'' in China, 2015 Jung Yong-hwa debuted as an actor before his band's debut in Korea. He was the first member of CNBLUE to appear on screen in 2009 when he landed his first acting role in the
SBS drama ''
You're Beautiful.'' The drama aired from October 7 to November 26, 2009. As the series revolves around the life of a musical group, he played the role of the lead guitarist in the faux idol band A.N.Jell. The series gained a cult following, and earned high ratings in Japan, which fostered the growth of his popularity. In 2011, Jung was cast in MBC's youth campus drama
Heartstrings, along with fellow band member
Kang Min-hyuk. The drama also reunited Jung with ''You're Beautiful'' co-star
Park Shin-hye. After the drama aired, Jung experienced a rise in popularity in Japan. In 2013, Jung starred in the KBS' romantic comedy
Marry Him If You Dare. In 2014, Jung took the leading role in period action drama
The Three Musketeers. Despite suffering from low ratings, Jung received positive reviews from critics and producers for his improved acting in the series.
Three Musketeers was also well received in China and fostered in Jung's growth in popularity in the country. In 2017, Jung made his big-screen debut in the Chinese gastronomy film
Cook Up a Storm alongside
Nicholas Tse. The same year, Jung starred in
JTBC's travel romance drama
The Package with
Lee Yeon-hee. In 2020, Jung made a special appearance in the sci-fi film, P1H: The Beginning of a New World, following his military discharge in late 2019. In 2021, Jung starred in the comedy and fantasy drama,
Sell Your Haunted House alongside
Jang Na-ra. He sang the first OST of the series, "I Got Ya".
Television shows After his successful acting debut, Jung joined his first variety show,
MBC's
Sunday Sunday Night program
Korea Ecosystem Rescue Centre: Hunters, which featured seven celebrity MCs going out to capture wild boars. The show premiered on December 6, 2009, but was forced to prematurely cease its run in mid-January 2010 due to protests by animal-rights groups. He subsequently continued as one of the MCs on the replacement program
Eco House, which deals with global climate change. In 2010, Jung became one of the hosts of
SBS' live music show
Inkigayo and variety-talk show
Night After Night. He left both programs in 2011. In February 2010, he was paired with
Seohyun of
Girls' Generation as part of a virtually wedded couple for MBC's
We Got Married. Collectively known as "YongSeo" couple, they filmed their final episode of the show on March 15, 2011. At the end of the year, Jung won the "Popularity Award" at the
MBC Entertainment Awards for his stint in
We Got Married. In 2018, Jung joined the talk show
Talk Mon alongside
Kang Ho-dong as a host. However, he shortly left the program soon after he was involved in a controversy. In 2020, Jung hosted the first season of the reality program,
K-Trot in Town with
Boom. The show aimed to introduce the genre of Korean Trot to people from other countries. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latter episodes focused on online busking events. ==Personal life==