“Doesn’t everything in life have a fifty-fifty chance? Either it happens or it doesn’t.” – Bogeol | |
Once again, I am back with another article, which at this point, is not surprising at all! The year 2024 is truly the "year of articles" for me, and this day won’t be any different from the previous ones so sit down, get comfortable, and let’s get down to business.
I am sure that many of you watchers have a clever idea which actor or actress started out as a singer before shifting their career to acting. It is not a secret and many times the presence of a singer-actor on screen brings out something new, and great – like original soundtracks. But have you ever wondered if actors and actresses who didn’t previously pursue career in singing can sing as well? In this article we will look at top ten actors and actresses who can sing just as well as those acting singers!
| I must start this list with one of the top actors of South Korea – Kim Soo Hyun himself. The nation’s sweetheart and sweetheart of many watchers – including me.
His first big role was in Dream High, which is a TV series about singing, and Soo Hyun indeed showed his talent. I clearly remember that in older interviews Soo Hyun admitted that he wasn’t sure whether he would land the role since he had doubts about his singing. In the end, he did get the role and rose to fame.
Even though Soo Hyun doesn’t sing much, every time he does sing, it is something great. Other than in Dream High, he sang the OST for his other hit TV series, My Love from Another Star. | |
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| | Who knew this actress and model can sing as well? I certainly didn’t so imagine my surprise when Youtube recommended me one of her live stages, where I heard her for the first time.
An actress known for her sweet roles indeed has a sweet voice as well. Famously known for her role in One Spring Night and most recently Behind Your Touch, one can only dream for her to sing a song for the soundtrack of her projects. |
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| Once again, a very popular actor and musical actor that’s been in the acting industry for a very long time. I saw him for the first time in King 2 Hearts where I fell in love with him immediately. I didn’t know back than that he would quickly rise to fame and deliver outstanding performances in many of his projects, like Hospital Playlist and most recently, Captivating the King.
Did you know that other than being a great actor, he is also a skilled singer? I think that’s a given since he also married an excellent singer! He sung about ten songs for TV series and he starred in about 21 musicals, truly proving that he is a very capable singer. | |
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| | A unique actress who landed a role in one of the most famous South Korean TV series and movies: Grabbing our hearts in the powerful fantasy melodrama Goblin, Go Eun quickly rose to fame and became the nation’s sweetheart along with her then acting partner, Gong Yoo. While watching the series and getting to know the actress, doing a little stalking, I learned that Go Eun is not only a skilled actress with amazing range of emotions that she can portray, but she is also a unique singer as well! Her deeper voice is truly soothing, and I personally love to listen to it on rainy days.
The actressed has released six original songs, predominantly soundtrack songs for TV series, but she also sang many cover songs, like "Breathe" originally sung by Lee Hi and written by Kim Jong Hyun. |
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| I think that the list I created for some reason features amazing megastars and I am more than okay with that! It was the year 2010 when I saw Secret Garden for the first time, and I immediately fell in love with the story and the soundtrack, which played an important role in the series. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that the main soundtrack was blessed with Hyun Bin’s voice as well, with him being the main star of the series.
His sorrowful voice in the track "That Man" is memorable even 14 years later, which sounds crazy. Overall, Hyun Bin has released only three songs, "That Man", "Can’t Have You", and "Dream In My Heart". | |
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Other than being a skilled actress who truly mastered her field, she is a skilled singer, which she could show in her most recent TV series, Castaway Diva, where she played an ordinary woman who got stuck on an island but gained fame with her unique voice.
Park Eun Bin released a single album in 2024 and other than her album, she blessed the soundtrack album of Castaway Diva with nine songs. Other than singing OST for her above project, she sung OST for her well-known series, Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo, and Operation Proposal, which is a South Korean TV series from 2012. |
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| The most beloved side character – at least that’s my definition of this outstanding man who I really admire. I must admit that years ago, when I saw him on screen for the first time, I didn’t know that Hong Suk was already a renowned musical actor that slowly seeped into on-screen acting. Honestly, I only learned that he is an amazing musical actor because I was searching for the Death Note musical and I saw him. I was truly flabbergasted and for few minutes stared at the screen contemplating if it was truly him or not. Spoiler – it was him.
While Hong Suk started his on-screen acting only in 2017, his acting journey started in 2011 with the musical "Street Life (Run To You)". His most recent on-screen gig was in Captivating the King where he played a royal guard and coincidentally acted alongside an actor who is already on this list, Jo Jung Suk. | |
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| | Han Hyo Joo – an actress most dominantly known for her three TV series; Moving, W, and Dong Yi.
Other than being a skilled actress, she also has an amazing voice, and I was truly stunned when I heard her for the very first time. She has numerous singles under her belt, and she has such unique voice that you know right away that it’s her.
Sadly, her most recent single is an OST for the movie Love, Lies which aired in 2016. Since then, Hyo Joo released multiple cover songs. |
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| Another amazing actor on this list, and I truly cannot imagine making this list without mentioning him. Just like the other actors and actresses on this list, Yeon Seok is also very popular in his job and his most popular TV series are Hospital Playlist, Mr. Sunshine, Dr. Romantic, and Reply 1994 for which he also sung an OST.
Even though Yeon Seok is a skilled singer, he has lent his voice for television soundtracks only twice, for Hospital Playlist and the already mentioned Reply 1994. Still, even though he has officially sung only two original songs, other than those two, he sang covers of other artists as well. | |
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| | Starting as a musical actor, Sung Cheol slowly entered the on-screen world and blessed us with his presence in smaller roles, like in Vincenzo, Our Beloved Summer, and most recently, Death’s Game.
Even though Sung Cheol is yet to land a big role in a non-musical project, he is considered a well-known actor in the musical world. As of 2024, Sung Cheol has starred in 13 musicals, and he is most known for playing the leading role L in the Death Note musical. Other than singing musical songs, he sang the OST for the TV special To. Jenny which he also starred in. I personally fell in love with his presentation of L and I can’t get enough of him, so be sure to check it out! |
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We have reached the end of the article and I truly had to slap my hands from including more names, because then this article would be truly endless. As you can see, I only included South Korean actors and actresses and it was done on purpose, so fret not because I already have a pretty good idea who would get on my list from other Asian countries. This list also focused on young actors, but keep in mind that there are many older actors and actresses who can sing as well, so that might be a potential sequel to this article!
If you knew about these actors prior to this article, then I hope that at least I made your day with the songs in this article. If you didn’t know that these actors and actresses can sing as well, which of them surprised you the most? I also want to send thanks to Cho Na and Tea for being an inspiration to this article, because I suddenly got this idea when I read their article, K-Pop Idols and Their Dramas.
Edited by: devitto (1st editor) |
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