Popular Korean Actors Who Lost Weight To Transform For Their Roles

Actors undergo physical transformations for their roles, and sometimes those transformations involve weight changes. These Korean stars went the extra mile–or ten–to lose weight for their characters.

1. Rowoon (SF9)

At a press conference for the K-Drama Destined With You, Rowoon revealed how he changed his body to suit his role.

Rowoon, already lean to begin with, lost 8kg (17.6 lbs) to the play male lead in this romance series. Why did he choose to lose weight? The actor wanted to look as much like his webtoon character as possible.

As this character has a familial history [of illness], I lost around 8kg. That’s why I came out looking a little bit more handsome. I’m also so thankful that it made me look a little more like a manhwa.

— Rowoon

2. Park Seo Joon

Park Seo Joon co-starred with Park Bo Young and Lee Byung Hun in the disaster thriller Concrete Utopia. For the role of Min Seong, he lost 7kg (15lbs).

Between wearing heavy winter clothes while shooting in the summer and losing weight, Park Seo Joon experienced hardships while filming. “There were times when I felt dizzy,” he said. “because I lost about seven kilograms for the part. I had to explore certain emotions that I have never experienced before.”

3. Kim Sung Oh

Out of all the actors on this list, Kim Sung Oh had the most extreme weight loss by far.

For the 2016 thriller film Missing You, Kim Sung Oh lost 16 kg (35 lbs) in a single month. The sudden weight loss left him dangerously thin and ended up putting his life in danger.

During filming, Kim Sung Oh encouraged his costar to strangle him without holding back. He forgot, however, that he was much weaker then than he had been before losing weight. As such, he ended up passing out.

So, I didn’t lose weight to look good but to look grotesque. I didn’t have any physical strength in my body.

— Kim Sung Oh