You may have noticed that the child actor who plays the young Lee Jong Suk in "Doctor Stranger" is the same actor who played him when he was a child in "I Hear Your Voice." And that's appropriate as he has the same heartwarming way of glancing shyly down that Lee Jong Suk does. The gifted young actor Goo Seung Hyun was also a heartbroken ghost out to help his mother in "The Master's Sun" and played the young Hyun Bin in the film "The Fatal Encounter."
At 10 he's a film and drama veteran.
And he's not the only child actor winning hearts this year.
Another charming young actor was Kim Yoo Bin. In many ways Kim Yoo Bin was the star of "God's Gift - 14 Days" as almost everyone in the cast was looking for her character and Lee Bo Young kept repeating her name. Her Saet Byul character was stubborn but smart, disobedient but compassionate and initially not so appreciated by her mother. The nine-year-old actress has had several drama roles, including appearing as Choi Rang in "The Fugitive of Joseon," Na Da Reum in "A Thousand Affections" and Kim A Kang in "The Princess' Man. Her role in "A Thousand Affections" won her an MBC Best Child Actress Award" and she may win another award for her role in "God's Gift - 14 Days."
There were dozens of characters laced throughout the 51 episodes of "Empress Ki" but none was sadder than poor Prince Maha. He was hated by the man he thought was his father and denied much interaction with his true parents. Thirteen-year-old actor Kim Jin Sung played the role with a mixture of pain and haughtiness. And the prince who was a pawn was not his first saeguk role. He also played Prince Shinsung in "Gu Am He Joon" and had a role in "The Great King Sejong." And he played Ke Jin in the 2011 film "Ghastly."
And we can't forget Lee Chae Mi who melted the heart of Lee Jun Ki last year in "Two Weeks." This year her character helped heal the troubled marriage of her alienated parents in the drama "One Warm Word." She was so distraught over the idea of her parents' potential split-up that she forced them to give their marriage one last try. The seven-year-old actress had a busy year, with roles in the weekend drama "Golden Rainbow" and playing Jang Bi Dan in "Come Jang Bo Ri." Before "Two Weeks" she was in "Crazy Love" and "Cruel Palace - War of Flowers."