Where Is She Now? The Korean Actress Who Is “Too Tall” For K-Dramas

For male celebrities, being tall can be a huge plus, but what about when it is a female star that is tall? In K-Pop, several female idols live their best lives like the tall queens they are, like Weki Meki’s Doyeon, who is 174cm (5’8), and EVERGLOW‘s Aisha, who is 176 cm (5’9).

Unfortunately for actress Lee Da Hee, her height of 176 cm (around 5’9) has had a negative effect on her career.

Lee Da Hee first debuted as a supermodel, where her height was an advantage. Her gorgeous looks make it easy to see how she was able to find success in this career.

Following this, she played more minor roles in several K-Dramas like The Legend and Secret Love before landing her breakout role in the series I Can Hear Your Voice in 2013.

One difficulty Lee Da Hee has in getting cast in roles comes from the height difference roles often want the female and male lead to have. With a desired 10 cm (or 4 inches) height difference, finding actors around 186 cm (or 6’1) can be challenging.

Another issue Lee Da Hee has spoken about because of her height is her diet. According to the star, she is constantly dieting because any change can affect her body image.

Since I’m so tall and have wide shoulders, I start looking really big if I gain weight. There’s a pretty clear difference [in my body image] when I gain or lose weight. I’m always on a diet so I can lose weight and appear smaller.

— Lee Da Hee

Despite these challenges, she has landed more roles in the last few years, including in the K-dramas Love Is For Suckers, and Island, alongside ASTRO‘s Cha Eunwoo. The two stars showed off their chemistry during press events for the series!

She has also gained popularity as a host for several series, including Queendom, Road to Kingdom and Single’s Inferno, and has hosted the Golden Disc Awards ceremony since 2020.

It’s great that she did not let industry standards stop her from living out her dreams, and we hope to see her in more roles soon!