Cha Eun-woo — Movies, TV Shows & Roles

Actor

1997-03-30 · Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea · Male

52 series in the catalog

Lee Dong-min (Korean: 이동민; born March 30, 1997), known professionally as Cha Eun-woo (Korean: 차은우, Korean pronunciation: [t͡ɕʰa ɯn u]), is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Astro, and debuted as a solo artist with the extended play (EP) Entity in 2024. Cha made his acting debut in the film My Brilliant Life (2014) and gained widespread recognition through his lead roles in television series such as Gangnam Beauty (2018), Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung (2019), and True Beauty (2020–2021), the latter contributing to his international recognition as a figure of the Korean Wave. He has since starred in Island (2022–2023), A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023–2024), and Wonderful World (2024), and the film The First Ride (2025). He has received several accolades throughout his career and has been included in various notable lists, including Forbes Korea Power Celebrity, Forbes 30 Under 30, and Gallup Korea's actor rankings.
Early life and education
Cha Eun-woo was born Lee Dong-min on March 30, 1997, in Gunpo, South Korea. His stage name "Cha Eun-woo" was given by his agency and consists of the hanja characters Eun (銀) meaning "silver", and Woo (優), meaning "excellence". He has a younger brother.
During his childhood, Cha aspired to become a doctor, prosecutor, or police officer.
He attended Nungnae Elementary School, Suri Middle School, and Suri High School. In November 2015, he was accepted into Sungkyunkwan University through early admission in the department of acting. He graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School in February 2016, specializing in broadcasting and entertainment within the acting department. He later graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a major in performing arts in the theater department.
Career
2013–2015: Career beginnings and acting debut
Cha was discovered by a talent scout at a school festival and signed with Fantagio during his first year of high school to pursue acting. He was also offered a place in the company's idol trainee program, where he began training alongside his acting activities.
In 2014, while still a trainee under his real name Lee Dong-min, he appeared in a KBS news report on the K-pop training system. That same year, he made his acting debut with a minor role in the film My Brilliant Life, starring Gang Dong-won and Song Hye-kyo. His appearance in the film generated early public interest, leading to the creation of an online fan cafe dedicated to him. Due to the positive response, the rookie actor Lee was selected as the brand model for the Korean cosmetics Shara Shara.
He was the fourth trainee to be officially introduced with the "Fantagio i-Teen Photo Test Cut". In August 2015, Cha was cast as the lead in the web drama To Be Continued with Kim Sae-ron.
2016–2022: Debut with Astro, solo activities and rising popularity
In 2016, Cha appeared on the KBS1 quiz show Challenge Golden Bell and revealed that he was preparing to debut with Astro. He featured in the SBS special television program Find Me, in one of the "Truman" roles. He debuted in Astro on February 23, with the EP Spring Up. In May, Cha was announced as one of the cast members of SBS reality-documentary show Law of the Jungle in New Caledonia. In August, Cha participated in the Chuseok special variety show Replies That Make Us Flutter alongside Dahyun, where the two played fictionized versions of themselves in a high school romantic comedy. In September, he participated in another Chuseok pilot program, Boomshakalaka. Cha was announced as a host of Show! Music Core alongside Kim Sae-ron, Lee Soo-min and Xiyeon from 2016 to 2018. In 2016, he also starred in the web drama My Romantic Some Recipe.
In 2017, Cha was cast in the KBS2 drama Hit the Top and starred in the web drama Sweet Revenge. Cha was announced as a host of MBC Gayo Daejejeon from 2017 to 2019. In 2018, Cha starred in the YouTube Original show Top Management, playing the role of a young man who aspired to be an idol. The show was a first for the streaming service, which at the time had never offered a "YouTube K-drama series". He was later cast in the JTBC romantic comedy series Gangnam Beauty, his first leading role on television. Following the series, Cha was named one of GQ Korea's "Men of the Year" in 2018. In 2019, Cha starred in the historical drama Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung alongside Shin Se-kyung. He played the role of a royal prince who became a romance novelist, and won the Excellence Award for an Actor and Best Couple Award with Shin at the MBC Drama Awards. In December, he was announced as a cast member of the new variety show Handsome Tigers alongside Joy, Lee Sang-yoon, Yoo Seon-ho, and Seo Jang-hoon.
In April 2020, Cha joined SBS television show Master in the House as a fixed cast member. In October 2020, Cha made his runway debut at Seoul Fashion Week for Ji Chun-hee's Miss Gee collection. At the 2020 SBS Entertainment Awards, he won the Rookie Award for his role on the show. In December 2020, he starred in the tvN coming-of-age romance drama True Beauty based on the webtoon of the same name, playing a high school student alongside Moon Ga-young. In June 2021, he left Master in the House. In November 2021, Cha released "Don't Cry, My Love", a ballad song featuring a piano performance, for the official soundtrack of the comic Under The Oak Tree. In 2022, Cha recorded the remake of "Focus on Me" for the soundtrack of the Kakao Webtoon The Villainess Is a Marionette, released on February 22. He then played the role of a Navy officer in Hwang In-ho's urban terror action film Decibel which was released in November 2022. Later that year he starred in TVING drama Island alongside Kim Nam-gil, Lee Da-hee and Sung Joon, playing the role of an exorcist priest. On December 30, Fantagio released an official statement stating that Cha had decided to renew his contract with the agency.
2023–present: Solo ventures and mainstream popularity
In 2023, Cha held his first solo photography exhibition, titled ARCHIVE, at The Seouliteum gallery in Seoul, which featured personal photographs. He also starred in the webtoon-based fantasy romance drama A Good Day to Be a Dog. For the series, he released the remake of the song "Jealousy", originally sung by Yoo Seung-beom, as part of the soundtrack. Cha became the first Asian artist to receive the VMAs Global Icon Award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2023, a special award honoring achievements in global artistic activities.
In 2024, Cha embarked on the "Just One 10 Minutes "Mystery Elevator", his first solo fan concert. He performed all songs included in his album for the first time at the Seoul fan concert. On February 15, Cha's extended play Entity was released, containing the lead single "Stay". The music video featured him and American actress India Eisley. His Just One 10 Minutes fan concert began on February 17 in South Korea, including tours to Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, as well as Indonesia. On February 19, the music video of the EP, "Where Am I" was released. On March 27, it was announced that three more concerts were added in Hong Kong, Brazil and Mexico between April 26 and June 5. On April 25, due to demand, a second show was added in Mexico at Arena CDMX on June 4. On May 16, the encore fan concert was announced. It began in Japan at K-Arena Yokohama on June 29 and 30. Cha reunited with the audience in South Korea at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium on July 6.
Cha co-starred in the revenge thriller series Wonderful World opposite actress Kim Nam-joo aired in 2024. In August 2024, Cha released the digital single "Hey Hello" in collaboration with Peder Elias. In December 2024, Cha featured in Lee Seung Gi's 20th debut anniversary album With, in the song "Because You're My Woman".
In the beginning of 2025, Cha starred as one of the cast members of tvN's variety show Rented in Finland along with Lee Je-hoon, Lee Dong-hwi, and Kwak Dong-yeon. In April…