Japan Trying to Schedule a Byun Woo Seok Fan Meeting After Success of Lovely Runner and Industry Insider Claims He’s the Biggest New K-actor Popularity Rise Since Gen 1 Mega Stars Bae Yong Joon and Won Bin

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• A drama that barely reached 6% drama causes.. How easy is it for guys. Glad hyeyoon is working on a female centric drama next she needs do stop with her good luck charm in making these guys famous.

  • What do you mean by "easy"? His agency working hard and more than KHY's, you can't call it "easy" for him just because her agency does a small part of his agency work.
    About her previous co-stars, don't know about Rowoon, but Lee Jae Wook become popular after two seasons Alchemy of souls, not after EY.
    And popularity as IT boy/girl is one thing, but recognition as big/hallyu actor/actress is another.
    Without any hate, I doubt BWS considered as hallyu actor right now, or got recognition enough for awards nominations.
    He needs next drama to show himself.

    • He actually does have Hallyu star status right now. All scripts for actors in their twenties and thirties are going to him. He is the top pick for everyone right now means others only get dramas after he rejects the scripts. His agency is also very clear that they will choose his next project very carefully and only the best will be chosen. He’s definitely a massive Hallyu star at the moment and he will definitely pick his next drama or movie opposite a star writer, director and actor combination. He doesn’t have to carry his next drama either since a top female lead like IU, Suzy or Kim Ji won can do that instead and if he picks a OTT drama then he doesn’t have to care for ratings only on vitality.

    • @Cinnna
      Hmmm, maybe you're right, and he's hallyu actor already.
      Just for me it means a little more than popularity, but actor's charisma as well. I didn't watch LR yet, but watched Record of youth and Soulmate, and can't say that he was remarkable there (still don't know if this was because of him or because of characters he played).
      I'm wondering about him because I saw some other popular actors/actresses which career was vanished in vain after one popular role. Anyway, I need to see LR before judje.
      Your words a little convinced me. BWK has a good agency, which really cares about him and about his career, so I'm looking forward for his next project choose.

    • *BWS

    • @Olesya1 I also watched him in Record of Youth and agree he was really nothing special there. His character is Soulmate was mostly ancillary to the two best friends. I feel like the character of Sunjae was just the defining role that fit him perfectly. The directors also spent A LOT of time helping him in LR. Director Yoon basically told him where his exact hand placement should be for a lot of the romantic scenes. He also put in a lot of hard work to make his role believable. The chemistry with his costar was also pivotal. It was almost like all the stars aligned and everything fell into place all at once for this project. His sincerity and hard working nature has also gained him a lot of fans. I really liked the drama, the chemistry of the main couple, and he seems like a lovely person, but I do think the jury is still out on his acting for me.

    • @Soph
      I read comments about director's work with BWS, but didn't watch bts so don't know how serious this was. Since I watched QOT bts, and director Jang Young Woo also helped actors, discussing with KJW and KSH how they need to speak, to look at eachother etc, every scene was discussed at rehearsal, and I didn't thought much about it.
      But agree with you, for me this is also one of the reason I want to watch next BWS project after LR to understand, if he can act good in other conditions.

  • the OG Reply (1997) also reached only 6 percent, like that one LR is on a cable channel and is a youth drama which I think are considered successes if they cross 4-5 percent. It's been reported on soompi that the pre-orders for the Lovely Runner soundtrack are the highest for any drama ever.

    and a "female centric" drama isn't going to be any improvement for Hyeyoon if all it means is an untalented female idol will be the one taking advantage of her hard work to try and get famous, instead of a male one.

    • But reply 97 was yeaaaarss ago when tvn just started. Nowadays, tvn's high rating is above 10%, under it, just so so. Old dramas in non cable tv got 50% back then, now even 10 is hard to achieve. Good for a tvn, as a cable tv they got 20% something for QoT.

      LR is a gem since it targeted the young audiences. With social media, they could share anything and LR team knew it well. The same with BWS's company, they've worked hard for it and get what they deserve. No complaint.

    • @Yui 6 percent for Reply in 2012 was the highest cable drama ratings of all time .

      I'm seeing tvn dramas from 2020 called hits for scoring 5 percent as their highest rating even with big name stars and writer, LR with neither has a higher rating than that and much more online buzz.

    • LR was a Mon-Tue drama as well, which generally doesn't garner as many audiences on air. tvN is still posting about LR, opening more pop up stores, so they definitely consider it a hit. Also, the fact that a fake group from that show is top 10 on Melon charts, and entering Billboard 200 is quite a feat.

  • I never understand these comments bemoaning men having it easier on Byun Wooseok's posts.

    That's only the case because it's women who make guys like him famous whereas we don't support female celebrities in the same way. For example, he has 4 million more followers than Kim Hyeyoon and all his songs from the show are charting. That's the doing of his eager female fans...

    What companies want to see at the end of the day are money and results. If a male celebrity can give them both, he'll naturally get offered more opportunities over his female colleagues.

• I usually watch kdramas late/way after they ended so I miss all the craziness when it comes to huge buzz projects. Glad I got to experience it live this time completely by chance just because I needed something light after some heavy work projects so I started it on its second week lol It's quite fun to follow the after effects, and also so interesting that LR barely crossed 6% - I think this is the most unique aspect of this drama's phenomenom

• LOL his agency working overtime a little too much. But I guess milking the cow while they can is the way to go, no matter how extremely exaggerated. Might not be very smart of them long term but hey, if it works today, I say great marketing.

  • the buzz is undeniable rn but BWS's next 1-2 acting projects will be what shows whether he'll go the way of Lee Jongsuk vs the way of Yoo Yeonseok (none of whose subsequent projects lived up to his Chilbongie hype)

    (I mention these two because they broke out in the same year btw - 2013)

    • What if he's not even going the YYS way. At least YYS reserved enough grace by being recognised as a good movie actor prior to Reply. I don't think BWS has that to fall on. Because from what I've seen of BWS during his emotional scenes is ummm.... I'm afraid if he is going to headline a series next we will see him going the way of a third person; Ahn Jae Hyun. Him in Blood was brutal.

    • Ahn Jae Hyun had never delivered a hit performance or character before that though, and certainly not as lead.

• I think these journalists need to stop bringing his new popularity for clickbait articles.
  Don't know if this is bad for him, but not good either.
  Articles like this do nothing but bringing controversies. I didn't even watch LR yet, but still wanted to complain that this article is too much. This is how it working.

  • It has the same effect on me lol
    Haven't even watched LR but all these articles seem like overkill and are only working on killing the hype. Gives me second hand embarrassment for him. Makes him come off as arrogant with barely anything to back all these claims up

• I really like BWS but these kind of clickbait articles with hyperbolic comparisons are so unfair to him and will just annoy people.

  Actually, if I was a young actor hoping to have a long serious career in acting I wouldn't even want to be compared to Bae Yong Joon as his acting career had no longevity. Yes, I know he was super famous, led the Hallyu Wave and made a lot of smart business decisions which made him very, very rich but he became more of a personality than an actor after he hit big with 'Winter Sonata'. He only made two more films and one drama and retired to count his millions and focus on his businesses.

• they’re saying the initial level of interest he’s generating is reminiscent of the initial level of interest those stars generated. he is today where these big stars were two decades ago when they were just rising stars themselves. they are not saying bws is as big as the current versions of them.

  • Agree! The article didn't even state that BWS is as popular as the current big stars nor is the drama listed as a hallyu wave, but the breakout of him seems to be as big as when the big stars broke out back then because not only is he popular in Korea but also outside of it. BWS worked a long way from playing secondary roles to villians to where he is today so IDK why KHY also keeps getting mentioned with him when it's Korea themselves releasing these articles. They both worked hard OK. He might as well not work AT all like Won Bin if expectations are too high, might as well cap it now haha.

  • Indeed. Once again, many people commenting here don't really comprehend what they are reading. As you said, the article compares moments in time, not overall careers or worth.

• Lovely Runner appeals to a narrow range of viewers, but the level of frantic devotion it has achieved among young women has been phenomenal. It reminds people of the first generation of Kdramas back in the early 2000s with its undeviating focus on pure love in defiance of fate/destiny, so I would not be surprised if Japan fans are loving it as they have loved the early Kdramas. With all this recent veering into Netflix-type themes, Kdrama has been neglecting where it has always charmed people in the first place, pure love dramas. I am glad Lovely Runner has been able to fill in this void (despite a somewhat sluggish second half). BWS is crazily hot not just in Korea but here in Taiwan as well. When he landed at Taipei airport more than 1000 fans came out to welcome him, the biggest gathering of fans within the last few years even when you count Kpop idols. His fan meet tickets sold out the very first second box office opened, with more than 50,000 people waiting to buy 1500 tickets. I agree his next project is the key but K news has been reporting that all new scripts nowadays with the male lead in his 20s and 30s go to BWS first.

• I mean he is popular with fans in 20/30s range but not all ages while the others were popular with all viewers. They also had the highest tv rating which honestly Lovely Runner isn’t there for sure. I feel these articles are bad for him if his next project doesn’t meet expectations. Let’s see if his popularity will continue as we know, most fans are 3 month fans until the next breakout drama. He is definitely the IT boy currently but will we still talk about him after 10/20 years.

  • the entire viewer scene is different since the advent of streaming, 20 percent ratings was easier to get 20 years ago than now so in strict ratings terms they aren't comparable (though 6 percent is a really good rating on a paid channel like tvN)

    forget 20 years, the question is whether we'll still be talking about him in 2-3 years. That's usually enough time to tell whether the hype has translated to anything solid or just petered out into averageness like it did for many before him, right now it's been barely two weeks since Lovely Runner ended so it's understandable they're taking their victory lap.

    • I would say over 8-9% being really good and over 15% being a drama everyone all ages know about. Lovely runner didn’t even reach 6%, avg 4%. I said it’s good but not a comparison with other dramas mentioned. Saying this as a fan of the drama, their audience reach is not the same.

    • Start Up which some people consider a hit and had a big name writer (ie she cost ₩₩₩) was a relatively recent (2020) drama that also got people making a huge fuss over the male actor.

      Lovely Runner has higher ratings than that and certainly cost less plus has more buzz. By any standard it's a hit, not an all-generation ratings smash like Queen of Tears but high enough that its Korean streaming numbers pushed tving higher than Netflix for the first time ever and its OST pre-orders are now apparently higher than any drama ever recorded. LR may be a trend to "only" 20s and 30s viewers but those viewers are a coveted advertising demographic and actually spend money as we're seeing - it's not mainly teenagers buying those fanmeet tickets.

    • @Royal We What's interesting is that according to TVing's data, it's actually the 30s and 40s demographics that make up the biggest chunk of the LR viewers. 20s comes in third behind the two of them. A lot of people seem to think it's something that has only resonated with the teens and young adults, but the data says otherwise.

      Start-up is a good comparison, only bc LR has exceeded it in every way. Their ratings aren't all that different, but it's important to remember that Start-up underperformed while LR has clearly over performed. KSH also "broke out" through Start-up but BWS's break out has already had a much bigger impact in pop culture than his ever did.

      People using the ratings to undermine LR's popularity are missing the point. LR's popularity is special and unique BC it had relatively lower ratings. the fact that it's so wildly popular in spite of its ratings, not bc of it, is something that has confounded the industry. execs and production companies are taking notes as TVN cooks up ideas to milk the brand for all its worth by releasing merch, scriptbooks, the ost, even going so far as to thinking about opening pop-up stores overseas. It's a sign of changing times, so we'll have to see how the industry adjusts.

    • If you want to compare LR and its popularity WFKBJ is the best comparison. This was another tiny drama on MBC with single digit ratings going up against the behemoth that was LOtBS but it entirely and completely overshadowed the latter in buzz and popularity. NJH and LSK created a huge craze back then especially since they got caught dating just a month later and the whole “Do You Like Messi?” line remains iconic till this day. The ost for WFKBJ were as popular as DOTS and charted high on melon. Every once in awhile comes a small drama with zero expectations that just blows up overnight. What it ultimately boils down to is good writing and chemistry. For a romcom chemistry is everything and it’s not just about throwing together two attractive people and expecting it to stick it’s about putting together two actors who share good synergy and watching them bloom into their characters. Nonetheless BWS has made a character that define him for the rest of his life and he will forever be remembered as RSJ even decades later.

• Take it they mean the level of frenzied popularity. The thing is, there is no equal comparison, nowadays actors/celebs can depend on social media for things to go viral. Back in those days, there were only forums and magazines and such. So things tend to go super trendy/viral these days very quickly and fall off after awhile. Those dudes above had some sort of longevity at least in their careers, which is something that can't really be said about bws at this moment. Not sure if his agency or some random reporter is writing about all these but... not too great to be making all these leaps in comparisons when he hasn't really proven his acting chops in any way. Sunjae was not a complicated role to play tbvh, and appeals to a very narrow demographic of mostly female fans and shippers. I saw snippets of his taiwan fanmeeting where he was in some dress or sth dressed up as a "baby girl", absolutely cringey and embarrassing, but I guess his fans are the sort that like those kinds of things?

  • he was dressed as cardcaptor sakura, a beloved anime that many people grew up with. you don't have to shit on something just bc women like it. that's much more cringe and embarrassing tbvh.

  • Yeah. it's a false equivalence. No way you can compare a Korean actor from the early 2000s to now. Kids now don't realise how hard it was to even watch Kdramas or get news about actors back in the 2000s. That's why the reach and power of the hallyu wave was so remarkable.

    LMAOOOOOOOOO I saw that outfit and I seriously thought he must of lost a bet or something to be wearing that but apparently it was a random clothes challenge where he picks random number and has to wear the corresponding gag outfit. Not sure what the other gag outfits were but the staff should have made the options less embarrassing but still funny like a superhero or a vegetable or something rather than a magical girl costume. I get it was just for fun but out of context it's a bit cringey.

  • I was at that fan meet and everyone just loved that outfit. He was disarmingly sincere and has none of the airs of celebrities. Comedy is actually a part of his acting charm and this just shows he doesn't take himself or his recent fame too seriously.

    • @eva: Thanks for sharing your perspective as an attendee. I'm happy you enjoyed the fan meeting and the fans loved everything (including that costume). He does seem very personable, genuine and hardworking.

• With this huge popularity, im afraid it will be a burden later with his new projects. Stay grounded and humble. Talent is important, but attitude is needed.