Byeon Woo-Seok's Tough Road To Fame: 7 Things To Know About The 'Lovely Runner'

While there's much buzz surrounding Queen of Tears, South Korean drama Lovely Runner starring actor Byeon Woo-seok has proven to be equally popular.

This romantic fantasy drama tells the story of a popular male celebrity, Ryu Seon-jae (played by Byeon Woo-seok) who tragically takes his life and a passionate fan, Im Sol (played by Kim Hye-yoon) who goes back in time to save him. As the male lead of Lovely Runner, Byeon Woo-seok quickly rose to popularity, amassing over two million new followers on Instagram. With a massive following of over nine million at the time of writing, it might come as a surprise that Byeon Woo-seok has not always been this popular. This breakthrough only came ten years after his debut, making his journey to stardom all the more intriguing to fans. Here are seven things you may not know about Byeon Woo-Seok.

1. He wanted to be a flight attendant

Byeon Woo-seok was born in 1991, making him 33 years old this year. He first debuted in 2014 as a model alongside actors Nam Joo-hyuk and Jang Ki-yong, who also started out as models. While Nam Joo-hyuk and Jang Ki-yong were quickly able to land leading roles, Woo-seok continued playing minor roles. Prior to this, he actually wanted to follow in his sister's footsteps and become a flight attendant. However, he gave up it when his friends encouraged him to become a model because of his tall stature. Over time, he grew to like acting more, eventually deciding to study drama and film in college. In 2016, he officially made his onscreen debut with the Korean drama Dear My Friends.

2. He failed more than 100 auditions

His journey to popularity was not a smooth one. Despite his good looks, he was unable to land any lead roles after his debut and was stuck with minor ones. After failing 100 auditions, he doubted his decision to pursue acting as his career. Luckily for him, his perseverance paid off and he finally managed to snag a leading role this year. Since then, his career has taken off and his popularity has sky rocketed as well.

3. He embodies the ideal image of a first love

He appeared in many popular Korean dramas like Record of Youth, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo, Search: WWW and Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency. He also starred in the movie 20th Century Girl alongside co-star Kim Yoo-Jung, which depicts the bittersweet nature of first love.

4. He can play a devilishly handsome villain as well

Byeon Woo-seok's years of playing minor roles have prepared his well for his breakthrough role. Through all the different works in which he has acted in, he continuously honed and improved his acting skills, allowing him to act out the intricacies of each character. His skills were particularly evident when he took on the role of a villain in the drama "Strong Girl Nam-Soon". Changing everyone's impression of him as a 'first love' kind of character, he played the character of a psychotic cold-hearted villain perfectly, making viewers fall for him all over again.

5. He has really long legs

Standing at a towering height of 189cm, Byeon Woo-Seok boasts impressively long legs, earning him the nickname "walking clothes hanger." In a humorous post shared on Instagram, he showed off his long legs, easily stepping over three steps at a time. In the drama "Lovely Runner", his huge height difference of 30cm with co-star Kim Hye-Yoon, who's 160cm tall, created an adorable height difference that sparked discussions online. Fans might also remember the viral scene of them being in the same frame due to the obvious height difference. When asked about it, actress Kim Hye-Yoon jokingly said that her neck hurt from looking up at him all the time. She even wore high heels so that they could be closer in height.

6. He is a huge fan of actor Lee Byung-Hun

While he is known for his calm and charismatic image, Woo-seok actually has a secret fanboy side to him. He is a huge fan of South Korean actor, Lee Byung-hun and has expressed his desire to work with him. "I hope to work with Lee Byung-Hun one day. It doesn't matter what role I play, as long as I able to collaborate with him. I would like to try playing the role of his assistant before moving on to movies".

7. He is a romantic at heart

As the 'maknae' or youngest member of his family, he has a very close relationship with his family. However, in order to pursue his career and become an actor he moved to Seoul alone. This shift in environment caused him to feel lonely and he decided to raise a dog named "Mochi" to keep him company.

While most male stars tend to shy away from topics about love, Byeon Woo-Seok has always been vocal about his opinions on the subject. He revealed in interviews that he has a love-hate relationship with love as he tends to be completely smitten by his girlfriend when in a relationship. "I want to continue acting and earn lots of money. But I cannot be single forever. My ideal type is a woman who is both smart and dedicated to her work"

Lovely Runner is available on Viu.

This article was originally published on Nuyou. Translation: Nikki Low