Biography of Cha Eun-woo
Cha Eun-woo, also known by his birth name Lee Dong-min, is a South Korean singer, actor, and model under the agency ‘Fantagio’. He is a member of the K-pop group ‘Astro’, which made its debut in 2016 and was recognised by ‘Billboard’ as one of the greatest new K-pop bands. Due to his good features, the Korean media have labelled him ‘Face Genius’.
Early Life and Education
Cha Eun-woo was born Lee Dong-min, on March 30, 1997, in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. After attending Neungnae Elementary School, he continued his education at Suri Middle School and Suri High School. Additionally, he once attended a primary school in the Philippines.
He studied for his bachelor’s in Broadcasting and Entertainment at the Hanlim Multi Art School from 2013 to 2016. During his senior year, he served as both the class president and the basketball team’s captain.
During his time at Hanlim, he was featured on ‘Golden Bell Challenge’, a ‘KBS’ high-school quiz show. This helped him get attention before making his debut as an idol, and the ‘Koreaboo’ community gave him the name ‘Hanlim Yeungnam’.
Career and Achievements
The manager of ‘Fantagio’, an entertainment agency, noticed him at a school festival and he offered him a chance, which he initially rejected. However, the talent hunters insisted and eventually succeeded in convincing him and his parents to permit Cha Eun-woo to enrol as a trainee with the talent agency.
He and his bandmate Moon-bin auditioned for the position of ‘Promotional Model’ in ‘Mr. Pizza’s iTeen’ Audition in 2013 and the two were chosen. A few months later, he made an appearance alongside future bandmates Moon-bin, Rocky, and Jinjin in the ‘KBS’ news segment ‘Hallyu Star & Gangnam Style: Trainee Interview.’
In September 2014, he made his debut in the industry in a cameo role in the movie ‘My Brilliant Life’. In 2015, he made an appearance as ‘Cha Eun-woo’ in Fantagio’s web drama ‘To Be Continued.’
On February 23, 2016, his band ‘Astro’ made their debut with the EP ‘Spring Up’. In the same year, Eun-woo was announced as a host of ‘Show! Music Core’ and starred in the web drama ‘My Romantic Some Recipe’.
In 2017, he was cast in the KBS2 drama ‘Hit the Top’ and the web drama ‘Sweet Revenge’.
In 2018, he starred in the web drama ‘Top Management’ and the JTBC romantic comedy series ‘Gangnam Beauty’, which saw a rise in his popularity.
In 2019, he starred in the historical drama ‘Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung’ and the variety show ‘Handsome Tigers’.
In 2020, he portrayed the perfect man ‘Lee Su-ho’ in the tvN drama ‘True Beauty‘ and joined ‘Master in the House’ as a fixed cast member.
In 2021, he was cast in the upcoming film ‘Decibel’ and the TVING drama ‘Island’.
In 2022, he recorded ‘Focus on Me’ for the soundtrack of the Kakao webtoon ‘The Villainess Is a Marionette’. He was also cast as the lead in the webtoon-based drama ‘A Good Day to be a Dog’ in the same year. He renewed his contract with his agency Fantagio in December 2022.
He also has been involved in several endorsement campaigns with brands such as ‘Penshoppe’, ‘Noona Holdak Chicken’, ‘O’Neill’, ‘Burberry’, ‘Konvy’, ‘Mackiss Company’, ‘Samhwa Foods’, ‘Dashu Perfume’, ‘Ms Glow’, ‘Mister Potato’, ‘Liberclassy’, ‘Dior Beauty’, and ‘Skechers’. He was chosen as the first global ambassador for ‘Dior Capture Totale’, the new Serum.
Military Life
Cha Eun-woo has reportedly not enlisted in his required military duty.
Personal Life
According to rumours, Cha Eun-woo and his co-star Moon Ga-young in the film ‘True Beauty’ are dating. The couple and their on-screen chemistry in the film were adored by the audience.
Impact and Influence
Cha Eun-woo was listed on the ‘Men of the Year’ list by ‘GQ Korea’ in November 2018. He also came in sixth place for the Most Accumulated Points On Male Idol Brand Reputation in 2019. In the same year, he was ranked as the male ‘Hot Instagrammer’ in the ‘K-pop Radar Year-End Chart’.
In 2021, he achieved 17th position on Forbes Korea Power Celebrity and sixth in the SNS category.
In April 2022, he was chosen as the face of men’s fashion brand ‘Liberclassy’. As a result, the company experienced a significant boost in website traffic, in the first week of April compared to the previous week. Additionally, the brand also noticed an uptick in engagement on social media. According to a ‘Liberclassy’ representative, the Cha Eun-woo impact resulted in sales of more than 70 million won in pre-booking alone.
As reported by ‘Lefty’, in 2022 Cha Eun-woo was named the top male influencer in the fashion industry, and also the only male to make it into the top 10 influencers with an earned media value of $82.5 million in 2023.
Awards
- Brand Customer Loyalty Awards 2023
Best Male Idol-Actor (2023) - Asia Artist Awards 2021
Emotive Award – Actor (2021) - Brand Customer Loyalty Awards 2021
Best Male Idol-Actor (2021) - Brand of the Year Awards 2021
Acting Idol of the Year (Male) (2021) - Newsis K-EXPO Cultural Awards 2020
Seoul Tourism Organization CEO Award (2020) - SBS Entertainment Awards 2020
Rookie Award (2020) - iQiyi Entertainment Awards 2019
Most Charming Actor (2019) - Korea First Brand Awards 2019
Male Idol-Actor Award (2019) - Korea First Brand Awards 2019
Male Commercial Model Award (2019) - MBC Drama Awards 2019
Excellence Award for an Actor in a Wednesday-Thursday Drama (2019) - MBC Drama Awards 2019
Best Couple Award – Cha Eun-woo with Shin Se-kyung – ‘Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung’ (2019) - Yahoo! Asia Buzz Awards 2018
Most Searched Rookie Actor – ‘Gangnam Beauty’ (2018) - Korea Drama Awards 2018
Best New Actor – ‘Gangnam Beauty’ (2018) - Korea Drama Awards 2018
Hallyu Star Award – ‘Gangnam Beauty’ (2018) - Indonesian Television Awards 2018
Special Award – Person of the Year (2018) - Asia Artist Awards 2018
Rising Star Award – ‘Gangnam Beauty’ (2018) - MTN Broadcast Advertising Festival 2017
CF Male Star Award (2017)
Interesting Facts about Cha Eun-woo
- Lee Dong Min is his real name. The name Cha Eun-woo is his stage name, which he chose after portraying a character with the same name in the 2015 online series ‘To Be Continued’, for which he received widespread acclaim.
- Cha Eun-woo made his acting debut in the entertainment world before being well-known as a K-pop idol. His acting career began in 2014 when he played a little part in the Song Hye-kyo drama My Brilliant Life.
- He got attention even before making his debut as an idol when he was featured on ‘Golden Bell Challenge!,’ a ‘KBS’ high-school quiz show.
- He was listed on the ‘Men of the Year’ list by ‘GQ Korea’.
FAQs
- What is Cha Eun-woo’s music band name?
Astro is the music band name of Cha Eun-woo - How old is Cha Eun-woo?
He is 25 years old - How tall is Cha Eun-woo?
He is about 1.83 m tall. - How much is Cha Eun-woo’s net worth?
He has a net worth of $8 to $10 million. - Is Cha Eun-woo single?
According to rumours, Cha Eun-woo and his co-star in the film ‘True Beauty’, Moon Ga-Young are dating. - What is Cha Eun-woo’s Instagram ID?
eunwo.o_c is the Instagram ID of Cha Eun-woo.
