Archen Aydin - Wikiwand

Archen Aydin (Thai: อาเชน ไอย์ดึน; born 10 March 2001), nicknamed Joong / Joong Archen (Thai: จุง / จุง อาเชน) is a Thai actor, model and singer signed to GMMTV.^[1] He is best known for his roles in 2Moons2 (2019), Star & Sky: Star in My Mind (2022), Hidden Agenda (2023) and The Heart Killers (2024).

Quick Facts Born, Other names ...

Archen Aydin
อาเชน ไอย์ดึน
Archen in April 2022
Born	(2001-03-10) 10 March 2001 (age 24) Thailand
Other names	Joong / Chen
Education	Bangkok University
Occupations	Actor Singer Model
Years active	2019–present
Agent	GMMTV
Known for	Ming in 2Moons2 Khabkluen in Star & Sky: Star in My Mind Joke in Hidden Agenda Fadel in The Heart Killers
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)

Personal life

Joong was born in Thailand but moved with his mother and stepfather to Turkey when he was eight years old.^[2]^[3] He lived in Turkey for ten years and can speak fluent Turkish.^[4]

Joong returned to Thailand after nine years to attend university, where he enrolled in Stamford International University in Bangkok to study Creative Media Design.^[2] In 2023, he changed his major and is currently studying at Bangkok University at the School of Communication Arts, majoring in Broadcasting and Streaming Media Production.

Career

Summarize

Perspective

2018–2020: Return to Thailand

After staying for 10 years in Turkey, Joong decided to leave his mother, stepfather, and his 3 younger siblings to return to Thailand. Joong had planned to finish his high school earlier than his peers back in Turkey in 2018 to help his family financially. Later, he entered a pageant, "Mister Teen Thailand," which he bagged the first prize crown.

In 2019, Joong started his acting career when he signed with the talent agency Motive Village and made his television debut in 2Moons2.^[5] Due to the success of the series, Joong, along with the other main leads, participates in numerous events and fan meetings abroad.

The company announced that they will announce a boy band called "OXQ", which means "Ordinary X Quake," that consists of Pavel, Dome, Ben, Nine, and Joong. The group released their first digital single, "ME!" on 7 June 2020.^[6]^[7] The group presumably disbanded in 2020 after multiple ongoing controversies.

However, that November Joong revealed that he had become an Insight Entertainment trainee,^[8] confirming his departure from both Motive Village and OXQ.

2021–2023: New beginning

He was scheduled to compete in Asian Super Young as a trainee for Insight Entertainment. However, the show was cancelled because of COVID-19 before the recording began. He is returning empty-handed after months of learning Mandarin and practicing his singing and dancing skills. Joong, Pentor, Cheetah, Frank, and Samui released the pre-release single "I Like U Summer" ^[9] as the Insight Rookies as a tribute to all of their supporters. Joong's contract with Insight Entertainment was terminated as a result of the show's termination. Joong made the decision to go independent in order to start over after his disappointments. He was considered fortunate because he eventually began to return to work in the industry.

Sometime around September 2021, he surprised fans by revealing that he was now signed to the production and talent agency GMMTV.^[2] Joong will be teamed with Dunk Natachai as his co-star in the series STAR & SKY: Star in My Mind and Sky In Your Heart as the primary leads for the first half of the series, according to the announcement made during the annual GMMTV series press conference, GMMTV 2022: BOARDERLESS.^[10]^[11]^[12] Mek Jirakit and Mark Jiratunin will work together as the main leads in the second half of the series. Later episodes feature occasional appearances of Joong's and Dunk's characters.^[13] This series only aired 8 episodes for each pair, but due to the surprising popularity of the series, they added an additional special episode that aired on 29 July.

His debut OST for the series "My Starlight" was also released.^[14] As a result of the series' success, JoongDunk gained widespread recognition in the Thai BL business. The English version of the OST, "My Starlight Eng. Vers," was later released as a thank you to fans for their encouragement and support during the series. On 23 August, GMMTV released the teaser for the "Feel Fan Fun Camping Concert." Later that day, a series, My Dear Donovan, released an OST sung by Joong. The FFF Camping Concert was scheduled on 15 October. For Joong, this is his first big-scale concert.

The annual GMMTV press conference, GMMTV 2023: Diversely Yours, was held on 22 November, as 2023 approached. Not only did Joong and Dunk obtain one series, Hidden Agenda,^[15]^[16] but they also took part in the project called Our Skyy 2.^[17] Following the conclusion of the series, the project brings together eight couples from the following series: My School President (GeminiFourth), Bad Buddy (OhmNanon), Star In My Mind (JoongDunk), ViceVersa (JimmySea), The Eclipse (FirstKhaotung), Never Let Me Go (PondPhuwin), and A Tale of Thousand Stars (EarthMix) for a follow-up. On 3 December, Joong and his co-star Dunk will hold their first-ever fan meeting in Cambodia to wrap up the year.

From the start of 2023 to its end, Joong attended events both domestically and overseas, attending several fan meetings throughout Southeast Asia. On 26 April, Joong and Dunk were able to release their two-episode series as part of the Our Skyy 2 project. Joong also performed alongside other artists at the GMMTV-organised concert, "Love Out Loud Fan Fest 2023: LOVOLUTION," which took place over two days on 24–25 June. On 9 July, the Hidden Agenda Series was scheduled to premiere. Their last series consisted of only 8 episodes, so this is their first full 12-episode series.

GMMTV teased the possibility of hosting their first-ever, large-scale fan event locally, GMMTV FANDAY in BANGKOK, on 8 August. Later, it was revealed that five couples—EarthMix, ForceBook, FirstKhaotung, PondPhuwin, and JoongDunk—will have fan meetings from 22–24 September. The fan meetings will last two hours each, with JoongDunk receiving two and a half hours because it was featured in the final episode of Hidden Agenda.

The most notable event abroad was when he made an appearance at the Women's Paris Fashion Week 2024 SS for the brand Saint Laurent on 26 September. Although this was Joong's first trip on the global fashion scene, it was actually his second invitation from the brand; the first time was an invitation to watch the show online.

2024–present: New challenge

Beginning in 2024, it was announced at the GMMTV 2024: Up & Above Part 1 press event that Joong would become the new host of the long-running variety show School Rangers and would star in the upcoming series Ploy's Yearbook.^[18]^[19]