The Struggles Of Being Nam Joo Hyuk

Nam Joo Hyuk, this guy is not a stranger to any K-drama fan. Recently, Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Tae Ri completely broke our hearts, and I know that the majority of you are still struggling to recover from the posttraumatic disorder brought on by 25–21.

This alone proves what a great actor he is. Nam Joo Hyuk is a young model turned actor who has made a name for himself in the K-drama field. With no background or support, he made it to stardom all by himself.

Let’s take a look at the thorny path Nam Joo Hyuk took for success. Nam Joo-hyuk was born on February 22, 1994, in Busan. He was an only child. During his teenage years, Nam Joo Hyuk’s dream was to be a basketball player. This desire was made possible by his extraordinary height, but he was forced to give it up due to surgery. At the age of 16, Nam Joo Hyuk’s family shifted to Suwon. Until recently, many didn’t know Nam Joo Hyuk suffered from poverty for a long time. Because of this very reason, he could not complete college and had to enter the working world. He revealed all about his suffering when he appeared on MBC’s Radio Star back in 2018. With a tear in his eye, he said, "It was really tough for me and my family. For the whole year of 3rd grade, I only ate cup ramen. We didn’t even have a bathroom in the house." Still being haunted by those days, Nam Joo Hyuk added, "I think because of my past, I do think a lot about whether to buy something or not."

As he knew his sports career was over, he wanted to use his extraordinary height for something else. Even by the 3rd year of middle school, Nam Joo Hyuk was around 184 cm tall. So, in 2013, he participated in the Top Model contest sponsored by K-Plus, outperformed 50 contestants, and won the competition. This win changed his life. Soon after, he signed an exclusive contract with the modeling agency of YG Entertainment. The contract with YG paved the way for the music video appearances of fellow YG artists AKMU.

Nam Joo Hyuk marked his first small-screen appearance in the 2014 rom-com The Idle Mermaid. As he was able to make an impact, he made it to the main lead in his next project, the KBS coming-of-age drama Who Are You: School 2015. He portrayed the character of Han Yi-an, a high school swimming star. This marked the turning point in Nam Joo Hyuk’s life. Then we saw him in a couple of projects, and 13th Prince Baek-ah from Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is another note-worthy performance. This drama introduced Nam Joo hyuk to international fans. And his on screen lover, Seohyun of Girls' Generation, praised him. "Nam Joo Hyuk took care of me a lot, I think because he has more experience as an actor than I do," said Seohyun. "He was very considerate, and so I was able to film very comfortably."

However, I’d say Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo is the climax of Nam Joo Hyuk’s career. Even though the drama didn’t do well in the ratings, many younger viewers embraced it. Also, since the drama is available on Netflix, many international viewers had the opportunity to enjoy it. The viewers encountered a sweet love story on screen, and it extended to real life. In 2017, Dispatch revealed photographs from a date between Nam Joo Hyuk and his Weightlifting Fairy co-star, Lee Sung Kyung. Following the Dispatch post, a YG Entertainment representative said, "We confirmed with Lee Sung Kyung and Nam Joo Hyuk, who’ve been friends since they were models, that they started dating recently." Fans were so happy for the news, and well wishes flooded in for the two love birds. But the happiness didn’t last long. After a couple of months, YG again released a statement saying, "We checked with Nam Joo Hyuk and Lee Sung Kyung, and it is true that the two recently broke up."

However, Netizens speculates that they either did not break up or have gotten back together. Earlier in 2022, an online community post became the talk of the town. The poster had compared the clothes and accessories of Nam Joo Hyuk and Lee Sung Kyung, and the revelation indeed rings a bell. If they are really together, isn’t that super great?

I think we should talk about Nam Do San and Baek Yi Jin. I guess this is what comes to mind when hearing these two names. Nam Do San a nerd, a computer genius who is bad at everything else. And Baek Yi Jin, the reporter boy who loved Na Hee Do. We don’t call these characters Nam Joo Hyuk’s character in "Start Up" or Nam Joo Hyuk in "25-21." The impact that these characters have had on us as viewers proves the versatility of the actor. And I do not wish to talk much about Baek Yi Jin because I don’t want to relive the painful memories.

Does it sound like everything has been super easy for Nam Joo Hyuk since his debut? Actually no! There are people who cannot digest his success. Nam Joo hyuk and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo co-star Ji Soo are close friends because they are of the same age and have worked on a couple of projects together. In 2021, Karama followed Ji Soo when his former victims revealed what a bully he had been during school days. Finally, Jisoo accepted most of the allegations and made a public apology. Following this incident, some people ruined Nam Joo Hyuk’s social media feed for being close friends with Ji Soo. Nam Joo Hyuk and his agency kept their mouths shut, and the jobless gradually withdrew.

The evil powers surrounding Nam Joo Hyuk didn’t stop there. In June 2022, a person claiming to have attended the same middle and high school as Nam Joo Hyuk reported to a media outlet that he was a victim of school bullying by the actor for six years. Now, this didn’t make sense because Nam Joo Hyuk left Busan and moved to Suwon when he was in high school. So did the victim move as well? Nam Joo Hyuk’s agency, SOOP, immediately responded, firmly denying the allegations and stating that they would take strong legal action. Still more people came forward, and SOOP strongly denied all allegations, saying, "We have checked, and they are groundless." And a third victim turned in and now people started to believe these claims. Nam Joo Hyuk’s friendship with Ji Soo resurfaced, and Korean netizens claimed ‘same feathers flock together." SOOP was busy suing all who made false claims, but the public opinion was bad.

Dispatch, the common enemy of celebrities, turned out to be the knight in shining armor for Nam Joo Hyuk. Some former classmates of Nam Joo Hyuk turned up in defense of the actor, but still, the public was at a loss. This is when Dispatch revealed that they interviewed 20 people from Nam Joo Hyuk's high school: 18 former classmates and two teachers who knew Nam Joo Hyuk during his high school days. Unlike the anonymous accusers, Dispatches published the names of the people they interviewed. This included Nam Joo Hyuk’s homeroom teachers from his first and third years of high school. All his former classmates attested to Nam Joo Hyuk’s character, and his homeroom teacher from third year explained, "I remember Nam Joo Hyuk as one of the awesome male students that I taught. He helped his friends a lot. He wasn't good at studying, but he was praised for his character and personality. One of his cons was that he was frequently late. Those times he would be punished, but he never complained or rebelled against the teachers. He followed us well. What kind of bully would do that?" Finally, his name was cleared.

However, we didn’t see Nam Joo Hyuk in the spotlight for a long time until he was spotted in public for an online press conference for the film, Remember. Remember tells the story of Pil-Joo, played by Lee Sung-min, an Alzheimer's patient in his 80s who lost all his family during the Japanese colonial era and devotes his lifelong revenge before his memories disappear, and a young man in his 20s, Nam Joo Hyuk who helps him. The movie was released on October 26th and has been successfully screening in 1,189 theaters.

Nam Joo Hyuk’s latest project is the Disney drama Vigilante. It tells the story of Kim Ji Yong, a student at the police academy who becomes a vigilante and kills criminals. The release date of the drama has not yet been announced, but Nam Joo Hyuk will not be there to promote this show. Online media outlet Sports Chosun reported that Nam Joo hyuk will be enlisting in the military this coming December. In response to the report, a source from his management SOOP shared, "Although he does have to enlist in December, the exact date has not been fixed because he has yet to be issued a draft notice." It seems that we'll miss this great young actor on screen for some time. Until Nam Joo Hyuk safely returns from serving the country, let’s watch the masterpieces 25-21, Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, and Moon Lovers again and again to not miss him much.