My Love from the Star

• Jun Ji-hyun as Cheon Song-yi[2]
  • Kim Hyun-soo as young Cheon Song-yi / Seo Yi-hwa
• Kim Soo-hyun as Do Min-joon[3]
• Park Hae-jin as Lee Hee-kyung[4]
  • Jo Seung-hyun as young Lee Hee-kyung
• Yoo In-na as Yoo Se-mi[5]
  • Kim Hye-won as young Yoo Se-mi

• Na Young-hee as Yang Mi-yeon, Song-yi's mother[6]
• Um Hyo-sup as Cheon Min-goo, Song-yi's father[7]
• Ahn Jae-hyun as Cheon Yoon-jae, Song-yi's younger brother[8]
  • Jeon Jin-seo as young Cheon Yoon-jae

• Kim Chang-wan as Jang Young-mok, Min-joon's lawyer who serves as a close confidant and "father figure"[9]

• Shin Sung-rok as Lee Jae-kyung, Hee-kyung's older brother[10]
• Lee Jung-gil as Lee Beom-joong, Hee-kyung's father and the chairman of S&C Group[11]
• Sung Byung-sook as Hong Eun-ah, Hee-kyung's mother

• Lee Il-hwa as Han Sun-young, Se-mi's mother[12]
• Oh Sang-jin as Yoo Seok, Se-mi's older brother who is a prosecutor[13]

• Hong Jin-kyung as Bok-ja, a comic book store owner and Song-yi's high school friend[14]
• Jo Hee-bong as Ahn Dong-min, CEO of Song-yi's talent agency[15]
• Kim Bo-mi as Min-ah, Song-yi's stylist[16]
• Kim Kang-hyun as Yoon Bum, Song-yi's manager

• Kim Hee-won as Park Byung-hee, a detective who works with Yoo Seok[17]
• Lee Yi-kyung as Lee Shin, Jae-kyung's secretary[18]
• Jo Se-ho as Cheol-soo, a patron of Bok-ja's comic book store who twists celebrity gossip and creates rumours
• Nam Chang-hee as Hyuk, Cheol-soo's partner

• Yoo In-young as Han Yoo-ra, an actress and Cheon Song-yi's arch-rival[19]
• Yoo Jun-sang as Mr. Yoo, section chief at Lee Hee-kyung's workplace[20]
• Park Jung-ah as Noh Seo-young, an actress[20]
• Jang Hang-jun as Park Min-kyu, a director[21]
• Son Eun-seo as Hwang Jin-yi, a kisaeng in the Joseon era[21]
• Kim Soo-ro as Lee Hyung-wook, an auditor in Gangwon during Joseon era[20]
• Jung Eun-pyo as Yoon Sung-dong, a Joseon realtor / Yoon Sung-dong's descendant in the present time[20]
• Park Yeong-gyu as Heo Jun, a doctor in the Joseon era[20]
• Bae Suzy as Go Hye-mi, Do Min-joon's student[22][lower-alpha 1]
• Yeon Woo-jin as Lee Han-kyung, Lee Hee-kyung's eldest brother[23]
• Ryu Seung-ryong as Heo Gyun, a poet in the Joseon era[20]
• Sandara Park as herself[24]

My Love from the Star soundtrack album was released on February 26, 2014;[36] it contains all of the singles and background tracks from the series.[37] The album debuted on the weekly Gaon Album Chart at number four[38] and was ranked seventy-one on the 2014 year-end Gaon Album Chart.[39]

CD 2 is composed by Jeon Chang-yeop, Jin Myeongyong and Choe Changguk.[lower-alpha 2]

Singles included on the album were released from December 2013 to February 2014, and a special standalone single from the series, "Promise" (약속), sung by Kim Soo-hyun was released on March 13, 2014.[40] Kim also contributed to the vocals of the soundtrack with "If I" (너의 집 앞; In Front of Your House); both of his covers were well-received by the audience.[41] "Promise" reached the top of online music charts Soribada, Daum Music and Cyworld Music.[41] All of the soundtrack's songs were popular across the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea.[42] Lyn's soundtrack single "My Destiny" peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart and Billboard's K-pop Hot 100.[43] She later received the Best Original Soundtrack award at the 16th Mnet Asian Music Awards for the song.[44] Hyolyn's "Goodbye" topped the Billboard's K-pop Hot 100 chart for three consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running number one of January and February 2014.[45]

The show was premiered outside South Korea, during its official run on SBS, through online video platforms LeTV and iQIYI.[63] It was one of the most-viewed streaming shows on iQIYI, where it was streamed more than 14.5 billion times from December 2013 to February 2014.[63] Later, it was exported to nearly twenty countries.[64] In the Philippines, it topped viewership ratings when it aired on GMA Network from April 21 to June 30, 2014, dubbed in Filipino.[65] In China, My Love from the Star was aired with a different ending because of the government's censorship of materials that depict aliens and supernatural beings. Its broadcast on the Chinese television channel Anhui was concluded with the entire story being a fictional tale that Do Min-joon writes for Cheon Song-yi.[66] The broadcasting rights has also been acquired by over-the-top content platforms like Viu, VIKI and Netflix, where it is available with multi-language subtitles.[67][68][69]

My Love from the Star largely received positive reviews from critics and viewers.[76] In an op-ed piece published by the China Daily, writer Xiao Lixin attributed the program's success to "great innovations in South Korean TV productions in terms of themes and narrative patterns." He praised the plot as "logical and fast-paced", and interspersed with "whimsy and romantic punch lines", and write "high-speed photography and computer-generated effects" help "create a lifelike visual impact".[77] Film and drama critic Greg Wheeler[78] described it as "a silly, funny and surprisingly poignant drama, one that strips away the humour to lean in hard on the melodrama at just the right times. While the show is an outright romance first and foremost, it does have some great drama throughout too."[79]

Lee Sang-hyun of Yonhap News Agency said the "power of the drama is also in the charm of the ... leading actors" and that "[i]t would have been difficult to gain convincing power for such an unrealistic setting and storytelling without Kim Soo-hyun's unique thick voice and stable acting ability". He also said Jun Ji-hyun's "acting tone" synchronised well with story development and that "[w]hen the comic melody with Do Min-joon reinforced, she showed a lovely appearance, and when a crisis came in the relationship, she stably conveyed sad emotions".[80] Philippines Cosmopolitan's Hanna Tamondong called the series as "iconic" and said that it will "send you dancing and laughing and crying because of Do Min-joon and Cheon Song-yi".[81] Park Si-soo writing for The Korea Times said that "Shin Sung-rok was a scene stealer" and "his villain role gave the drama a new dimension".[10]

A year-end poll that Gallup conducted in South Korea named Kim Soo-hyun the "most memorable actor" of 2014, while Jun Ji-hyun was listed in third position.[82]

My Love from the Star became a cultural phenomenon in South Korea and China.[83] The series started a craze for chimaek; Korean fried chicken (chicken) and maekju, a popular Korean snack of chicken and beer, which is the female protagonist's favourite snack.[84][63] Despite declining chicken consumption in China due to fear of H7N9 bird flu, fried chicken restaurants in cities saw an increase in orders after the show was broadcast there.[63][85] Korean instant noodle maker Nongshim said sales in January and February 2014―when the drama aired―rose to a record high in its more-than-15-year history of business in China, which was attributed to a scene in which the lead couple enjoyed a bowl of noodles on a trip.[52]

The series influenced Korean fashion; clothes, accessories and make-up products worn by Jun Ji-hyun saw an "unprecedented" surge in orders.[86] The children's novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, from which the male protagonist repeatedly quotes throughout the series, went to the top of the bestseller lists in major Korean bookshops.[87] A luggage manufacturing company also saw increased sales in China after Kim Soo-hyun carried one of its backpacks.[70] The drama also drew the international community to the Korean language; "시" (ssi),[lower-alpha 4] which Jun Ji-hyun adds after male protagonist's name, became the most-discussed word.[88] Although the series was sold to China for US$40,000 per episode, its increased popularity led to a sharp rise in the price for the Chinese distribution rights of future Korean dramas.[89][90]

My Love from the Star attracted international tourism to South Korea and its filming locations became major attractions.[91] Songdo rocky mountain in Incheon, where Do Min-joon rescues Cheon Song-yi from a near-death experience, was developed into a tourist attraction by Incheon Development and Tourism Corporation.[92][93] Among the filming locations were Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park (DDP) and Boutique Monaco; newly built luxury buildings.[94] The Korea Tourism Organization held a 3D exhibit at the DDP Art Hall that featured one of the show's house sets with display rooms titled "Start," "Fate," "Shaking" and "Longing" in line with the plot, from June 10, to August 15, 2014.[95][96] At the exhibition, Do Min-joon's knit and Cheon Song-yi's handbag were sold in an auction for US$2,346; the proceeds were donated to a local charity.[97] Other locations that attracted tourists include Incheon National University—one of the major shooting locations—[98] and the French-themed village Petite France in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, where Do Min-joon and Cheon Song-yi share a kiss.[99]

In March 2014, The Washington Post reported My Love from the Star's popularity had led to it being discussed at China's National People's Congress, particularly in a committee of the political advisory body Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), where it reportedly topped the agenda among delegates from the culture and entertainment industry.[100][101]

My Love from the Star's cast and crew won numerous awards, both in South Korea and internationally. The series won the Best Drama Award at the 7th Korea Drama Awards,[102] the Top Excellence Korean Drama Award at the 9th Seoul International Drama Awards,[103] Magnolia Award for Best Foreign Television Series at the 20th Shanghai Television Festival,[104] and the Best Foreign Drama Award at the 8th International Drama Festival in Tokyo.[105] It was nominated at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards in nine television categories including Best Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay.[106] Jun Ji-hyun won the Grand Prize – Television and Kim Soo-hyun won the Most Popular Actor – Television at the ceremony.[107] Jun also won the Grand Prize at the 22nd SBS Drama Awards[108] while Kim Soo-hyun earned the notch at the 7th Korea Drama Awards.[102] Kim Soo-hyun also won the Best Actor in Asia Award at the 8th International Drama Festival in Tokyo.[105]