South Asia’s Male Heart-throbs

I don’t know why there are a lot of gorgeous men in South Korea.  I couldn’t help but to give them a lot of space in this list.   Also, these are TV and film actors whose name appeared most in many of Asian fan’s websites.

South Korea

Bae Yong Joon

Bae Yong Joon –  born 29^th of August 1972 in Seoul, South Korea. Endowed with a killer smile and a perfectly sculpted 6-pack abs, he had made around 50 product endorsements, 12 TV series and 3 films. He became famous worldwide through his dramatic role in “Winter Sonata“  and in the fantasy-action-adventure, The Legend, both of which are hit TV series.

He had finished his education at Sung Kyun Kwan University where he majored film studies. The last movie he made was “April Snow” in 2005.  He is currently not filming any movie but is very busy with his business ventures.  He loves photography hence he thought of publishing a travel book highlighting the best places in Korea and also to promote the country to his overseas fans.  His travel book is said to be released this Oct. 1, 2009.

Kwon Sang Woo

Kwon Sang Woo – started as a model prior pursuing an acting career. His popularity boosted in the success of the Asian TV series, “Stairway to Heaven”, where he played a childhood sweetheart named Cholo.  He got married September last year and is now a father to a 7-month old baby boy. His latest film, “More than Blue”, was release Mar. 11, 2009. He was one of Hollywood’s top choices to play as Kato in the Green Hornet movie, however it was given to Jay Chou. He was born Aug. 5, 1976.

Lee Dong-Gun

Lee Dong-gun – who could forget the charming guy in the movie “My Boyfriend is Type B” when actually his blood type is A.  Born 26^th of July 1980, this South Korean guy debuted as a singer in 1998 but his guesting stint in the Korean sitcom, “Three Friends”, paved the way to his acting career.  He became a successful actor in various hit TV series such as “Lovers in Paris” and “Stained Glass“.  The last movie he made was in 2007, titled “Changing Partners“. In May 2008, he then again recorded an album for his Japanese fans/supporters.  He will be temporarily unavailable on screen for at least 22 months to fulfill a youth’s obligation to Korea’s military service.

Won Bin

Won Bin – was born Nov. 10, 1977.  He first applied as an actor to take acting classes in a cable TV station. He got his big break in 2000 from Autumn Fairy Tale drama series which brought him to fame throughout the whole Asia. From then on he is constantly making films and TV series, it was only interrupted when he have to do mandatory service to the South Korean army in 2005. He was discharged from the service in June 2006 due to his acquired injury and has to undergo rehabilitation for more than a year.

He was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in Sept. 2007.  Since then he became busy attending to various charitable activities. He made a comeback in the movie “Mother” last Feb 2009 and had made it to the red carpet for 2009 Cannes Film Festival. He is currently deciding on his next project.

Hyun Bin

Hyun Bin – is also from Seoul, South Korea, he was born Sept. 25, 1982.  He became most popular as the restaurant owner in the TV series “My Name is Kim Sam Soon” and in the hit movie “A Millionaire’s First Love”.  Note that in these two projects, he both played as an arrogant rich man, a role that really fits his aura. It was confirmed last Aug. 5, 2009 that he is dating Song Hye Go, his co-star in the TV series “Worlds Within”.  Hyun Bin is currently working on the TV series, “Friend, our Legend”.

Taiwan

Jerry Yan

Jerry Yan – a supermodel turned singer-actor was born Jan 1, 1977. He is popularly known as Dao Ming Si in the hit TV series “Meteor Garden“.  He was a member of the group F4, which is hailed as the most successful boy band in Asia. His album “Extra Freedom” was released on June 18, 2009 and has been achieving great results in ranking the music charts and in number of albums sold.  The last movie he made was in 2004, Magic Kitchen. He was more into making TV series and song albums.  Jerry’s being in a low profile, shy attitude and aloofness to the media was often misinterpreted. However, he recently begin to show a friendly and positive attitude towards media through the influence of his bubbly and cheerful co-star Ella in his recent TV series, “Down with Love“.

Taiwan/Japan

Takeshi Kaneshiro

Takeshi Kaneshiro – born Oct. 11, 1973, with a mixed blood of Taiwanese & Japanese race, he began his career as a commercial model and left schooling to take his singing and acting career.  Would you regret that decision if you had made 41 movies, 11 solo albums, 6 TV series, around 25 product/service endorsements and became more popular in the films – House of Flying Daggers, Hero, The Warlords and Battle of the Red Cliff 1 & II.  He will be working on his next film “Onimusha” which is scheduled to be released in 2011.

Philippines

DingDong Dantes

Dingdong Dantes – started as a print and commercial model that later turned as a dancer, host, actor and director.  He is one of highest paid actor, highest paid underwear model, most-sought after leading man and product endorser in the country. Born Aug. 2, 1980, this actor started at a very young age of nine and had accomplished so much in his entire career, having done 14 TV shows, 20 films, 17 product endorsements and around 16 popularity and acting awards. He was ranked 3^rd by E-news (Hollywood) in their list of 25 Sexiest Men in the World.  He currently plays the role of Kwong Sang Woo in the Philippine version of the Korean TV series, “Stairway to Heaven“.