Until I watched K-dramas I never realized an entire population would be captivated by a physical trait known as “small face”. Like, what? Years later it’s clear that having a small face remains frequently used in netizen comments and even reporters writing about dramas and movies, that a particular lead is very handsome with his proportions and small face. This week K-actor Kim Soo Hyun who has been given the “perfect small face” description frequently in reviews of his performances posted a new SNS picture and I immediately went “oh he’s got such a small face!” OMG, I feel like I’m brainwashed lol, but there are are plenty of K-actors I love who aren’t known small facers. But among those small facers I also happen to love Park Bo Gum, Park Seo Joon, Joo Won, Park Hyung Sik, and Kang Dong Won though not because of their small face haha but because they are good actors. What about you guys?
Lee jong Suk. He has a small face,but his acting is great
I just recently became infatuated with KSH, I think I like his dedication to his acting more then his looks, he has a boy next door type of look and feels.
I really love Jang Hyuk, he’s great when it comes to acting, nice voice also,
Abolutely. An amazing actor and a good person.
Ooops, my above comments is on LJS. And of course without a doubt Kim Soo Hyun is a great actor and also a good person. I am not concerned about the looks of actor or actress – more on their acting skills – people like JW, PSJ, PHS
Oops post above incomplete. Yep those above acting skills are excellent.
I agree with this. Although it can not be denied that looks is a significant factor in show business.Its one of the reason why kdrama/kpop has a huge audience compared to other entertainment industries in east and south east asia. But at the end of the day actors should be good at acting with or without visuals. There are actresses like Shin Se Kyung, Han Ga In, Jin Se Yeon, Lee Yeon Hee who are considered to be knock out beauties in Korea but are terrible at acting. They have been acting for years but they dont make you look forward to their dramas. Or actors who are hit or miss like Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Hun.
Lee Joon Gi is a great actor, singer, dancer and is gifted with a very handsome face.
Lee Joon Gi definitely one of the most talented actors I have seen as I watch movies / dramas from east to west. Lee Joon Gi plays his roles so well that it makes you smile, cry, and feel for the role. I believe he works hard and have a great passion in acting. Don’t really care if he is pretty face or flower boy, what counts is the acting skills that captivate the audiences.
Kim Soo Hyun face looks just too small for his body structure,I think personally. All other actors featured above have the usual facial proportion amongst k-actors.
He is not too wide or muscular so it looks about right for his small face. But from the pictures posted above, I don’t think Joo Won’s face is small at all.
He’s fine, not overly broad shouldered nor too narrow
His face is fine. His body is fine.
Our boy is just gorgeous. I will never get the obsession with a small face and I’ve been watching kdramas for 10 years he doesn’t even look like he has a small face to me in that picture? Or in any of the ones posted. It’s their society but I think it’s yet another standard of beauty to impose on others and themselves but they don’t seem to mind it so I’m not worrying about it.
I too don’t get the obsession about a small face lol, yet another beauty standard that might mess up the mental health of SKorean younger generations, but then again, I’m an external party to their society so my opinion does not count lol. I watch kdramas mainly for the story, directing, acting, overall production value. I must confess that I did not find a face similar to Hyun Bin’s attractive before (or LJG, PSJ, LJS, GY, KSH) until I watched the kdramas he’s in and the way the character is written makes him attractive. So in a way, kdramas’ characters helped change the standard of what’s attractive (for both men and women) to the world, so that’s a positive.
I agree. I think for actors with sharp facial features like Hyun Bin, LJK, and Joo Ji Hoon etc. They get polarizing views. Some really like them for being unique. Some hate them. But one thing I can say is these kinds of faces and actors carry ALOT of charisma. Like they eat up the screen when they are in a frame. So like you said, the more you watch them as the productuon goes on. The more you find yourself appreciating their look. I made the same conclusion with some of the baby faces or the ones with softer facial features like Song Joong Ki, Park Hyun Sik, Yoo Ah In, Jang Nara, Park Bo Young, Moon Chae Won(before she lost weight). They are not the type am drawn to. But the more you look at them, the more I go..wow I understand why people say they are handsome/beautiful. They are really good looking. Its because they are charismatic.
Yes, agree on the names you mentioned above too.
Agree on it being an extremely strange standard. It’s so freaking random too. Tf does a small face have to do with beauty lol
An asian beauty standard il never understand. I just shrug??♀️. But I respect that. All societies do have them. Also this obsession with looks is just crazy especially with netizens, I mean looks are something you are born with. Its not something you earn like money or fame.
Its all about proportions if we have to discuss this.There are actors who have “big” faces who are just as handsome. Of the top of my head are Kang Ha Neul, So Ji Sub, Ji Chang Wook, Kim Ji Hoon and others. I find this obsession about small faces strange because when they talk about “the standard handsome actors”. They usually mention Hyun Bin, Won Bin, Gong Yoo, again So Ji Sub etc. Only Gong Yoo among them has the “small face”.
I think in the end though, all of them whether small or big, their likability with audiences is because of a combination of looks, personality and talent.
Gong Yoo has small face? That is new.
His face is proportional to his structure but definitely Kim Soo Hyun kin of small.
Aaah, Kang Ha Neul I love for his endless talents, really hoping I can visit SKorea again someday and watch him live in a musical play. Him and Cho Seung-Woo. I didn’t find looks similar to theirs attractive before but because I was exposed to their body of woek and their immense talents, I find them attractive and now a big fan of theirs lol.
GongYoo faces is small? That is new.
GY face is proportional to his structure but definitely not Kim Soo Hyun kind of small. Looks like Kim Soo Hyun’s face is too smal for his body or maybe his haircut makes his face looks unusually small.
Please do everyone a favor and get your eyes checked
@Tara
I know, right? This person has posted four times about how KSH’s face is too small for his body and feminine-looking.
Enough with the shaming. Are you that perfect? Why don’t you go and get the mist in your eyes cleared?
Although he has more of a name in KPOP, also actor Cha Eun Woo ( My ID is Gangnam Beauty, Rollie Historian) of Astro is ALWAYS being noticed for his small face. On TV series such as Handsome Tigers and Master in the House the cast and guests always blurt it out the moment they meet him.
Actors shouldn’t be happy to be called having small face. That’s make them too feminine looking. Many k-actors probably don’t like that label.
I always don’t understand why Korean entertainment industry is obsessed with look and beauty. I used to find HK has much more great drama actors than korean, maybe because korea focus too much on visual.
For me, I prefer actors like GY, PSJ, LSG, JJH, JW which I find their look more ‘ordinary’ than the like of LMH, LJS, JCW, PHS, CEW, etc.
KSH and HB belongs to the charismatic group to me, not necessary handsome, or rather not so much of a flower boy, probably their acting skill has overtaken their visual.
I think they are embracing different types of beauties as long as they can act these days especially producers, casting directors compared to lets say pre 2010?
In the past, I can only think of Gong Hyo Jin, Bae Doona and Ha Ji Won who didnt fit the beauty standard(TaeHyeJi) but cast in lead roles as far as I remember because they are good actors. These days we can see team monolid actresses like Kim Go Eun and Park So Dam in lead roles. Others strong aura visuals like Seo Ye Ji and Shin Hye Sun doing femalecentric roles. Things are changing. I always wondered how TaeHyeJi(Kim Tae Hee, Song Hye Kyo, Jun Ji Hyun) came to be a beauty standard for actresses when there are equally beautiful actresses with hits and awards like Son Ye Jin, Kim Hyun Joo, Lee Young Ae, Kim So Yeon.
At least with the actors, the standard is not rigid, we have the flowerboys(like the small face ones), the rugged ones like Jang Hyuk & Kim Nam Gil etc. The ordinary handsome like Park Hae Jin, Nam Goong Min, Ji Sung, Kim Jae Wook, Ji Jin Hee, Jo Jung Seok etc.
Truth be told – beauty makes you be cast more as a lead role. So none of them will be cast if there is not a tinge of beauty. Whether it’s in Kdramas or American, Europe, and the rest of the world
Lee Joon Gi is a great actor, singer, dancer and is gifted with a very handsome face.
Get Lee Joon Gi’s hair shave off, his face face would look very small. Lee Joon Gi’s acting skill is better off with his acting skill. He is probably the actor that you won’t necessarily find attractive but you won’t get disappointed with him performance.
Not unlike Gong Yoo, who has been looking mature looking since Coffee Prince, that is why he has the more masculine visual.
Hyun Bin had bulked up thus he looked more masculine now than during the Kim Sam Soon days, they he never had the flower image.
Nice gorgeous face .
lovely expressive eyes n sweet lips.
Great charisma. Great actor n a superb body to hug.
These comes under my small face-
Lee Joon Gi
Woo Cha Eun
Lee Jong Suk
Lee Seung Gi
n this beautiful boy Kim Soo Hyun
My opinion only.
Let’s all discuss n agree to disagree.
regards from Malaysia.
I am dying over how beauutiiffuull joo won looks mannn…I was never this superficial!! GO WATCH GOOD DOCTOR NOWW
There is a certain Korean celebrity (non-actor)that I am a fan of and, as best I can tell, he spends a lot of effort dieting so he can get the “small” face thing. Because he gains in the face, to get this small face he ends up crazy skinny. Yeah, I get that it is a cultural thing but still.
Also, I see Lee Joon Gi mentioned here and his “complex” I think he called it was in his early days, he had “small” eyes and was told it would stall his career. Then he was in the movie that started it all for him. Now the eye thing isn’t as big a deal among actors, and so it does show that even beauty standards can change or else the dudes just rebelled about the surgery.
Every country has various standards of pretty, but I’ve never heard of one as rigid as Korea. I’m still not used to fans complaining that someone isn’t a “match” for another actor because of looks.
Same here, I like them because of their acting. I have never thought about small/big face being a thing. But anyhoo- great actors
LOL, I don’t think Park Seo Joon or Park Hyun Sik have small faces at all, they are just proporcionate. And I love Park Hyun Sik, he’s terribly handsome with a very beautiful face, but not a small one, haha!!
Yes Park Seo Jun doesn’t have a small face. I’ve seen him in person in 2016. It’s just proportional with his body structure. He is handsome though. And he acts really good. Btw, Kim Soo Hyun has a really small perfect face. I’ve seen him also way back 2017 when he has a fansigning in Myeongdong. His face is also proportion with his body structure, and he’s very manly. Soo Hyun is not just a pretty face but with an excellent acting skills, a good voice and he can dance too. Proofs are the numerous awards he received in different award giving bodies here in Korean and outside the country. And one thing why Koreans love him is because of his good and humble personality. There are tons of good looking Korean actors and most of them can act because it’s a necessity for them to study how to act because of the competition here in K entertainment. Aside from acting they must have another talent be it in singing, playing instrument and others. Korean actors are handsome in different ways and most of them can act. That’s why they become famous outside the country aside from the different way of presenting the kdrama and the OSTs also plays a vital role in the drama. Just saying??
Yes, the brainwashing is real. I never even thought to notice such ridiculous things about people before, but consuming too much Korean stuff has started rubbing off on me, and it’s not a great sign. Especially their ridiculously inane “beauty standards” (alot of which they go great lengths to achieve). All these actors, especially KSH, are great bcs of their acting skills and charismatic personalities, not bcs they have a “small face”.
I think Koreans tend to have big faces due to their facial structure so small faces tend to be rare and that’s why it’s prized.
Good looks. And very good actors. I’m always mesmerized by the acting in the movies and TV dramas. I can only english subtitles. Much Love
I love watching KSH. He is so handsome. I can actually feel is love and compassion, and I become that woman In his movies. I think he looks great in his jeans and long jackets.
Much love ❤️