Cha Eun-woo talked about receiving awards as both an idol and an actor in recent interview 

It seems that he has walked on a solid path, but there was a time of pain and patience for Cha Eun-woo. The actor had gone through numerous trials and errors and walked silently in search of his own way.

The tvN drama “True Beauty” based on a webtoon of the same name depicts a romantic comedy story of Joo-kyung (Moon Ga-young), who became a goddess through makeup, and Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), who has wounds in his heart because of his mother. Cha Eun-woo played Lee Su-ho in the drama. Lee Su-ho is a perfect person who is handsome, good at studying, and sports, but he has a scar on his heart.

Cha Eun-woo showed more growth and development in this drama than his previous work. In particular, he performed accurate vocalization and pronunciation and gradually showed stable acting skills, which were well received. As a result, he won the Emotive Award at the 2021 Asian Artist Awards (hereinafter referred to as 2021 AAA). It was an achievement after about six years of hard work.

Recently, Star News had a chance to interview Cha Eun-woo in person. Recalling the “2021 AAA” held last year, he said, “I was twice as happy to win as a singer and an actor. It was so meaningful that the members congratulated me. Doesn’t “emotive” itself mean that it gave you emotions? I will become an actor and singer who conveys more emotions in the future.”

The reason why this award ceremony was even more special was that he won the Emotion Award with actress Moon Ga-young, who was his co-star in “True Beauty.” It would have been great for him to reunite Moon Ga-young, who is also his university alumni, at an awards ceremony, not the set. Cha Eun-woo said, “As the years go by, here’s what I feel. If you go to a place to commemorate the year, you will have more colleagues and seniors and juniors you know. In fact, I used to feel really awkward and intimidated in the past, but I’m comfortable these days. I was especially happy to receive the award because (Moon) Ga-young noona and I worked together.”

“True Beauty,” which aired last year, was very popular in Korea and abroad. The drama is also aired in Japan, and the original webtoon also attracted attention in Europe. In addition, Moon Ga-young proved she became a hot topic with 6 million SNS followers, Kang Min-ah 3 million followers, and Hwang In-yeop 7 million followers. Cha Eun-woo already had a high number of followers, but after appearing in “True Beauty,” he surpassed 13 million.

Just by looking at the script, ‘True Beauty‘ has shown potentials that it would draw attention from the beginning until the end of its broadcast. In addition, the original webtoon was already popular, so the success of the drama was basically secured to some extent. Cha Eun-woo confessed that he was hesitant to star in “True Beauty.” He opened up about his casting story, “Before I was cast, fans told me that I looked like Su-ho. Moonbin and Sanha also said we looked similar. When I heard that, I said, ‘Really?.’ I found it fascinating that I got the part 2 weeks after I saw the webtoon.”

He also added, “Actually, it was burdensome that the part has an original character. I really wanted to show a new side of myself, so after talking with the writer and director, I decided to play Su-ho.”

Cha Eun-woo‘s worries probably include Su-ho having a similar image to his previous drama character. tvN’s ‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’, in which he played the male lead, also tells the story of a female protagonist who has a complex about her appearance and undergoes plastic surgery to have a new life. Cha Eun-woo took on the role of Do Kyung-seok, who has a cold personality.

Since there are major similarities between these two characters, Cha Eun-woo tried to differentiate himself through his acting. He said he clearly had this in mind, “In Su-ho’s case, I put a lot of effort into the action scenes. I had many conversations with the director and paid much attention to make my portrayal of this role different.”

A common scene in ‘True Beauty‘ and ‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’ is the part where the students cheer. When asked if he felt good when hearing the sound of students admiring his looks, even though it was acting, Cha Eun-woo responded, “I am grateful to the student cast.” He added while laughing, “In fact, isn’t it possible that they actually thought I’m not really handsome?”. He expressed his gratitude for the actors who played the students, saying, “We worked hard together.”