Nam Joo-hyuk might be one of the most recognizable faces in South Korean television. Starring in so many fan-favorite K-dramas like Netflix’s Start-Up and Twenty-Five Twenty-One, the actor is also set to make his Disney+ debut!
Keep reading to learn more about the Korean actor.
Who Is Nam Joo-hyuk?
The actor was born in Busan, South Korea on February 22, 1994, making him a Pisces! Originally, Nam Joo-hyuk had dreams to become a basketball player (he’s 6-foot-2), until sustaining an injury which led to the end of his basketball days.
He began his career as a model in the entertainment industry, even winning first place in a modeling contest titled Top Model. Finally, Nam Joo-hyuk made his first television debut in 2014 with The Idle Mermaid. Since then, he’s starred in highly popular K-dramas such as Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016), The Bride of Habaek (2017), The Light in Your Eyes (2019), The School Nurse Files (2020), Start Up (2020), and Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022).
The K-drama star opened up about the difficulties of acting during an interview with Esquire in 2022.
“I tend to get really stressed when acting. I think about how I can bring out at least 80 percent of the potential of the script,” he explained. “I end up having fun on set, but I get stressed when I start thinking about the direction I’m taking with acting when I’m at home. Whether it’s a scene expressing explosive emotions or a calm scene, they’re both difficult.”
He also explained how his sports experience has helped him with his acting.
“I enjoy contact sports. I like the competitiveness that develops from it. When I think about it, I think I really like doing things where there’s a clear winner,” he began. “When I was a basketball player, I had to memorize over 20 patterns. We didn’t know what plan the coach would suddenly call out during a match. If they told us, ‘No. 3 and No.7,’ and I couldn’t carry out the order because I couldn’t recall what it was, then that meant that the whole team’s pattern would have broken down. There was a great sense of responsibility. I think all this really helps with acting. Even small things help with acting.”
Fun fact: he was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021.
Who Does Nam Joo-hyuk Play In ‘Vigilante’ Disney+ Series?
Nam Joo-Hyuk is set to play a character named Kim Gyu-san in Vigilante, which premiered on Disney+ on November 8, 2023.
The show follows Kim Gyu-san (Nam Joo-huk), a police college student who attempts to end the life of his mother’s killer, kickstarting a spree of revenge killings.
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