From Anxious Unknown To K-Drama Darling: Lovely Runner’s Byeon Woo-Seok’s Journey To Stardom ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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In the highly competitive South Korean entertainment industry, only a handful of stars manage to capture the hearts of audiences and rise to stardom almost overnight. Byeon Woo-Seok is one such exemplary actor. His journey from aspiring artist to celebrated star was catalyzed by his recent role as Ryu Sun-jae in the hit K-drama Lovely Runner, co-starring Kim Hye-yoon.
The 32-year-old actor harboured dreams of acting from a young age, but the path to becoming one would not be easy. Since starting his career as a model in 2011, Byeon Woo-Seok has encountered numerous challenges, among which financial struggles were a constant until his modelling career took off. In 2016, he transitioned to acting, debuting with tvN’s Dear My Friends. His hard work finally bore fruit with the release of Lovely Runner in 2024.
A Korean news outlet, Newsen, released a before-and-after airport video of Byeon Woo-Seok, which has now been shared by many other X users, to prove how Lovely Runner played a pivotal role in his popularity.
The post compared two airport clips of Byeon Woo-Seok. One video from six months ago, sometime in 2023 before Lovely Runner was released, shows the actor casually walking in the airport without any bodyguards, chatting with a few fans who came to see him. The other video, taken in the first week of June, is almost the opposite, featuring him surrounded by bodyguards, paparazzi, journalists, and, most importantly, a sea of fans. Despite being just six months apart, each clip’s actor appears very different. In the first, he looks youthful and unsure of himself; in the second, he appears proud, happy, and confident.
the same reporter took these videos and wooseok recognised him 🥹 last time when he left to Japan for his 1st fm, only few people showed up. look at you now wooseok, almost the entire nation is there!
The Lovely Runner star was featured on one of the episodes of the popular show You Quiz on the Block. During the show, Byun Woo-Seok opened up about his mixed emotions regarding the sudden attention and recognition that came with the success and popularity of Lovely Runner. He said, “I was cut after reading a script, and it was a series of traumas. I got cursed a lot, and there was a time when my self-esteem was at its lowest. I like being filmed but kept getting scolded, so I got camera anxiety.”
He also mentioned, “I wondered if it was right to do acting even though I heard people around me say that it won’t work out for me in 5 years. But I didn’t want to be discouraged, so I tried to overcome my shortcomings and traumas by playing different roles.”
