Cha Tae-hyun

1995-2000: Beginnings

Cha Tae-hyun started his career as a silver medalist in a 1995 KBS Talent Contest. Over the next several years he would star in a large number of TV dramas such as Sunflower and Happy Together, while also appearing in numerous TV commercials. He was the radio DJ for KBS Cool FM's FM Popular Music with Cha Tae-hyun from 1999-2000, and made a minor film debut in the comedy Hallelujah.

2001-2007: My Sassy Girl and musical debut

In 2001, he rose to fame through the hugely successful romantic comedy My Sassy Girl where he acted alongside Jun Ji-hyun. Cha's expressive acting established him as a recognized star in Korea as well as the Asian region at large, and he extended his fame by releasing his debut album Accident. His next film Lovers' Concerto (2002), a tragic melodrama with actresses Son Ye-jin and Lee Eun-ju, also proved to be a popular success.

From 2003, however, Cha's casting choices proved to be less inspired. He appeared in three comedies -- Crazy First Love, Happy Ero Christmas and Two Guys—that were widely criticized by audiences for their weak scripts and lack of creativity. He released his second album The Book later that year.

His 2005 films—the relationship film Sad Movie with an all-star ensemble cast, and melodrama My Girl and I opposite Song Hye-kyo, the remake of Japanese hit film Crying Out Love in the Center of the World—were box office disappointments. 2007's Highway Star, in which he played a masked trot singer, was a moderate success.

Cha hosted KBS Cool FM's Mr. Radio from 2007-2008, and was awarded Best Radio DJ at the 2007 KBS Entertainment Awards alongside Ahn Jae-wook. He then portrayed the town's jester who has the intelligence of a six-year-old in BABO (which means "fool" in Korean), a film adaptation of Kang Full's popular online comic.

2008-2012: Revived popularity and 2 Days & 1 Night

Cha regained his top star status when his comedy flick Scandal Makers became the number one film of 2008, attracting 8.2 million moviegoers and ranking among Korea's biggest hits of all time. The film centers on a radio talk show host who must face unforeseen consequences of his days of philandering as a teen idol star when he discovers that he already has a daughter (Park Bo-young) and a grandson (Wang Seok-hyun) at the age of 30. As a result of the film's success, the advertising industry named Cha as the top male celebrity endorser of 2009.

He reunited with BABO director Kim Young-tak in 2010's Hello Ghost, a film about a man who after several failed suicide attempts, becomes possessed by four different ghosts. It was another box office success at 3 million tickets sold, and Cha's performance led him to be dubbed as "Korea's Jim Carrey."

Based on a true story, his 2011 film Champ depicts the relationship between a recently injured racehorse named Woo-bak and the jockey who tries to tame her. Cha spent time with the horse before and during filming, luring his four-legged partner with a combination of carrots and sugar cubes.

In 2012, he became a regular cast member of the second season of popular variety program 2 Days & 1 Night, and remained as a member to this day. The show, which focuses on introducing various places in Korea to the viewers while the cast takes on different missions, has consistently scored high viewership ratings.

2013-present: The Producers and continued success

Cha played his first historical role in The Grand Heist, as the leader of a Joseon era group of thieves who band together to steal ice. The action-comedy film was produced by his brother Cha Ji-hyun. He took on another saeguk role as the titular character in TV series Jeon Woo-chi, an impish Taoist wizard who becomes an unlikely hero.

In 2014, he starred as an introverted man with dynamic visual acuity who works at a CCTV control center in the comedy film Slow Video, his third collaboration with director Kim Young-tak. This was followed by The Producers in 2015, in which Cha played a hot-headed but soft-hearted television producer.

In 2016, Cha reprised his role in My New Sassy Girl, a sequel to the 2001 hit film. However, the film did not live up to its predecessor and was a failure at the box office. The same year, he reunited with My Sassy Girl co-star Jun Ji-hyun in a cameo appearance on the SBS drama The Legend of the Blue Sea.

In 2017, Cha starred in the romantic comedy Because I Love You, playing a gifted composer who connects people in love; the film was again produced by his brother Cha Ji-hyun. He has also been cast in the upcoming fantasy blockbuster With God, based on the webtoon of the same name by Joo Ho-min. He made his directorial debut in KBS2's variety-drama Hit the Top in 2017.

Cha's father is Cha Jae-wan, who was an assistant director for special effects at KBS, and his mother Choi Su-min, now retired, was a voice-over artist. His brother is film producer Cha Ji-hiyeon.

In June 1, 2006, Cha married his high school sweetheart, pop lyricist Choi Suk-eun. They dated for 13 years; she was his first and only girlfriend. They have three children, a son (Cha Soo-chan) and two daughters (Cha Tae-eun, Cha Su-jin).

In 2011, Cha revealed on SBS talk show Healing Camp, Aren't You Happy that he suffers from a panic disorder.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Hallelujah	Bad youngster in church	Bit part
2001	My Sassy Girl	Gyun-woo
2002	Lovers' Concerto	Lee Ji-hwan
2003	Crazy First Love	Son Tae-il
	Happy Ero Christmas	Sung Byung-ki
2004	Who's Got the Tape?	Jap-beom	Cameo
	Windstruck	Man at train station	Cameo
	Two Guys	Kim Hoon
2005	Sad Movie	Jung Ha-suk
	My Girl and I	Kim Su-ho
2007	Highway Star	Bong Dal-ho / Bong Pil
2008	Horton Hears a Who!	Horton the Elephant	voice, Korean dubbed
	BABO	Seung-ryong
	My Mighty Princess	Pigeon man	Cameo
	Scandal Makers	Nam Hyun-soo
2009	Maybe (Rabbit and Lizard)	Yeong-nam	Cameo
	Triangle		Cameo
2010	Hello Ghost	Kang Sang-man
2011	Sunny	Poster model of insurance company	Cameo
	Champ	Seung-ho
2012	Never Ending Story	Song-kyung's friend	Cameo
	The Grand Heist	Lee Deok-mu
2013	Steal My Heart	Ho-tae's neighbor	Cameo
2014	Tazza: The Hidden Card	Radio DJ	Cameo
	The Con Artists	New Technician	Cameo
	Slow Video	Yeo Jang-boo
2016	My New Sassy Girl	Gyun-woo
2017	Because I Love You	Lee Hyeong
	With God - Part 1	Ja Hong

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
1995	Our Sunny Days of Youth	(uncredited)	KBS2
1996	Papa	Jang Jung-moon
	Looking Into Each Other's Eyes and Loving Each Other
	Daughter-in-law's Three Kingdoms
1997	First Love	Chan-woo's friend
	Ready Go!	Park Chan-ki	MBC
1998	Shy Lovers	Hwang In-soo
	Sunflower	Dr. Heo Jae-bong
1999	Happy Together	Ha Shin-yeop	SBS
	I'm Still Loving You	Park Young-jae	MBC
	Into the Sunlight	Kang In-ha
2000	Juliet's Man	Jang Gi-poong	SBS
2004	First Love of a Royal Prince	Choi Gun-hee	MBC
2007	Flowers for My Life	Yoon Ho-sang	KBS2
2008	General Hospital 2	Choi Jin-sang	MBC
2011	Lights and Shadows	Drunkard		Cameo, episode 2
2012	My Husband Got a Family	Tae-bong	Cameo, episode 26	KBS2
	Jeon Woo-chi	Jeon Woo-chi
2014	Drama Festival "4teen"	Adult Young-hoon	MBC	(Cameo
2015	The Producers	Ra Joon-mo	KBS2
2016	Love in the Moonlight	Farm servant		Cameo, episode 1
	The Legend of the Blue Sea	Han River con-man	SBS	Cameo, episode 4
2017	Hit the Top	Lee Gwang-jae	KBS2	Also director

Variety show

Year	Title	Network	Notes
1998	Family Camp	MBC	MC
	Happy Saturday	SBS	MC
2000	Mnet KM Music Festival	Mnet	MC; co-host Kim Hyun-joo
2001			MC; co-host Song Hye-kyo
2002	Campus Song Festival	MBC	MC; co-host: Yoon Do-hyun
2003			MC; co-host: Lee Hyori
	Mnet KM Music Festival	Mnet	MC; co-host: Sung Yu-ri
2007	Campus Song Festival	MBC	MC; co-host: Lee Hyori
2008	Family Outing	SBS	Guest, episodes 23-24
2009			Guest, episodes 66-67
2010	Hit the Ball, Home Run King	MBC ESPN	Guest
	Running Man	SBS	Guest, episode 10
2011			Guest, episodes 57-58
	Healing Camp, Aren't You Happy		Guest, episode 6
2012	Qualifications of Men	KBS2	Guest
2012–present	2 Days & 1 Night		Cast member
2013	Star Awards 2013	Channel 8	Presenter
2015	The Return of Superman	KBS2	Guest, episodes 67-68
	Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education		Guest, episodes 87-92, 109, 114
2016	Happy Camp	HBS	Guest
	Happy Together	KBS	Guest, Episode 440
	Radio Star	MBC	Guest, episodes 475
	Sister's Slam Dunk	KBS	Guest, Episode 1
	Talents for Sale		Guest, Episode 5 & 6
	Two Yoo Project Sugar Man	JTBC	Guest, episodes 17
	Immortal Songs	KBS	With Hong Kyung-Min, Episode 261
	Gura Chacha Time Slip - New Boy	KBS
	Hello Friends	KBS2
	Please Take Care Of My Refrigerator	JTBC	Guest, episodes 104-105
2017	Mom's Diary - My Ugly Duckling	SBS	Special Host, episodes 24-26
	Carefree Travellers	JTBC	Guest, episode 21-24
	Happy Together	KBS2	Guest, episode 502-503
	Pot Stand (We Like Zines!)	KBS2	Guest with Hong Kyung-Min, episode 12

Radio program

Year	Title	Station	Notes
1999-2000	FM Popular Music with Cha Tae-hyun	KBS Cool FM	DJ
2007-2008	Mr. Radio
2015	Sunny FM Date	MBC FM4U	Guest
2016	Kim Shin Young's Noon Song of Hope
	2 O’clock Escape Cultwo Show	SBS Power FM

Studio albums

Album information	Track listing
Accident 1st Album Released: February 12, 2001 Label: SidusHQ, Yejeon Media	Track listing  諦念(체념) I Love You 생일선물 아름다운사람 그래.. 마지막 하루 몰라도 돼 너의 그림자 뒤에 부탁 친구와 연인 미망 이 계절이 지나도 피크닉 I Love You (re-mix) The Last Day (instrumental)
더북 (The Book) 2nd Album Released: May 2, 2003 Label: SidusHQ, Yejeon Media	Track listing  별을 사랑한 어린왕자의 꿈 Again To Me Love Story 용서 (容恕) 슬픈 이별 뒤로 I Can Wating For You 고마워 그리고 행복해 사랑 느낌 바보야 사진 언제나 지금처럼 Summer Story 용서 (Interlude) 슬픈 이별 뒤로 (RE-MIX) (Bonus Data)

Singles

Year	Title	Notes
2000	"어디로 갈까"	Juliet's Man OST
2002	"I Don't Know"	Lovers' Concerto OST
	"Photograph"
2005	"Forget Me"	Sad Movie OST
	"Don't Let Go of My Hand"
2007	"Ichaseon Bridge"	Highway Star OST
	"Wind Wind Wind"
2008	"Because I Love You"	Scandal Makers OST
2010	"With You"	Hello Ghost OST
2011	"Happiness"	Champ OST
2016	"Cheer Up Song"	Duet with Hong Kyung-min