K-ent Critics and K-netizens Finally Validate Nam Joo Hyuk Calling His Character and Performance in Twenty Five, Twenty One a Career Making Turn

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• His acting is still awkward to me at times, but there's no doubt this is his best role yet. The character is beautifully written with enough facets for him to shine and be memorable. He did it all while being devastatingly handsome at the same time. Happy for him really. Even Bona is really good here. 2521 looks set to become one of those nice dramas deserving rewatches. The writing has held up going past the midpoint and Im just hoping they will keep it strong to the end to tell a good story of first love.

  • Agree, there's a few scenes in 2521 where his acting was pretty awkward, like when he was surprised and gasped. Doesn't look like he was actually surprised. I think his acting was better in Start Up.

    • Very true. I loved 2521 but I felt his acting was awkward at times.
      like when he gasped at seeing Naa He Do in the restaurant and when he hugged her to apologize for being late to their cinema date. I'm watching Start Up too and his acting is quite awkward. He's very handsome and I love him but watching Start Up made me realize I have to just admit it.

      Its as though he can't fully immerse himself in the character. His Celebrity Bromance show with Ji Soo felt better and more natural

  • I Don't think this roles is his best roles. It's the light in your eyes roles for me when he shows a much emotion of sincerity. But This roles really increase his popularity.

  • He deserved it in Start-Up, too, but yes, finally, his moment arrived. Happy for him!

  • I agree. He's not bad, but not great either.

    • He's great actually much greater than some actors who just act like a dummy.

  • He has a smiley face…but i love this coming of age rom com so much … ,i feel nostalgic,…

• I don't think NHJ's acting skills magically improved so much as he landed on the perfect character to play. Baek Yijin just suits him and his acting style to a T.

  Some actors just need have the character fit for their acting to shine.

  • his acting skills didn't magically improve, but they have been improving slowly but steadily for years now. the most staggering growth was in the light in your eyes, and he has been consistently delivering solid performances since then.

• he's been trending like crazy in korea for his 'first love' visuals and matching his character. if his next drama does well, we'll finally have a popular top actor in their 20s outside of park bogum and exo d.o.

  • Ahn hyoseop is also a good actor in 20s and Seo kanjoon,kim minjae and yeo jingok also you only know 2 names of actors in 20s? I guess you only watch famous dramas I watch dramas with these actors too they are also known for good acting

    • Yeo jingoo*

    • they're talking about a TOP actor in their 20s. think the level of star power that the likes of hyun bin, song joong ki, lee min ho, yoo ah in, lee jong suk have. park bogum is the only one i can think of from the 20s line.

    • That person is obviously talking about STAR POWER. The kind of actor who brings in not only ratings but buzz, trends across all age groups, and is likely a CF star. Like Kim Soo Hyun, Gong Yoo, Park Seo Joon, Lee Min Ho level. Park Bo Gum is the only actor in his 20s that can be listed here.

  • I think D.O.'s upcoming drama needs to be a hit for him to be mentioned alongside Park Bogum. He's almost there.

    • D.O is a pretty decent actor but to me he doesn’t have that “it” factor yet. He’s more of the boy next door type like Park Hyun Shik or Choi Woo-Shik, but who knows in the future.

  • there shortcome when comes to actor in 20s compare to top actor in 30's in term of acting skill n popularity. tbh i think Park Bogum is only actor in 20s when comes to skill n fames. D.O. is widely critical acclaim among idol actor and i think he need one more hit drama to be same level with Park Bogum.

• I can't be objective with his acting because I find him so dreamy haha! I've been following him through all his dramas (the only one I didn't watch is Habaek), and always felt like even though he's awkward many times, he has a warmth that just gets to me. Maybe it's his choice of characters, which are usually nice boys. I even rooted for him in School 2015, probably the only one doing so. Happy he's getting some love after the Start Up clusterfuck.

• is do on the same level as bogum? this is news to me. i know he had a hit with 100 days, but isn't bogum on a league of his own?

  as for njh, he's probably going to enlist now, so his next project will be a couple of years from now. wish he could ride this momentum into a new project, but there will no doubt be a lot of anticipation for his return drama owing to the success of 2521.

  • was supposed to @risa.

  • I wouldn't put him on the same level as PBG. D.O's last drama was a hit in korea, but I think he's closer to being the 90s Yoo Ah In
    as he's more active in the film industry. PBG is on another level since he has more than 1 national hit, and he's a hallyu actor too. The closest to PBG seems to be Nam Joo Hyuk actually as he already has quite a lot of dramas that generated buzz internationally too like Weightlifting Fairy, Startup, and now this drama. Maybe Song Kang too as long as he keeps on being the darling of Netflix.

    Honestly, it's going to be really hard for the 90s actors as the 80s ones generate a lot of buzz by themselves and can headline a drama on their own while the likes of NJH and Song Kang rely on their co-stars. NJH has improved a lot (and has a great eye for dramas both in quality and in showcasing the best of his abilities) so maybe he can do it in future dramas. As of now I think of Yeo Jingoo and Lee Dohyun as having a lot of potential. But the former is not really a romantic actor while the latter has a long way to go in terms of popularity.

    • I think Lee Do Hyun has the greatest potential. He has talent, looks, height and is a stan attractor. NJH has potential too, but he needs another hit drama with a different image from his previous characters. Song Kang is a stan attractor but is not a good actor. Yeo Jin Goo is more on the critically-acclaimed side because he lacks the visual and it factor that popular top actors have.

    • @lai hmm does lee do hyun have the looks? he's cute but in that boy next door kind of way. i think if he hits it big, it will be with his talent mostly.

      and i know what a stan attractor is in a group, but what does it mean for an actor to be a stan attractor?

• He actually oroved his acting in ‘ The light in Your Eyes’ . He really improved steadily and doesn’t disappoint people who roots for him as an actor

  Can’t say the same about AHS, Lee Sung Kyung, etc who seems to be at a standstill

  • Ahn Hyo Seop is an excellent actor. Much better than NJH who is awkward and stilted

• Oh Nam Joo Hyuk - in the beginning he kept getting lead roles and it was all criticised but this is one story of someone who was lucky to get the opportunities but also tried very hard each time. It took him a while but he got there. And if you wonder why, since there’s so many others with better acting chops but never got the limelight - i think for actors there’s always this x-factor, this likeability intangible where you just get a little more space for mistakes and somehow still audience give you chances and root for you - and he has that. And still kudos to him for never taking that for granted and challenging himself each time.

  • I'm a firm believer in the wow factor coming into play, but the dude is a good looking guy and that is also a big component of what kept getting him opportunities. I give him absolute credit for honing his craft and in his company and himself for picking some solid and diverse drama selections.

  • That's very true. I was pretty critical of NJH's acting in the past but there was something very endearing about him that made me root for him anyway.

  • Agree with you on the x-factor/likeability. It's the same with idols. And even in Nsync - outing myself as a millenial here- Justin Timberlake got the audience attention when JC Chasez was just as hot - maybe even hotter- and could sing so much better than Justin. The majority of the vocals were split between the two. JC's voice had a lot more emotion, soul, and range.

• So far this is the best kdrama lately. Hope the writers will continue to amaze us, hoping that in the middle we will not get bored. The leading male role is so good , I like his character here and together with all the cast. Twenty five twenty one, I will rate as 9/10 as of now.

• Personaly, I don't find him specially attracting, his looks rest more on his body than his face for me. So the close-up on on his face don't work on me :p

  But I think for once he suits his character well. I don't feel his own natural shyness in this role.

• I love how all of the cast are having so much fun with their characters and making them apart of them. Some may say it’s awkward in some parts but I call it comedy. The best reactions to those moments and so humane ones. I think Nam JooHyuk really shines in this drama and he is playing his character so well! This team deserves everything! Fighting 25/21