Edited by Seo Hayne
Translated Cho EK
Ahn Bo Hyun was an athlete and a fashion model before he became an actor. When he was a boxer in school, he was attracted to being an actor after watching the realistic boxing scenes in Champion (2002) and Crying Fist (2005). His acting career began only after he established a foothold as one of the most successful fashion models. He made his debut with KBS’ Golden Cross in 2014 and gradually built up his career by taking small roles. In 2016, he played Sergeant Lim Gwang Nam, a member of an elite squad led by Captain Yoo Shi Jin (Song Joong Ki) in KBS’ Descendants of the Sun. Later in the same year, he auditioned for the main character of the movie Hiya and got the role among a thousand other competitors.
In 2019, Ahn Bo Hyun got his first lead role in tvN’s romantic comedy series Her Private Life. He played Nam Eun Gi, a judo master who has a crush on his old childhood friend, Deok Mi (Park Min Young). He made full use of his physical strength to realistically portray the role.
A major turning point in the actor’s acting career was JTBC’s Itaewon Class (2020). In it, he played Jang Geun Won, a wild boy who grew up in a wealthy household. He is a character who longs for his father’s attention and love but preys on the weak to hide his fragile inner self. Ahn Bo Hyun did a great job delicately playing a different chaebol character with a wide range of emotions and, thus, is easily swept by his fear and anger. While repeating his evil deeds, he showed his sweet side to his unrequited love Oh Soo Ah (Kwon Nara), earning the ‘romantic trash’ nickname.
Ahn Bo Hyun is now meeting viewers with two new works. First of all, in the romance drama based on a webtoon, tvN’s Yumi’s Cells, he played a guy named Goo Woong who is clueless when it comes to love. Currently, he is starring opposite Kim Go Eun, leading a sweet on-screen romance. In particular, he drew attention from viewers by perfectly embodying Goo Woong’s unique long hairstyle and beard. Then, in the Netflix original series My Name, he played a skilled detective named Jeon Pil Do in narc. He had to work out and practice stunts to play the role with the desired intense look of the character.
In a recent interview, Ahn Bo Hyun expressed his desire to do a sweet romance because, so far, most of his roles faced death in his previous works. Like what he said, we hope to see more of his diverse body of work in his coming projects.
Editor Seo Hayne: I like actors as they faithfully lead through their long running-time. I also like idols who accomplish everything on stage within 3 minutes.
Translator Cho EK: I’m a big fan of Korean dramas and movies.
