‘True Beauty’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

ICYMI, the 2020 K-drama True Beauty starring Cha Eun-Woo, Moon Ga-Young, and Hwang In-Youp recently landed on Netflix, reigniting the hype for it.

The series is about Lim Ju-Kyeong (Moon Ga-Young), a girl who was bullied for her looks. She found a fresh start at a new school after discovering the power of makeup. Two of the school’s heartthrobs, Lee Suho (Cha Eun-Woo) and Han Seojun (Hwang In-Youp) became her close friends and confidants and they eventually fell in love with her.

Left to right - Hwang In-Yeop, Moon Ga-Young, and Cha Eun-Woo as the leads of 2020 K-Drama, True Beauty. (Photo from: @tvn_drama)

Despite the cliche tropes of this drama, it’s quite relatable and meaningful to anyone who views makeup as a tool for self-empowerment. It also has themes of friendship, family relationships, and the dangers of bullying and social media which add some depth to the otherwise fun and predictable narrative.

Whether you’re discovering True Beauty just now or you’re rewatching it on Netflix, we’re sure that you won’t find it hard to fall in love with this K-drama. Here’s a recap of what the True Beauty cast has been up to since this series first aired.

1. Moon Ga-Young

After True Beauty, the German-born South Korean actress guest-starred in one episode of the drama Sh**ting Stars headlined by Lee Sung-Kyung and Kim Yeong-Dae.

Moon Ga-Young was then cast opposite Yeo Jin-Goo in the supernatural rom-com Link: Eat, Love, Kill, where they played two people whose emotions are tangled. The drama wasn’t received well given the poor plot but audiences found Ga-Young and Jin-Goo’s performances the saving grace of the show.

Ga-Young’s most recent project is The Interest Of Love with Yoo Yeon-Seok, Keum Sae-Rok, and Jung Ga-Ram. It’s about four people with different ideas of love and romance crossing paths at the Youngpo branch of KCU bank. Their encounters led to them getting more and more involved with one another. The drama wrapped up in February 2023.

While there’s no news yet as to what Ga-Young will do next, we’re placing our bets for her to play Shin Chae-Kyung in the upcoming remake of the iconic K-drama Princess Hours. How about you?

2. Cha Eun-Woo

ASTRO’s Cha Eun-Woo has been quite busy since True Beauty. In 2022, he had a supporting role in the star-studded action movie Decibel led by Lee Jong-Suk, Kim Rae-Won, Jung Sang-Hoon, and Park Byung-Eun. He also landed the role of Father Yohan in Part 1 and Part 2 of the supernatural drama Island. Both roles were quite a leap from his past rom-com roles, but Eun-Woo is set to make his comeback to the genre with A Good Day To Be A Dog, a drama set to air this year.

Aside from acting, Eun-Woo is also occupied with his idol work as a member of the group ASTRO. They’ve launched several singles, albums, and sub-unit releases from 2020 to the present, giving their fans songs like We Still (Be With You), One, Candy Sugar Pop, and more. In 2023, one of their members, Rocky, announced that he will be leaving the group while Eun-Woo and the four remaining members of ASTRO will continue to pursue group and solo work under their unit.

Cha Eun-Woo also became the global ambassador for several brands such as Dior and Dior Beauty, Skechers, Giordano, and Chaumet after his True Beauty stint.

3. Hwang In-Youp

After audiences fell in love with him as Han Seojun, Hwang In-Youp also proceeded to appear in several acting productions.

There’s the independent film Swimming Bird (2020), where he played opposite Lee Ji-Ah, which won at the 1st Gwangmyeong Film Festival.

This was followed by the Netflix series The Sound Of Magic in 2021, which also starred K-drama heartthrob Ji Chang-Wook. In-Yeop also contributed to the drama’s soundtrack with the song Jinjihae Jigeum (English translation: I Mean It).

In 2022, the model-turned-actor was cast in the legal drama Why Her where he played a warm and caring law student with a painful past. In the same year, In-Yeop also held fan meetings across five countries in Asia.

He was recently seen in the reality TV show Youth MT where he reunited with his The Sound Of Magic co-stars.

Stream True Beauty on Netflix here.