tv heartthrob hyun bin

The actor Hyun Bin is attempting to translate his good looks to the big screen with his debut film "A Millionaire's First Love." Hyun’s newfound stellar popularity is reflected in a recent survey by a website that found he was the man women respondents most wanted to have a love affair with, if only for one day. Catapulted to small-screen stardom as Samshik in last year's hit TV drama "My Name Is Kim Sam-soon," Hyun has landed a series of homeruns with his roles starting in the earlier series “Island.”

In the debut film released last week, Hyun plays an immature third-generation millionaire who is awakened to love. "My part in the movie is the heir of a millionaire grandfather who is just filthy rich without any special preferences or interests. He is rude to the elderly and quite arrogant. I don't know why, but I keep playing arrogant parts,” Hyun said.

"A Millionaire's First Love" focuses on the boy’s struggle with a clause in his grandfather’s will that says he will only get his inheritance if he graduates from a high school in the country. Relocated into the mountains, Hyun finds puppy love with a naive country girl. Can love change the spoilt urbanite and awaken his gentler side?

Although Hyun is still a fledgling actor, the web survey offers a glimpse of how far he has already come. Inevitably, women are his main fan base, as witness the huge crowd of them that turned up at a promotion stunt where the heartthrob himself applied lip gloss to 20 participants. His popularity owes much to his image as an arrogant but ultimately romantic lover and to clean-cut and well-bred looks that suggest a rebellious streak underneath. But Hyun is having none of it, flatly assessing his appearance as "ordinary."

"I have to look at myself in the mirror dozens of times when I shoot dramas or movies. When I look at myself, I can’t really see myself as good-looking," Hyun said. But with a 184-cm tall, toned physique thanks to his time as a swimmer in school, the strapping 24-year old has clearly struck a chord. His consistently improving performances look likely to strengthen rather than dissipate his popularity as time goes by.