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When the Korean pop group Miss A debuted on the Korean music scene in 2010, they made waves with their first EP and music that would come out soon after. While Miss A unfortunately fell into more obscurity during their final years as a group, one of the members, Suzy, born Bae Su-ji and known as Bae Suzy, maintained popularity in her home country of South Korea. Throughout her years as an idol, Suzy appeared in Korean dramas, making her debut with the popular school series Dream High, which featured several other Korean pop idols in its cast.
In the years following her acting debut, Suzy has continued to appear in Korean dramas that have been some of the biggest releases of their year. While her acting wasn’t the greatest in the beginning of her career, she has gotten better, especially in her more recent releases, like Doona! And Uncontrollably Fond. Suzy has become beloved in the Korean acting community, continuing her enduring popularity when she was an idol singing and dancing with Miss A. These are her best movies and television shows so far.
9 Big
A year after Suzy made her debut in Dream High, she starred in the television series Big. The series’ main cast consists of Gong Yoo and Lee Min-jung, who were just getting started in their careers as well. Lee is a substitute teacher who wants to get a certificate, and she’s engaged with a doctor who seems too perfect — until he ends up becoming distant just before their wedding. When her fiancé dies in a car accident and an exchange student finds himself trapped in the fiancé’s body, things are about to really change.
Why It’s Great
Big is a drama that starts off really well, and feels like it’s going somewhere in the beginning of its run time. The comedy works, and the plot feels pretty smooth. It begins to falter after the first couple of episodes, the writing becoming somewhat clunky, but it still has its target audience for sure.
Stream on Viki
8 Anna
Bae Suzy stars in the web series Anna, which came out in 2022. Because it’s only a web series, there are only six episodes in the entire show, making it something one can binge-watch easily. Bae portrays Lee Yumi, who goes by Anna, as she loses her true identity early on in the series after making up a lie that comes back to bite her. However, because of this, she has also lost all stability.
Why It’s Great
The series dwells on how far someone would go to keep up a lie, and Bae manages to play this character really well throughout the series. The themes are highly compelling, making it one of those shows audiences walk away with contemplating how it impacts the real world and their own lives.
Stream on Prime Video
7 While You Were Sleeping
In While You Were Sleeping, the main characters, played by Lee Jong-suk, Jung Hae-in, and Bae Suzy, are three professionals who, after saving each other, are now connected years later by having dreams that tell the future. They come together to try and prevent horrible events from happening, and when they have a common enemy, they have to learn to overcome even more issues.
Why It’s Great
This is a drama that merges several different genres, and it does it pretty well considering how the three core ones — romance, legal, and fantasy — wouldn’t seem like they would mesh well. Some Korean dramas struggle when they have three main characters to keep everyone’s story compelling throughout sixteen episodes, but this drama manages to find the perfect way to keep each of them relevant as more issues continue cropping up.
Stream on Viki
6 Dream High
Dream High is one of the original Korean school dramas that made the entire world fall in love with these kinds of shows, and, when it came out, featured some of the biggest idols at the time. Set in a high school, several students don’t want to be doctors, nurses, or teachers. They dream of becoming Korean pop idols, and take classes in music and dancing in order to chase after their dreams. Together, they will chase after those hopes and dreams, giving them opportunities and friendships.
Why It’s Great
Dream High is one of the most popular dramas of the early-2010s, and it’s because it does the school drama tropes so well. Each of the main characters has struggles outside their dreams of becoming idols, making them multidimensional and seeming so real as human beings. The choice of mainly using real idols and singers in the cast lends a favor to the plot as well, adding another layer of authenticity.
Stream on Viki
5 Gu Family Book
While Gu Family Book manages to merge together Korean folklore and fantasy with action, over the course of 24 episodes, audience members are prepared to go on a wild ride from the very beginning. When a half-human half-monster has to find a book that holds the secret of becoming entirely human, it begins an epic journey that features many colorful characters that appear along the way. The series came out in 2013, and was one of the first big projects that Bae Suzy was attached to.
Why It’s Great
At times, Gu Family Book can remind some dedicated viewers of Chinese dramas, particularly in the wuxia and fantasy action genres, it’s such a uniquely Korean tale in how it weaves together the fantasy and folklore. While it loses steam towards the end of the show, it is a continuous rollercoaster of emotions and possibilities as more truths come to light throughout the course of the series.
Stream on Viki
4 Doona!
Released in 2023, it seems like Bae Suzy was born to play the role of Doona in the Netflix series Doona!, making it one of her most prolific roles to date. In the web series, Doona is a Korean pop idol who struggled in the middle of her career. After having an incident where she collapses on stage, she retires, choosing to withdraw from social life and live in a hostel with college students. It’s there she meets a kind college student named Lee Won-jun (Yang Se-jong).
Why It’s Great
Doona! is a series that doesn’t feel like it belongs on television — it’s beautifully shot, the frames and stills often feeling like poetry in how the characters are blocked with natural backgrounds. Bae strikes a chord portraying a former K-pop idol, as was one herself. There’s plenty of discussion to be had about the state of the industry and how idols are treated, which we get glimpses of in the plot of this series.
Stream on Netflix
3 Start-Up
Start-Up tackles the subject of entrepreneurship and what it takes for one to chase after their dreams when coming from a background that isn’t privileged. The 2020 drama takes place in the Sandbox, the Korean equivalent of Silicon Valley, which becomes a center for innovation and business ideas for the people of the country. Bae portrays the main character, Seo Dal-mi, who has big dreams of becoming the Korean Steve Jobs, but she doesn’t have the family connections to get the support she needs. When she forms a team in the Sandbox, one of the members (Nam Joo-hyuk) is a genius who has had an eye on her.
Why It’s Great
There are many classic themes Westerners, especially Americans, would resonate with when it comes to starting your own business and trying to make it to the top. There’s a difficult journey when it comes to these kinds of success stories, and Start-Up tugs at the heartstrings in the process of getting there. It also helps that the main leads have some chemistry together, and some might find themselves entertained by rooting for the second male lead.
Stream on Netflix
2 Vagabond
2019’s Vagabond stars Bae Suzy with Lee Seung-gi, reuniting them after being in Gu Family Book. But in this show, Lee portrays a stunt worker with an ax to grind after his nephew, whom he takes care of, is killed in a plane crash while going on a field trip to Morocco. When he realizes that this plane crash might not have been an accident, he vows to find out the truth of what really happened. With the help of a government official (Bae), they’re going to fight the odds and system.
Why It’s Great
There’s a mystery and urgency threaded throughout Vagabond, making it one of those shows we find ourselves wanting more of throughout each episode. This is a Korean drama that’s actually really well written when it comes to the characters and cast, making it a must-watch if one has to pick a drama out of Bae Suzy’s filmography.
Stream on Netflix
1 Uncontrollably Fond
In Uncontrollably Fond, two classmates who went their separate ways after school reunite years later. One is a successful actor, the other a documentary filmmaker. When the girl is assigned to make a documentary about her former classmate, they find themselves bonding even deeper than when they were youngsters in school.
Why It’s Great
This is such a heartbreaking K-drama to watch, and the odds of it making an audience member cry are high. That’s the mark of excellent narrative and world building, as we have to become invested in these characters and their journeys. Bae Suzy and Kim Woo-bin both show up with their best acting games as well, making it a solid drama all-around.
Stream on Viki
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