Lee Chae Min, who rose to fame last year with the hit drama Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, is quickly moving on to his next project.
On February 12, YTN Star reported that Lee has confirmed his role in the upcoming drama My Reason to Die, directed by Kim Hee Won. Based on a popular webtoon, the series is a romantic comedy that follows Ji Oh, a high school senior preparing for the national Taekwondo team, and Cha Gyeol, a man with a mysterious charm. In the drama, Lee will play Cha Gyeol, the male lead.
His last major project was Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, a historical romance, which aired from August to September last year. He played King Lee Heon, a tyrant with an absolute sense of taste who falls in love with a time-traveling Michelin chef. Despite being cast just ten days before filming began, Lee threw himself into the role. He learned horseback riding, archery, swordplay, and even performed a traditional dance sequence, doing most of his stunts himself.
The drama became a massive hit, starting with modest ratings of 4.9 percent and climbing to 17.1 percent by the finale, tvN’s highest-rated drama of the year. On Netflix, it ranked first in the non-English TV category for two consecutive weeks and remained in the global top 10 for ten weeks.
Lee Chae Min’s performance as a ruthless king did not go unnoticed. He won the Best New Male Actor Award at the 11th APAN Star Awards and received the same honor at the MBC Drama Awards for his role in Crushology 101. In February 2026, he was also named a visionary at the CJ ENM Visionary Awards.
At just 25, Lee’s rise has been remarkable. He made his acting debut in 2021 with a supporting role in tvN’s High Class and gradually built his career through roles in dramas such as Crash Course in Romance, Cashero, and Hierarchy.
Besides My Reason to Die, Lee Chae Min has several projects lined up for 2026. He has completed filming for his first leading role in a feature film, Everyday, We. He will appear in a Netflix variety show, Take a Hike, alongside Car, the Garden, Dowoon, and Tarzzan from rookie group ALLDAY PROJECT.
In addition, Lee Chae Min, along with Lovely Runner fame Kim Hye Yoon, is also set to star in the Korean adaptation of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, a beloved novel by Keigo Higashino.
