The Second Husband the Divorced Empress Chose: Lee Jong-suk in The Remarried Empress

Featured photo: Lee Jong-suk at the Busan International Film Festival in October 2026. Photo: Arielaortizb, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lee Jong-suk’s charm is the way he goes straight for it, without a second’s hesitation. At 15 he walked the runway as the youngest male model ever at Seoul Collection (Wikipedia), and in school uniforms and then in suits he has played men who never once turn back in front of the person they want. Now, in Disney+’s “The Remarried Empress,” he is Heinrey, the prince of the Western Kingdom whom an empress, handed her divorce papers, names with the words “I will remarry this man.”

Watching the highlight reel Disney+ posted for episodes 1 to 4, I couldn’t stop grinning as a fan. Is there any other actor who looks this good in a prince’s clothes?

November 2026: Prince Heinrey in “The Remarried Empress”

“The Remarried Empress” is a romance fantasy. When Navier (Shin Min-a), the flawless empress of the Eastern Empire, is told by Emperor Sovieshu (Ju Ji-hoon), who has fallen for the runaway slave Rashta (Lee Se-young), that he wants a divorce, she doesn’t simply accept it. She demands approval to remarry Heinrey, prince of the Western Kingdom. The series is based on the Naver Webtoon of the same name (Herald Corporation).

• A gentle prince with a secret. Heinrey is a relaxed, warm prince who hides a secret identity and becomes Navier’s steady ally. Lee described him as a character with ease and sly charm, plus some cute comedy on top (bnt News).
• A bird named Queen, and a double role. Heinrey’s other self is a CGI bird called Queen. Lee said he worked to make the bird’s gestures and expressions read as the same being as Heinrey, and asked the director for extra time to get in shape for the first scene where the bird turns into a man (bnt News).
• Full speed ahead. Episodes 1 to 4 race through the cracks in the imperial marriage that open at the New Year festival and Heinrey’s unstoppable pursuit of Navier (Herald Corporation).
• A reunion 12 years later. The director is Jo Soo-won of “Pinocchio.” Lee said he “met again the director who shared the beautiful days of my twenties, and we encouraged each other through the work” (bnt News).
• No. 1 in 12 countries in a day. After episodes 1 to 4 dropped on November 3, the show hit No. 1 among Disney+ TV shows in 12 countries, including Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium and Switzerland, and No. 7 overall, according to FlixPatrol (Sports Donga).
• Still to come. The series runs 10 episodes, with two new episodes every Wednesday (Sports Donga). The next drop is November 11.

Where to watch: Hulu in the U.S., Disney+ in Korea and elsewhere (JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026). It isn’t on Netflix.

Filmography: men who never once turned back

• 2013, “I Can Hear Your Voice.” He was Park Soo-ha, a boy who can read people’s minds, opposite Lee Bo-young. Strong ratings stretched the series from 16 episodes to 18, and he won an Excellence Award at the Korea Drama Awards (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

• 2014, “Pinocchio.” He was Choi Dal-po, a rookie TV reporter torn between truth and justice. His co-star was Park Shin-hye, and the director was Jo Soo-won, the same director behind “The Remarried Empress.” It was a hit whose broadcast-rights revenue reached about $5.62 million within a year (Wikipedia). The same drama gave viewers a second lead they couldn’t get over, as told in Kim Young-kwang and the Pinocchio second-lead syndrome.

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

• 2016, “W.” As Kang Chul, the hero of a webtoon, he crossed between two worlds with a real-world doctor played by Han Hyo-joo. That year he won the Grand Prize, the top award, at the MBC Drama Awards (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., Wavve in Korea (JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

• 2019, “Romance Is a Bonus Book.” His first romantic comedy. As Cha Eun-ho, a publishing house editor-in-chief and writer, he stayed by Lee Na-young’s side (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

• 2022, “Big Mouth.” Back from military service, he played Park Chang-ho, a third-rate lawyer with a 10% win rate, opposite Im Yoon-ah. That year he won the MBC Drama Awards Grand Prize again, six years after the first, and said it “feels different from when I was in my twenties” (Wikipedia, Hankook Ilbo). It’s the role where all the time he held on turned straight into acting.

Where to watch: Disney+ (U.S. and Korea), and Hulu in the U.S. (JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

• 2025, “Law and the City.” He was Ahn Ju-hyeong, a seasoned associate lawyer who knows every corner of Seocho-dong, Seoul’s courthouse district (Newsen). With Moon Ka-young, Kang You-seok, Ryu Hye-young and Im Seong-jae, he showed the everyday lives of lawyers who are, in the end, office workers (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., Disney+ in Korea (JustWatch, checked November 6, 2026).

A year after he took off his Seocho-dong suit, he has grown a bird’s wings and flown to the empress’s window. On Wednesday, November 11, I’m already waiting for the scene where Heinrey takes one more step toward Navier.