Five Fun Facts About Lee Hongki

Lee Hongki will soon return to the small screen as a cold-hearted chaebol in the new drama "Bride of the Century."

"The character I play is Choi Kang Joo, who is a perfect and temperamental heir," said Lee Hongki in his drama journal."

The chaebol role will be a far cry from playing the adorable Jeremy in "You're Beautiful," but viewers may still find something to love in this singer-actor's performance.

Here are some facts you may not know about Lee HongKi.

1. He began his career as an actor but at 13 decided to focus on singing. He was playing the lead role in the drama "Kangsooni" and performed a song for the soundtrack. FNC Entertainment was so impressed with his vocal ability they snagged him and that's how he became the lead singer of F.T. Island.

2. He practices his Japanese with his friend 49-year-old Japanese actress Takashima Reiko. They met when he played in the Korean-Japanese drama "Noriko Goes to Seoul. He played a teen with hopes of becoming a singer and she played the older woman who inspires him to achieve his dream. They've been friends for three years.

3. He's curious about other cultures and has wondered what it would be like to marry someone from another country. That's one of the reasons he appeared on the global edition of "We Got Married" with Japanese actress Fujii Mina. It was a very popular edition of that show and the two actors remain friends.

"Fujii Mina was a very kind person who I had a lot of fun with during filming," he said of his co-star.

4. On the FNC Entertainment Reality show,  "Cheomdamdong 111," he accidentally admitted he was dating someone. The other F.T. Island members were surprised to hear it.

Lee Hongki did not realize that he was being recorded, so shortly thereafter he backtracked and said that he and the girl had broken up.

He has said that his ideal girl might be a little older than him and that he has dated girls that were older. The 23-year-old plans to marry when he is around 32.

He loves nail art. He loves it so much that he spends thousands of dollars every year to decorate his own nails. And he wrote a book about it.

"I wanted to break the stereotype that it's weird for men to get nail art," said Lee Hongki.

In his book, "Lee Hong Ki Nail Book," he says that at first he was reluctant to try nail art but he slowly fell in love with it.

"It was weird at first but now it's a part of me that I can't leave behind."

His nail art earned him the "Best Men's Nails" award at a Japanese event. He was the first foreigner to receive the award.

His new role calls for a more subdued look and that probably means no nail art for a while. "Bride of the Century" begins Feb. 22,