South Korean actor Byeon Woo-seok. Photo: @byeonwooseok/Instagram

MANILA — Byeon Woo-seok has been a familiar face in South Korean dramas for quite some time now. However, his role in the hit series “Lovely Runner” has propelled him into the limelight, elevating his popularity to greater heights — an experience that still feels surreal for the actor. 

“Everything itself, my day-to-day [experience] actually comes as a big surprise. Like yesterday, when I was at the airport, I saw a huge crowd. That was amazing for me,” Woo-seok said in a press conference for his recent fan meeting in the Philippine capital.

“The fact that I’m also in front of you, doing this press conference, this is also a dream come true,” he told local journalists, whom he surprised by personally handing each of them a flower, a rare gesture from an artist at such an event.

“So until now, I’m still not used to this sudden attention, but it’s just actually like a dream,” said Woo-seok, who currently has 9.8 million Instagram followers.

Byeon Woo-seok hands out flowers to Filipino reporters present at the press conference for his Manila fan meeting, June 21, 2024. Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News Woo-seok debuted as an actor in 2016 but gained significant attention for his role in the 2020 series “Record of Youth,” where he starred alongside Park Bo-gum and Park So-dam.

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He continued to captivate viewers through other projects, including the film “20th Century Girl” and the series “Strong Girl Nam-soon.” However, his popularity skyrocketed following his portrayal of the singer Ryu Sun-jae in “Lovely Runner” earlier this year. 

Byeon Woo-seok in 'Lovely Runner.' Photo: @byeonwooseok/Instagram

The series follows the story of a devoted fan, played by Kim Hye-yoon, who is devastated after her favorite singer Sun-jae (portrayed by Woo-seok) passes away. However, she unexpectedly travels 15 years into the past, giving her a chance to change Sun-jae's fate.

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Woo-seok said he did not expect “Lovely Runner” to become a hit among audiences, simply hoping that viewers would enjoy watching the series as much as he and his colleagues had fun working on it. 

“While we were filming ‘Lovely Runner,’ I did not expect this grand success. But of course, I always had thoughts like, as much as I enjoyed filming and preparing for the shoot every day, I hope the people watching it liked this wonderful project,” he said.

When asked how he built a strong onscreen chemistry with his co-stars, especially with Hye-yoon, Woo-seok said: “I don’t think there’s really a secret to building a good [onscreen] relationship with my co-actors and actresses. But one thing that made me have good relationships with my co-stars is because I met good actors.”

Byeon woo-seok with Kim Hye-yoon in 'Lovely Runner.' Photo: @byeonwooseok/Instagram“They (co-stars) also love the project that they’re doing. So, probably, our love for whatever we’re doing makes us connect together. I don’t really have a personal approach to get close to them. It actually just comes from our hard work and the love towards what we do,” he explained.

Woo-seok said he does not have any particular role or genre in mind for his next project. “[I’m open] to any kind of new project where my heart is already in the story [upon reading the script],” he said.

Such was the case with “Lovely Runner,” he revealed. “Before I encountered the script for ‘Lovely Runner,’ I actually wanted to do different kinds of roles… but when I read the ‘Lovely Runner’ script, I fell in love with the character Sun-jae. Upon immediately reading [the script], I could totally relate to him.”

He also expressed his openness to starring in romantic comedies, a genre he personally likes.

Woo-seok considers it an achievement that people love his character. “I’m very grateful that you all remember me and appreciate me as being Sun-jae of ‘Lovely Runner.’ I think as an actor, it’s a great achievement that you like the character that I portray.” 

“So in the future, in my next projects, I’d appreciate and love if you also fall in love with the characters that I’ll be acting as,” he said.

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