An Ultra Fan Guide to Cha Eun Woo

Cha Eun Woo is a well-known Idol-Actor from South Korea. He is also a member of the boy band Astro. The "face genius" widely acknowledged for his heavenly looks is not a cold male lead as shown in the dramas but a cute jokester in real life.

• Birth Name: Lee Dong Min
• Stage Name: Cha Eun Woo
• Date of Birth: March 30, 1997
• Birth Place: Gunpo, South Korea
• Zodiac Sign: Aries
• Height: 183 cm/6 feet
• Blood Type: B
• Band Name: Astro
• Agency: Fantagio
• Fandom Name: Aroha
• Instruments learnt: Guitar, Violin, Piano
• Favourite Colour: Blue
• Favourite Drink: Banana juice
• Instagram: @eunwo.o_c

Cha Eun Woo attended Suri Middle School and Suri High School in Gunpo, his hometown, before transferring to Hanlim Multi Arts school in his trainee days. He graduated from Hanlim Multi Arts school in 2016.

He is currently attending Sungkyunkwan University, majoring in performing arts. 

Cha Eun Woo said that people always used to adore him and praise his beauty in his childhood days, so his mom used to tell him that there were many faces more handsome than him and he was just an ordinary looking boy so that he wouldn't become arrogant and rude when he grew up. 

When studying in elementary school, he represented his school in both soccer and basketball as a captain. He said on many occasions that he was very studious and there were only three things in his mind before becoming a Idol trainee: Books, Soccer, Basketball.

During his Asian fan tour held in Manila in 2019, Eun Woo revealed that he lived in the Philippines for six months when he was in first grade to study English.

His highest rank in exams was third in the whole school. It was said that he was always popular with girls for his handsome looks and found chocolates on his desk whenever he went to another classroom to take an exam. 

His dad used to be very strict towards him and he was asked to promise that he would never date till he starts studying in an University. He said that he never broke that promise. He used to go home via the back door of the class while all noonas in the school used to come for him from the front door. When asked why, he said that he did it in order to keep his heart in control and for the promise he made.

He admitted that he dated his classmate in high school. He took the initiative to tell his feelings and asked her out through messages.

Eun Woo said that when he was around 14 or 15, he was scouted by a talent agent from Fantagio Entertainment at a school festival. The talent scout waited long for Eun Woo to come out and finally met him when Eun Woo was going to the bathroom. (kekeke)

At first, Cha Eun Woo and his parents turned down the offer. Eun Woo always dreamt of becoming a teacher, judge, lawyer, doctor, and reporter at various point in time. However, after the talent scout called him many times, he went for an audition. On a Master in the House broadcast he said that a teacher at the academy he used to study at told him that he would be a perfect fit for an Idol and asked him to give the auditions a try. He said that he would always be grateful for her.

He revealed that he found it difficult to dance in his trainee days and he is the most lacking member of Astro in dance skills. He mentioned that many people looked down on him while he was a trainee and scolded him for his lack of skills. They said it was a waste of his looks as he had very little talent in their opinion. He used to cry every day while still being determined to succeed in the path he had chosen. He practiced for long hours and along with the members' support he made drastic improvements in his dance skill.

Before his debut in 2016, he participated in a Golden Bell Challenge representing Hanlim Multi Arts School, his Alma Mater. When he was in first year of high school, he joined the i-Teen pre-debut project under his real name, Lee Dong Min.

He debuted with Astro on February 23, 2016. In August 2016, he participated in the Chuseok special variety show, Replies That Make Us Flutter, and in September 2016, he appeared in the TV program Boomshakalaka, which is a fun challenge to test the dance skills of the guests. Later, he was chosen as the new MC for Show! Music Core alongside actresses Kim Sae Ron and Lee Soo Min, which he hosted from 2016 to 2018.

He appeared as a guest in Law of Jungle: New Caledonia in 2016. In this show, Kwon Yu Ri taught him a special aegyo song to greet his fans with.

In 2019, Cha Eun Woo held his first solo Asia fan-meeting titled "JUST ONE 10 MINUTE". This name was created when his agency said that it would only take 10 minutes for anyone to fall for Eun Woo’s charms.

In January 2020, he was cast as a regular member in the Handsome Tigers TV show. He was praised for his basketball skills and quick learning in the show by Seo Jang Hoon. Eun Woo once said on this program: "I did study but I loved to play sports way more. Actually, I studied hard to play sports."

In April 2020, Eun Woo joined as a fixed cast member of the TV show Master in the House. He at various occasions expressed his happiness to have his hyungs (members of the show) and he felt secured with them at his back.  When he was first recruited as maknae (the youngest) of this show, he was praised to have a clear and refreshing voice even by the SBS reporters, where Eun Woo had his first live radio broadcast. All the members of Master in the House have acknowledged that Eun Woo has an amazing athletic skills and a competitive spirit. He aced all kinds of challenges thrown at him in this show.

In an episode of Master in the House where the group Ciipher had a guest appearance, Cha Eun Woo supported them with comforting words as a senior in the industry. He noted down and gave them the improvements to be made in their dance performance and told them he knows more than anyone how anxious a trainee can be when the debut date is nearing. It was announced that June 20, 2021 would be Cha Eun Woo's final performance on Master in the House. On the episode 177 preview, Eun Woo got emotional to leave his hyungs and the show to focus on his upcoming movie, Decibel.

Eun Woo appeared on many variety shows as a guest, including Happy Together, Hello Councelor, Knowing Brothers, Let's Eat Dinner Together, and Amazing Saturday.

Cha Eun Woo was surprised when Park Na Rae asked him to Kabedon her in an episode of Lipstick Prince. See him standing stiff with loss of words while the other members were laughing hard below. And finally he fulfilled the wish, leaving her all blushed. ;)

Cha Eun Woo has a brother named Lee Dong Hwi who is studying in China. While he appeared as a guest on Hello Councelor, he said that his brother is very dear to him and he's eagerly waiting to meet him after a long time. Astro members in another incident said that only Lee Dong Hwi's  handsomeness can beat Eun Woo's visuals!

On episode 456 of Happy Together, when Eun Woo was asked by Jun Hyun Moo whether he watched any adult movies, he was shocked at the question and mischievously smiled. (Did not deny it. ;p) He was asked the same question again when he appeared on Happy Together and said that he watched them only once.

Cha Eun Woo releases some adorable videos on Vlive and Youtube by the name "Just one 10 Minutes" for Arohas. Likewise, Astro also releases all behind the scenes of music videos, photoshoots, and dance practices by the names of "Astro Play" and "Astro DDOCA" (Ddoca is a nickname given to the camera by the members).

Astro are record holders in the Idol Star Athletics Championships in 2017 for Team Aerobic Gymnastics. For those who said Eun Woo doesn't have talent... he contributed to the perfect synchronisation in the aerobic gymnastics, leading the group to win the gold medal. They won a gold medal in Idol Star Athletics Championships in 2018 for Team Aerobic Gymnastics for the second time. Eun Woo also won a silver medal in bowling.

See our nunu baby all excited for winning the gold medal. <3

Astro released two full length albums till now, All Light (2019), and All Yours (2021). Both peaked the Korean charts while the latter also recorded the peak position on Japanese charts. Astro also released 9 Extended plays and 2 single albums till now. Astro saw success over time and won several awards, including at the Asia Awards (2017), Seoul Music Awards (2017), and Golden Disc Awards (2020). In 2018, Astro held a global fan-meeting tour across the United States, Canada, Japan, and Thailand.

Cha Eun Woo sang several solo Original Soundtracks (OSTs) for dramas in which he acted. These OST's are:

• Rainbow Falling - My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)
• Together - Top Management (2018)
• Please Remember - Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (2019)
• Love So Fine - True Beauty (2021)

 My Brilliant Life (2014)

Eun Woo started acting even before the debut of Astro. He appeared as a cameo in My Brilliant Life, a movie which was released in 2014, alongside Song Hye Kyo and Kang Dong Won. He acted as  healthy Ah Reum, a son of young parents who suffered from a rare genetic disorder and aged faster than everyone else. 

To Be Continued (2015)

This web drama was released by Fantagio Entertainment in August 2015, which was 6 months prior to Astro's debut. It is a fantasy story where all the members of a male idol group are transported back to one day ahead of their debut stage through a time slip. In this drama, all members of Astro appeared as themselves with their stage names. Kim Sae Ron played the main role. Seo Kang Jun, Kang Tae Oh, and Kang Ha Na played supporting roles.

My Romantic Some Recipe (2016)

My Romantic Some Recipe is a web drama that was released in November 2016. The plot revolves around a college student who has a crush on a restaurant customer. After getting drunk once, she takes a stand-up poster of her idol (Cha Eun Woo).  He magically appears from the poster and helps in her love life and running the restaurant.

Hit The Top (2017)

Eun Woo acted as a supporting role in this drama which was released in June 2017. He played as MJ, a funny and spoilt celebrity character. This is a fantasy drama where the main lead, a member of a male idol group, accidentally travels through time to the year 2017 from the year 1993.

Sweet Revenge (2017)

Sweet Revenge, also called Revenge Note, is a teen fantasy drama which was released in October 2017. It's a story about a girl who faces discrimination and unjust situations where she has no courage to revolt. One day, a revenge note appears on her phone, which helps her in taking revenge on anyone whose name the girl chooses to write on it. Cha Eun Woo plays as a popular member of a male Idol group (Astro) who is a close friend of the female lead's brother.

My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

This is a rom-com drama which was released in July 2018. This series tells the story of Kang Mi Rae, a girl once bullied for her looks which made her insecure around others. So Mi Rae decides to gets plastic surgery to transform her face. When she begins university, she meets Do Kyung Suk, her classmate from their middle school days. Cha Eun Woo plays the role of Do Kyung Suk, who is a cold male lead and keeps saving Mi Rae from uncomfortable situations. Cha Eun Woo was awarded as Best New Actor, Hallyu Star, Breakout Actor, and Most Charming Actor for his role in this drama.

The Great Battle (2018)

The Great Battle is a movie which was released in September 2018. The story is set in 645 AD. The Tang Dynasty’s Emperor Li starts his invasion into Goguryeo, one of the ancient kingdoms of Korea. One victory after another, the Tang army marches into Ansi, protected by General Yang, the lord of the fortress. Abandoned by his country and outnumbered by thousands, the brave general gathers his men and women to face the Tang army on his own. Cha Eun Woo had a cameo appearance as a border soldier.

Top Management (2018)

Top Management is a web drama which was released in October 2018. It tells the story of a new manager who is a former Idol trainee at an entertainment agency, and has the special ability to see the future. Cha Eun Woo played as a Male Idol in a boy band called SOUL. Cha Eun Woo, with the other band members of SOUL, released several OSTs for the drama under the same band name.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (2019)

This  drama was released in July 2019. The story takes place at the beginning of the 19th century. Goo Hae Ryun aims to become a palace historian where women were thought unfit for the job. However, she was selected as an intern for the historian job. She wants to correct the prejudice against women and prove everyone is equal. Along the process, she meets and falls in love with Prince Yi Rim (Eun Woo), who has a dark past.

Soul Plate (2019)

Soul Plate was released in October 2019. In this web drama, all Astro members play angels and descendants of Raphael who are running a restaurant. They heal and comfort people visiting their restaurant with soul food. Cha Eun Woo appeared as Angel Raviel.

True Beauty (2020)

True Beauty is a drama adapted from a manga of the same name. It was released in December 2020. It is a rom-com about a high school girl, Lim Ju Gyeong, who turns herself into a pretty girl after learning make-up skills from YouTube. She becomes a hot topic in the school because of her visuals, but she hides her bare face behind the make up from everyone. She also crosses paths with her classmates Lee Su Ho, played by Cha Eun Woo, and Han Seo Jun while trying to hide her identity.

• Fans of Cha Eun Woo have created a slang for him: "Choe Choe Cha Cha". It's an abbreviation for 'choe aeneun choe aego cha eunwoo cha eunwoo da' which translates to 'my favourite is my favourite and Cha Eun Woo is Cha Eun Woo'.  Eun Woo expressed both joy and disappointment about this slang, saying that it feels good when fans seems interested in him, but it's disappointing that their favourite is not him.
• Cha Eun Woo once cried on Master in the House, saying that he wanted to get married soon and wanted to have a partner with whom he can share anything without a filter.
• Eun Woo can speak English very well and he is learning Japanese, too.
• When asked about Cha Eun Woo’s ideal type in Handsome Tigers, he replied: "My ideal type is Shin Min Ah. I recently watched her drama, Chief of Staff, and completely fell in love. I really want to meet her through a drama one day."
• Eun Woo featured in Urban Zakapa‘s music video “You’re The Reason” alongside Park Gyu Young. (It's a must watch!)
• When he was doing a live show, a fan told him that he was in her dream and he asked her "What did we do?" This was revealed on Master in the House and he himself felt the cringe after watching it. ;p
• Eun Woo is close with other '97 liner Idols:  BTS‘s Jungkook, GOT7‘s Bambam & Yugyeom,  Seventeen‘s The8, Mingyu, and DK, and NCT‘s Jaehyun. They have a group chat together.
• He is soo scared of ghosts. Astro members always tease him for this reason.
• His members revealed that he reads a lot of manga and plays games and he replied to that saying he gets bored on flights so he reads them to pass the time!
• Eun Woo has a lot of nicknames like Nunu (yes, it's my profile name ;p), Eunu, and DongMinion.
• He is also called Butt-min. Since his butt is bigger than others', his classmates used to call him Um Dong Min (his birth name is Lee Dong min), 'Um Dong' means butt. 
• He is a manjjitnam (meaning a handsome boy from a comic) for obvious reasons. Personally, out of all the nicknames, he likes "Roha Protector" the most as he wants to protect Arohas. UwU
• He doesn't like mint chocolate flavour, and he likes the Spring season.
• His life motto is "Know to be thankful."
• He is the Unofficial Brand Ambassador of EXID's "Up and Down" dance. Click here to watch him dancing to girl group songs.

Thank you. Bonus moment for reading till the end!

-> Cha Eun Woo's thread in the Forums

^{Edited by: devitto (1st editor)}