific actor Jin Seon-kyu, best known for his performance in The Outlaws? What starts off as the officer sternly writing Won up for littering takes a wholesome turn when Jin sits down to have a heart-to-heart with him. “We can tell these things right away,” he says smugly, encouraging Won to open up despite himself. It turns out that the police officer’s advice is coming from a place of personal heartbreak and his desire to save Won from the same fate. Best of luck holding back your giggles when Jin starts to croon Taeyang’s iconic ballad “Eyes, Nose, Lips”.
Actor, model and former member of K-pop group SF9, Rowoon has been having a solid run as an actor, with roles in well-received K-dramas like Extraordinary You, The King’s Affection and most recently, Destined With You. However, fans were not expecting his cameo in A Time Called You, the Korean adaptation of Taiwanese romance Someday or One Day. Those who hadn’t watched the original show were pleasantly surprised by the queer twist, as well as the charming chemistry between Rowoon and lead actor Ahn Hyo-seop (Abyss, Business Proposal). We see Ahn’s Koo Yeon-jun (the real Yeon-jun, before Nam Si-heon time-travelled into his body — it’s a whole thing) in a classroom, eagerly saving a seat for another boy. Enter Rowoon, who plays his friend (or something more?) Tae-ha. There are many stolen glances, unspoken attraction bubbling under the surface. Later, Tae-ha whisks Yeon-jun away in his mum’s car for a spontaneous trip. “We can just go wherever the road takes us,” he says, smiling. They hold hands for the first time and sparks fly — until the two end up in a fatal car-crash. Their love story may have ended before it started, but the brief scenes with Rowoon remain the most memorable moments of the show. Director Kim Jin-won revealed that Rowoon, who is good friends with Ahn Hyo-seop, did not take any money for the cameo.
In addition to his popular leading role in King the Land, Lee Jun-ho also made a suspense-filled cameo in the final episode of Celebrity, a show about the pitfalls of social media addiction and influencer culture in South Korea. At the end of the show, the protagonist A-ri (Park Gyu-young) makes the decision to leave behind the fickle world of social media as well as the influencer lifestyle, focusing instead on her real life happiness. A cleaning truck pulls up to clear out the antagonist’s apartment. The iPad lying on the table catches the attention of one of the cleaning crew. He switches it on to reveal an Instagram fanpage dedicated to A-ri. The man’s face still hasn’t been revealed, but it eventually turns out to be Lee Jun-ho, who has a mysterious smirk on his face as he browses the account and sees a post with the caption: “Now will you come along with me?” Director Kim Cheol-kyu (who helmed the acclaimed Flower of Evil and Confession starring Lee Jun-ho himself) was bent on casting a well-known actor for the cameo in order to create a lasting impression with the climax, and to leave the audience wondering if yet another person would be drawn into the dark world of social media influencers. Celebrity also has a dozen other celebrity cameos, including Business Proposal actress Seol In-ah and (G)I-DLE member Yuqi.
It has been six years since Strong Girl Bong-soon came out, but fans still leave comments on the lead actors’ social media pages, begging them to do another drama together. Such was the chemistry of Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik, who played a woman with super-strength and a laid-back millionaire CEO respectively. The 2023 spin-off, starring Lee Yoo-mi (of Squid Game fame) and Byeon Woo-seok (best known for 20th Century Girl), continues with the supernatural premise of the original. The show’s ratings reached an all-time high with the third episode, when Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik returned to reprise their roles as Bong-soon and Min-hyuk for three whole minutes. It is a joy to see feisty “Bong-bong”, lovestruck “Min-min” and their delightfully playful chemistry on our screens once again. Another character remarks, “You two make a great couple.” We wholeheartedly agree.
Best known for his roles in Youth of May and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Lee Sang-yi is an agent of chaotic evil in Crash Course in Romance, directed by Yoo Je-won (who also directed Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, which is how Lee’s cameo in Crash Course came to be.) The actor plays Mr. Popular, an unscrupulous livestreamer with an appetite for scandal. He shows up outside Nam Haeng-seon’s banchan (side dish) restaurant just as rumours about her relationship with maths instructor Choi Chi-yeol catch fire — all so Mr. Popular can be the first to expose her to the public. With his green cap, sunglasses and phone camera forever recording, Mr. Popular is shadiness personified. To continue his streak of illicit exposés and smoke out the “star adulterer” himself, Mr. Popular ends up outside Chi-yeol’s maths academy building, livestreaming the whole time. Lee’s portrayal of Mr. Popular injects dry humour into a grim situation.