14 Years Before Squid Game, Gong Yoo Starred In An All-Time Great K-Drama That's Still Worth Watching

More than a decade before Gong Yoo starred in Squid Game, he had a role in a 2007 romantic K-drama, Coffee Prince, which has aged well. The renowned South Korean actor began his acting career in 2001 in the K-dram teen series School, but his breakout role was in the award-winning Coffee Prince. Since then, Gong Yoo’s acting career has only gotten better. He has appeared in Netflix original K-dramas, The Trunk, The Silent Sea, and Squid Game, where he took on the role of the Recruiter.

Although he is known for his romantic K-dramas, Gong Yoo has proven that he has incredible range. Several of his films, including the 2016 South Korean zombie movie, Train to Busan, have been popular with audiences and critics worldwide. However, it’s his 2007 K-drama that led to the recognition that he has now.

Coffee Prince Is One Of The Best Slice-Of-Life K-Dramas

Although it’s been nearly 15 years since Coffee Prince was released, it’s still considered a K-drama masterpiece. The romantic Korean series focuses on the incredible love story between Gong Yoo’s Choi Han-gyeol and Yoon Eun-hye’s Go Eun-chan. When Han-gyeol’s grandma forces him to go on blind dates, he hires Eun-chan, who is often mistaken for a man, to pretend to be his boyfriend so that he can avoid being tied down. As the two begin to work together in a coffee shop that Han-gyeol is tasked with reinventing, their relationship moves from friendship to romance.

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There are several reasons Coffee Prince is such a remarkable K-drama. Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun-hye are great together, and their chemistry shines through in every scene they are in. They have charming camaraderie and complement each other well. Like many K-dramas, Coffee Prince also has an engaging subplot that focuses on another couple other than Eun-chan and Han-gyeol. The romantic Korean series is full of romance tropes that we all love, but the fact that it uses them to explore themes that were ahead of its time makes it stand out.

Coffee Prince Has Aged Well For A K-Drama That Was Already Ahead Of The Curve

Coffee Prince Has A Lot Of Deep Themes

Gong Yoo & Yoon Eun-hye with their arms around each other in The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

At the time that Coffee Prince was released, there were few K-dramas that dealt with themes like gender roles and sexuality. Despite the novelty of the K-drama’s premise during that era, it handled the subject matter surprisingly well. Although Eun-chan didn’t have the type of aesthetic and looks that are often associated with female leads in K-dramas, and also not really being the kind of woman he thought he would end up with, Han-gyeol still fell for her.

Gong Yoo won the Excellence Award at the 1st Korea Drama Awards for his portrayal of Choi Han-gyeol in Coffee Prince.

As the K-drama goes on, Eun-chan doesn’t become more feminine. Instead, she is her unique self for most of the episodes in the show. In some Korean series with a similar premise to Coffee Prince, the female lead character changes herself in order to be more like someone that males would find attractive. Eun-chan staying true to herself and the fact that Han-gyeol stays with her despite this are one of the highest draws of the romantic K-drama. It shows that love isn’t always about conventional appearances, especially because Han-gyeol begins to question his sexuality, but about character.

Coffee Prince Is Not The Only K-Drama Masterpiece Gong Yoo Has Been A Part Of

Gong Yoo Has Appeared In Several Great K-Dramas

Gong Yoo standing next to the ocean facing a young woman in Goblin

While Coffee Prince was great, it’s not the only romantic K-drama masterpiece that Gong Yoo has been in. In 2016, Gong Yoo had the lead role in the critically acclaimed fantasy Korean series, Goblin: The Lonely and Great God. Similar to Coffee Prince, Goblin has a unique premise that sets it apart from other K-dramas. In the romantic series, Gong Yoo plays a cursed goblin who falls for a young woman with the ability to see ghosts.

The Korean drama is incredibly funny, but also has emotional moments that pull at the heartstrings.

Goblin has several elements that make a romantic K-drama great, particularly the stellar chemistry between Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun. Despite their characters being the complete opposite of each other, it’s their differences that make them such a good couple. The Korean drama is incredibly funny, but also has emotional moments that pull at the heartstrings. Eight years after the TV show ended, Goblin remains one of the most highly-rated K-dramas of the past decade, and deserves just as much recognition as Coffee Prince.