Hyun Bin (현빈), whose real name is Kim Tae-pyung, is a South Korean actor born on September 25, 1982, in Seoul. He made his television debut in the early 2000s and quickly gained attention in Ireland, before achieving immense success with My Lovely Sam Soon in 2005. The drama, which has become one of the great classics of Korean romance, established Hyun Bin as one of the leading figures of his generation.
He confirms this with The Snow Queen, and then becomes a new television sensation thanks to Secret Garden in 2010. His portrayal of Kim Joo-won, a wealthy and arrogant heir at the center of a fantasy romance with Ha Ji-won, left a lasting mark on K-drama culture and earned him several awards, including the Grand Prize for Television at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
After completing his military service, Hyun Bin is back with Hyde, Jekyll, Me in 2015, in which he plays a character with a split personality. He went on to Memories of the Alhambra In 2018, a thriller blending romance, augmented reality, and suspense, starring Park Shin-hye.
His popularity reached a new high with Crash Landing on You in 2019, in which he plays Ri Jeong-hyeok, a North Korean officer who finds himself facing off against a South Korean heiress played by Son Ye-jin. The drama’s international success played a major role in boosting his profile outside of Asia.
A regular in the film industry, Hyun Bin alternates between action, thriller, and historical films, with Confidential Assignment, The Negotiation, Crawling, Bargaining or even Harbin, in which he plays the independence activist Ahn Jung-geun.
In 2025, he made his big comeback to TV dramas with Made in Korea, a political thriller set in the 1970s in which he plays Baek Ki-tae, an ambitious KCIA agent leading a double life. He reprises his role for Season 2 in 2026.
