I'm watching and LOVING Lovely Runner, which is largely thanks to Byeon Woo-seok's superlative performance. He's making me feel all the things in every episode - I just want to put him in my pocket and keep him safe please and thank you 😭 Before this, I had only seen him in Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency (didn't enjoy the drama, but he was one of the parts that I DID enjoy), and in Moonshine (I enjoyed the drama AND his utterly charming performance). So Lovely Runner is my first time seeing him in something contemporary! And now I'm wanting more for him - more lead roles, more genres, and more sageuks, too! (*he looks REAL GOOD in hanbok*). I think last year was the year of Rowoon, and I hope this year is the year of Byeon Woo-seok!

Thank you for this chat and an evocative description of a purdy pout (really!!).

Well all I can say is that Byeon Woo-seok is an overnight sensation after (nearly) the proverbial 10 years of hard work. Just proves that when the fates decree - A Star is Born!! 💥 🌟 💫

Despite my antagonism towards Moonshine, it was love at first sight for me with him in that drama. His character is so cheeky with a surprising blend of sincerity. Plus he looked great in traditional costuming!

I had seen him in RoY and then completely forgot about him.
I am loving him in Lovely Runner!! He got it all. Looks, acting and oodles of charm.
May he rise more and shine brighter 💙

He never really stood up before for me but he was cute in 20th Century Girl. I think Lovely Runner is his best work. He really shines in this role.

I wish to see him in an adult role in a modern drama.

He seems to be very quiet and caring in the real life, it's funny to see him with the chaotic KHY 🥰

I'll look out for his face in Live Up To Your Name. Now I'm glad I haven't had the time to complete this recommendation that has been on pause since episode 8 in my playlist.

I don't exactly recall his face like that, he's an unfamiliar face for me in kdramaland, and I don't mean this in a putting down manner, I honestly don't. I watched Moonshine and the character of Lee Pyo isn't ringing a bell. However, I was kind of excited to learn that he was the villain in Strong Woman Na Bong-soon. It is not easy to pull such a feat. I liked that he followed it up with Carry Sunjae and Run.

I'll admit that I'm not watching the said currently airing drama. But, I'm in love with the DB-title for the drama.

From Moonshine to Strong Woman Na Bong-soon to Carry Sunjae and Run, I think I like this rise. And looking at his portfolio in general, the rise makes more sense and more so satisfying.

BWS in Lovely Runner is a chef's kiss and a long awaited break that he truly deserves! I've never been a super fan of him until Lovely Runner. I followed him from RoY but the story was not so good so I had to drop it. I also had to drop Strong Girl Namsoon even though he was there because it was not the sequel I wanted for SWDBS. I hated the ending of 20th Century Girl but his character was swoony. His role in Soulmate was bland (he had a torrid scene with JSN). Now because of LR, I'm going to watch him on Flower Crew of Joseon (I skipped to his scenes, lol) and Moonshine.

I am impressed at how he has grealty improved his acting skills on Lovely Runner. Or is it also because of a combination of good directing, writing, and co-star? I've watched both their interviews on YT and he is naturally caring and a bit of a flirt with KHY (he stroked that KHY mic when he talked about his dog).

I hope BWS and KHY's fanbase and career will continue to grow upwards!

My first was Record of Youth, favorite before Lovely Runner was 20th Century Girl. I checked his filmography, he had a bunch of cameos that i never noticed before! Search WWW, Midnight Runners, Weightlifting Fairy, Waikiki 2..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byeon_Woo-seok

He’s absolutely owning this role and with KHY the pair is The Most Adorably Hot Thing in 2024.

The first time I watched him was Soulmate, and he didn't leave any impression at all. All I remembered was that he was very tall. Though to be fair he was paired with the powerhouses Kim Da Mi and Jeon So Nee and those two women ate their roles and spit it out. He was woefully overshadowed by them. It also didn't help that the film had a pacing and narrative issues, and his character was class one mcp.

Then I watched him in the train wreck Nam Soon. He did leave an impression (well, it's hard to overlook all those muscles blowing up on your screen) but Nam Soon was an awful three-episode experience I would rather forget.

Lovely Runner does justice to him in ways that nothing else has done. I do not know why he didn't get into limelight before this. He is a natural and whether he had learned or whether he was always capable, I do not know. But I am happy that we now have someone to follow. Lovely Runner so far is a great script, and Soulmate was a great script too, so hopefully he will make some really good choices.

He will make a fabulous Joseon character (hopefully a general or something, we need more of those, away from the court politics).

I first saw BWS in record of youth and since the drama was a hot mess, I resolved to forget about it. My first proper drama of his was Moonshine and he really shined there as the rebellious alcohol loving crown prince.
After that came Strong Girl where he stole the show as the sext villain. And with him being on fire in lovely runner, BWS made it into my favorite actors list. Seon-jae is a green flag and one of my favorite dramaland male leads ever.

Tbh, I only found out I've seen him before in dramas when I googled his name. As Sun Jae he seemed familiar so I thought he was an idol. 😂😂

I never noticed him before. But he's doing great in Carry Sun Jae! I'm finally seeing his charm. And I hope to see more of it in future projects.

I think he is great and doing a fabulous job in Lovely runner.

I have seen both films and didn’t register that it was him until now but when someone mentioned Flower Crew I immediately placed his character and I had only seen a couple of episodes before the sageuk politics kicked in and I tapped out. I was annoyed that I had to leave that drama as I really wanted to watch it as I loved the concept. I also remember him from Record of Youth although he was an also ran for me at the time as Park Bogum has my full attention whenever he is in a drama.

I apparently missed him in Search:WWW and Dear my friends too😞

It would be good to know if he was in any web dramas but the web dramas are often not on any of the lists of dramas actors have starred in.
I hope he continues to choose good dramas now this one is putting him well and truly in the spotlight.

I have yet to watch Soulmate and 20th Century Girl but I may just do so for him.
I have seen him in Record of Youth and Strong Girl Nam Soon. But only appreciated his charms in Lovely Runner / Catch Sun Jae and Run. His portrayal of Sun Jae is the best so far and made me a fan.

This is one of my favorite things about watching dramas: discovering an actor who I may have seen before, but for whatever reason, they didn't capture my attention. Then, all of a sudden, they play a role that's perfectly suited to them and I'm all like "Where have you BEEN all my (viewing) life?!"

I realize now that I've seen BWS in two dramas--"Joseon Flower Crew" and "Record of Youth--and for roughly 10 seconds in "Strong Woman Nam-Soon" before I dropped it hard--and although I do recall thinking he was handsome, he left no real impression on me. I only remember now that he was in these roles because other Beanies pointed it out.

What's great about him in LR is that he's showing so much range without ever appearing to force anything. Some of that's due to the director, but a lot of it is him clearly feeling comfortable and safe being this character. As I've said elsewhere, part of why he's appealing as Sun Jae is that he's playing a very handsome, tall, and talented guy who's also a bit of dork. In short, not only my ideal type, but also that of many other people. He's doing this so well that it's easy to imagine that he's exactly like this in real life (he's already handsome, tall, and talented IRL, so why not a dork, too, lol?). But more than all this, I think he's capturing so much attention right now because he's showing that he's truly a good actor. He wasn't bad in the other things I've seen him in (and even in that 10 seconds of "Strong Woman," he sold me on the fact that he could play a villain), but he didn't stand out as particularly adept at playing a character with depth. Now he does. I'm so excited to see where his career goes next.

When I watched Live up to your name, in July 2022, I added a sub-board for him in my K-drama board on Pinterest (I had already created some sub-boards for other actors who had grabbed my attention for some reason). His role there was little, so I understand nobody remembers it.
Since then, I had not seen him in other dramas. I knew he was in Flower Crew, Record of Youth, XX Century Girl, and of course in Strong Woman Na Bong Soon (he was the most commented character in that show), but I didn't watch these dramas.

So Lovely Runner is my second time watching him (I can't remember his guest role in Weightlifting Fairy). It seems his popularity is going through the roof.

I first noticed Byun Woo-seok in my IG feed last year as the sexy villain in Strong Girl Naamson. I thought his visuals were gold. I pondered in watching the drama just for him, but procrastinated and didn't.

It was until the promos for Lovely Runner that I learned he was costarring with Kim Hye-yoon. I was looking forward to the premier of Lovely Runner because of Kim Hye-yoon, but boy was I pleasantly surprised to see he was more than a beautiful face!

After the first episode I was sold on anything Byun Woo-seok!

I followed to search everything he had done in the past and watched Soulmates and 20th Century Girl back to back over a weekend.

Like everyone else, I was surprised I missed him in Weightlifting Fairy and Record of Youth. I watched WF in its entirety when in aired, but his part was so small that he went under my radar 😞. On the other hand, I recalled thinking the second lead was way better looking than Park Bo-gum, but I ended up dropping the
drama after the first episode.
Currently, I watching Moonshine strictly for him. I'm enjoying his character as the bratty crown prince. I tried watching Flower Crew, but I found it too slow and overall the story didn't
appeal to me.

On another note, thank DB for this chat about Byun Woo-seok! I'm looking forward to his future projects.

P.s. When Lovely Runner started, he had 5.6M followers in IG, and now mid drama he is up to 7M!! May his career trajectory continue only upward from here on!!😍

i didn't care for his character in Strong Girl Nam Soon. he was icky stiff (supposed to be, i know), but the character didn't really "fit" or make sense to me in that drama. he was added as a SL chaebol something and while i was mesmerized by his fabulously tall good looks, the role was less than memorable - if only purposeless for plot drama.

so happy to see him SHINE in Lovely Runner, i look forward to seeing his other works. i was not interested in the other dramas he's been in. i don't think i need to go back to watch.

i just wanna see him in more dramas!
: )

I think I started with Wooseok's role in ROY but even there his character was okay (then again I didn't even finish the drama haha)
He was also in Weightlifting Fairy as Joon-Hyung's swim friend but it was a minor role and I forgot he was even in it.

He definitely gained some popularity with 20th Century Girl as his performance was impeccable there with his portrayal of the first love aspect (show still shatters my heart tho) and I'm so happy to see him shine with Lovely Runner! He definitely deserves the acknowledgement he's receiving now! <3<3

My most disliked role of his was Strong Girl Nam-soon, mainly because the storyline was really bad and didn't do his character justice at all. I started it just for him but couldn't take it
He does have villain potential but the script just has to be well written.

I've seen him in record of youth, strong girl namsoon, and 20th century girl. None of those performances were particularly memorable, but I've been aware of him since RoY in 2020. I thought he had shown potential in 20th century girl, and I'm pretty sure that performance led to being offered the role of Sunjae, but LR has been a genuine surprise. I've been a fan of KHY since Extraordinary You, so I was interested to check it out based on that alone, not thinking much about her being paired with BWS at the time. But he's been very very good so far. There's the prep piece I'm impressed with, like the swimming and singing, and I agree with other comments about the success of the character lies in how the character is written and his interpretation of it. Playing a hot celebrity who's also a dork and has been pining for the same person for 15 years is unrealistic, yes, but that's part of the character's appeal. It's just a super romantic character, you know? His chemistry with KHY is incredible to witness too. Sunjae is really the role of a lifetime for him, and I'm very happy it's this particular role and this particular drama that's going to launch him to a different level. The BWS renaissance is upon us, it seems!

Knew him from Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency, like the drama and like him back then.
I know he's in Record f Youth but as much as I love Bogeum, I didn't watch the drama lol
I didn't know he's in Moonshine and even got the KBS Rookie award.
Invest in Strong Girl Namsoon since he's that sexy villain but the story is a mess so I drop it.
Watch 20th Century Girl and like the movie but it's not that love because he's dead!!
I didn't remember he's in Search WWW, I think I notice him and really remember him, my heart always with Jaewook LoL
Other than above, I became Im Sol LoL

Him in Lovely Runner is one of the role that I won't ever forgot in the next couple year or even forever. It's his masterpiece! He's in 30ies but still fit with the high school role and he just nail it.
I hope he will rise, far from scandal and hope to see him again in the future

I enjoyed him in ROY, which was more about actors and idols and enjoying people than any actual story. His character got a bit dudded by the PBG fanservice at the end. He was beautiful in JMA, and the story knew it. Being beautiful was most of his character arc.
I've seen him in small parts in other stuff.
I am swooning in Lovely runner, he is doing a great job.
But having said that- a possibly unpopular opinion- I'm not sure that this drama is very challenging as an actor? At least not so far. Acting dorky or like you have a crush is relatable for most of us. (Well maybe Song Kang would be challenged? The little I have seen of him makes me think he tends towards high-strung). The writing and directing are well done, which is a gift to him, and are making it easy for him to look fantastic. Hopefully this role will lead to other things that will give him an opportunity to show a bit more range. Or alternately, he could just do stories similar to lovely runner until he is forty, and many of us would just keep watching him...

I first learned about him during the 20th Century Girl. Happiness couple was a thing back then and when fans heard that HHJ will cameo as the adult KYJ, everyone hoped PHS would cameo as adult BWS (but everyone knew now that even if PHS would be willing that time, it wouldn't happen.) I quickly checked Wikipedia to get to learn more about him and was surprised to find out that he's also a 91-liner (several days older than PHS), but why was I only hearing about him now? Then SGGNS happened and I thought, this drama might catapult him to stardom. That turned out to be fairly true, but we can all agree that Sunjae of Lovely Runner is his breakout role. I'm glad that Lovely Runner became popular despite the initial controversy it faced, and I hope that there would be a lot of opportunities for him (and KHY) after this drama. He's been in the shadow for quite long already.

I first noticed him on YT clips of strong girl nam soon, boy was he hot 🔥
Never watched the drama though.

I haven't seen his previous roles..I did miss seeing him in small roles that he appeared.. But did see a lot of him in namsoon and even though he was interesting enough to see, nam soon was so bad and had only bad reviews so I never bothered. Lovely runner did give him justice..He doing great and deserves the praise he's receiving. This is the only drama that's hype I'm agreeing with❤️

I just saw this prompt! OMO! I’ve been gushing about him to pretty much anyone who will listen. Record of Youth was when I noticed him, but didn’t regard his acting until Moonshine. For ROY, he played a model, so not much of a stretch there. But in Moonshine, his Crown prince character, although in the background, was nuanced enough with a couple dimpled cheeky smiles, that I was like, Whoa, this guy is going to lead something big one day. He’s got that look, that glint in his eye where he’s going to charm everyone when it’s his turn. And when he was in 20th Century Girl, and being forever 17 in that movie—I’m still shook. I can still see his face smiling in that video. He is a late bloomer compared to his fellow models (and friends) Jang Ki-yong and Nam a Joo Hyuk, but I dare say that he will be more popular than the both of them. He had an “blink and you’ll mis it” cameo in WLKBJ as well with NJH. And bless him to have had the foresight to do his military conscription early (like Jung Hae-in). Countless fans won’t be bemoaning his two years away. Also, bless him for putting in the work, honing his craft and getting better and better with every show he’s in! And he sings!!! He has a baritone quality to his voice which is different than most of the voices in kpop (only V really sounds warmer), which is why I think his OSTs are super popular from Lovely Runner. I was just listening to the Beanie playlist we put together for this show and when his voice pops up. I do the same thing every time—I don’t recognize this voice, it’s ok, it’s warmer, the song is kinda slow, I might skip it, OH WAIT! It’s Byeon Woo-soek! And let the gushing commence. He’s so good for not even being a singer! I can defiantly hear the green-ness in his singing, but I think he has a remarkable talent for it and it wouldn’t take much for him to be great. Here’s the playlist for anyone interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/55i0uKkatKWLvbPTvrpziz?si=cgSKyBR8Rb-g9zPcRoX25w&pi=u-_IS2aZn3QXiA

I’ll be watching EVERYTHING HE DOES from now on. I’ve done the same for Jang Ki-Yong, his contemporary, and I might actually like BWS better right now.

I have been thinking about this topic and I grew curious about why Byun Woo Seok didn't leave an impression on me in Soulmate.

I decided to watch it again yesterday to test whether I would appreciate his presence more now that I know him better. Interestingly, during this time, I also discovered two other lovable characters that I completely missed the first time.

I am posting my reflections here:
https://www.dramabeans.com/2023/09/movie-review-soulmate-shines-as-it-paints-a-dark-portrait-of-friends/

im not watching the drama but I googled this guy since you posted it and before I dropped I did notice he was super tall - 1.89!!! why is he so tall? did his mom have extra high kitchen cabinets.
if im honest super tall people creep me out a bit in real life, like im afraid they wont see me and might accidentally knock me out.
I should check some other dramas havent watched a single one.

Rise Byun Woo-seok! RISE! Ryu Sun-jae really suits him and he's definitely nailing it!

I've seen him in a few of his roles but nothing really stayed except 20th Century Girl and for sure Lovely Runner as well.

On the look out on what will be the next project he will choose. I'm sure the variety shows are busy casting him now.

I am so very proud.. You have to realize, I have been watching this guy for years and always thought he should be bigger than what he was. I was always happy for stars like Ronwoon, Lee Jae Wook, Song Kang and Lee Do Hyun. They all deserved their success but I also felt there were stars that were equally as good that never got that opportunity like Byeon Woo Seok, Kwak Dong Yeun ( perpetual second lead).. There are actresses too that dont get the opportunities they should like Kim Hye Yoon, Park Yoon Ha.

I am truly happy and supportive of him and I hope he continues to shine bright.

Could we do one of these for Kim Hyeyoon so that we add to the karmic manifestation for her moment in the sun (unintended pun). She is arguably more deserving given how much acting heavy lifting she has done in LR. She vibrates on screen and is exceptional in every scene without fail. We should be in her corner too!

I first noticed him in search www. He played an idol that attempted suicide. He was only there for a few episodes though. But even there he stood out.

His looks kind of remind me of Thai actor "Win" Metawin. I don't know if it's just me.

I remember first watching him in 20th Century Girl and thinking that he HAD to be the lead; his charisma was unmistakable. Luckily, he stole the show there and continues to act like all 6 month’s rent are due. Oppa is a national treasure!