Your Ultimate Nam Joo Hyuk Drama Guide
Who else can’t get enough of this talented actor and total cutie? We round up all 11 of his dramas, in case you’re seeking out more of him!
If you haven't watched any of Nam Joo Hyuk's dramas yet, you're simply missing out! Though still young—he's now 28 years old—his talent for acting is undeniable and his growing list of dramas is nothing short of impressive. After starring in drama Start-Up, which has everyone debating if they are #TeamNamDoSan or #TeamHanJiPyeong, he is now the male lead in a K-drama we can't get enough of: Twenty-Five Twenty-One!
While Nam Joo Hyuk initially dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player while studying, he had to let this dream go due to an injury. When he moved to Seoul, he won the Top Model contest sponsored by K-Plus and soon after made his debut as a model in 2013.
His acting debut happened in 2014 in Idle Mermaid (also known as Surplus Princess), where he had played a memorable supporting role. However, it wasn't until his portrayal as Han Yi-An in Who Are You: School 2015 that really got him on everyone's radar! Following the KBS teen drama, he found himself in several supporting roles in hit dramas such as Cheese in the Trap (2016) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016). He landed his first lead role in the coming-of-age teen drama Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (2016) and, eventually, landed in our hearts! Moreover, he has been recognized by several award-giving bodies such as the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the APAN Star Awards at still a young age, leading us to believe that there is still so much more to come from this dreamy K-drama hunk!
As we wait for new episodes of Twenty-Five Twenty-One every week, we find ourselves desperately seeking more of this promising (and very handsome) actor! In this feature, we round up all 11 of his K-dramas, just in case there's one you haven't seen yet.
Your Ultimate Nam Joo Hyuk Drama Guide
Your Ultimate Nam Joo Hyuk Drama Guide
Surplus Princess (2014)
Ha-Ni (Jo Bo-Ah) is a mermaid who is in love with a human man. Because of this, she becomes a human being and begins to live at the Ingyeo House. The house is for people who are preparing to land their first jobs. To permanently become a human being, Ha-Ni must make the man love her within 100 days... or else she turns back into a mermaid.
Photo Credit: tvN
Surplus Princess (2014)
Also known as Idle Mermaid, the drama sees Nam Joo Hyuk make his acting debut in a supporting role as Park Dae-bak or Big. He is a resident of the surplus house who had grown up rich but was recently cut off by his parents. The role also sees the actor play a computer genius.
Photo Credit: tvN
Who Are You: School 2015 (2015)
Set at a prestigious private school in Gangnam, Seoul, the drama tells the story of Go Eun-byul and Lee Eun-bi (both played by Kim So-hyun) who are identical twins, separated after one is adopted at the age of 5. Eun-bi lives at the Love House, an orphanage in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, where the younger residents look up to her as a mother figure. However, in reality, she is bullied at school by a gang of mean girls led by Kang So-young, while teachers turn a blind eye.
Photo Credit: KBS
Who Are You: School 2015 (2015)
On the other hand, Go Eun-byul is studying at Sekang High School, the most prestigious private high school in Seoul's Gangnam District. Her best friend is Han Yi-an (Nam Joo-hyuk), the school's star swimmer (and is set to be a national champion!) who also happens to be in love with her since they were kids!
Photo Credit: KBS
Glamorous Temptation (2015)
This romantic melodrama spans 50 episodes and follows the stories of three characters—an ambitious woman, a woman jealous of her, and a man who seeks revenge.
Photo Credit: MBC
Glamorous Temptation (2015)
Nam Joo Hyuk plays a young Jin Hyeong-woo who grows up to live for revenge, vowing to take revenge against those who drove his father to death when he was still a teenager. From a young age, he has been in love with Shin Eun-soo, a strong, ambitious woman who strives to be a good single mother to her young daughter.
Photo Credit: KBS
Cheese In The Trap (2016)
Based on the webtoon of the same name, Cheese in the Trap is a college romantic drama that stars Park Hae-jin, Kim Go-eun, Seo Kang-joon, and Lee Sung-kyung. It focuses on the life and relationships of a group of students, and focuses on the difficult relationship between hard-working scholarship student Hong Seol (Kim Go-eun) and Joo Yung (Park Hae-jin).
Photo Credit: tvN
Cheese In The Trap (2016)
Nam Joo Hyuk plays Kwon Eun-taek, Seol's loyal friend, who is in love with Jang Bo-ra.
Photo Credit: tvN
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
This heartwrenching but forever favorite historical drama is one that has stayed with us ever since watching it. Based on the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin, the drama continues to get audiences care deeply for Lee Joongi's Wang So, IU's Go Ha-jin/Hae Soo, and Kang Ha-neul's Wang Wook. It tells the lovestory of Hae Soo and Wang So, the latter changing his harsh personality and colness for Hae Soo.
Photo Credit: SBS
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
Nam Joo Hyuk plays the 13th Prince Baek-ah, a romantic playboy known for his aristocratic manners. As his first historical drama, Nam Joo Hyuk finds himself developing his talent and craft further in Moon Lovers.
Photo Credit: SBS
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016)
For many, Weightlifting Fairy was the first drama they saw Nam Joo Hyuk in and what a fantastic K-drama pick! Lee Sung-kyung plays Kim Bok-joo, a naturally gifted weightlifter with a very passionate and outgoing personality. Deep down, she is insecure, and she hides this with her tough exterior. Nam Joo Hyuk plays Jung Joon-hyung, her friend in elementary school who grew up to be a talented swimmer with a playful personality.
Photo Credit: MBC
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016)
Both Bok-joo and Joo-hyuk initially didn't recognize or remember each other until an incident occurs that digs up the childhood memories. As the story goes by, we see him first teasing Bok-joo, but eventually falling deeply in love with her. (Fun trivia: Nam Joo-hyuk and Lee Sung-kyung dated in real life!)
Photo Credit: MBC
The Bride of Habaek (2017)
This fantasy romance drama is a spin-off of the sunjung manhwa (comic) Bride of the Water God by Yoon Mi-kyung and stars Shin Se-kyung in the titualar role alongside Nam Joo-hyuk, Lim Ju-hwan, Krystal Jung, and Gong Myung. It begins with Lord Habaek (Nam Joo Hyuk) visiting earth to retrieve sacred stones needed for him to claim the throne of the Divine Realm. He seeks out the help of So-ah (Shin Se-kyung), a neuropsychiatrist who is the only remaining descendant from a middle-class family fated to serve him for generations.
Photo Credit: tvN
The Bride of Habaek (2017)
So-ah doesn't believe Habaek when he says he is a god and mistakes him for suffering from a mental illness. However, when she meets the god of the Land of the Sky, Bi-ryeom (Gong Myung), the goddess of Land of Water, Mu-ra (Krystal), and the demigod Hu-ye (Lim Ju-hwan), she decides to help him in his quest. Unknowingly to both her and Habaek, she is destined to be his bride.
Photo Credit: tvN
The Light in Your Eyes (2019)
Highly regarded critically and commerically, this drama portrays the hardships that everyday people face intimately. It stars Han Ji-min, Kim Hye-ja, Nam Joo Hyuk, and Son Ho Jun.
Photo Credit: JTBC
The Light in Your Eyes (2019)
Nam Joo Hyuk plays a young man named Lee Joon Ha who has a wonderful friendship with a woman named Kim Hye Ja who can manipulate time with a special watch. Joon Ha is exhausted from his family problems and had to give up his own dreams. He had to get into work as a scammer at an elderly care center, completely unaware that Hye Ja had become an old lady who goes there to pass time after turning old as a consequence of manipulating time. When they cross each other's paths again, they realize that they have both deeply changed.
Photo Credit: JTBC
The School Nurse Files (2020)
Based on the award-winning novel School Nurse Ahn Eun-young by Chung Serang, this Netflix produced fantasy limited series stars Jung Yu-mi and Nam Joo Hyuk. We meet Ahn Eun-young, a school nurse with the power to see human desires, feelings, and spirits that exist as "jellies", with some of these taking on dangerous, monstrous forms. She begins work at a new high school where very strange and mysterious incidents are taking place.
Photo Credit: Netflix
The School Nurse Files (2020)
Nam Joo Hyuk plays Hong In-pyo, a teacher at the school who teaches Hanja, who carries with him a special energy field around him that protects him from jellies. In this 6-part series, we see them solve the mysterious cases happening around the school together.
Photo Credit: Netflix
Start-Up (2020)
Who *isn't* watching Start-Up? This drama has us all looking forward to the weekends! The romance drama sees its story revolve around a woman named Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy) who dreams of becoming Korea's Steve Jobs and Nam Do-san (Nam Joo-hyuk) who is a struggling, shy genius-type.
Photo Credit: tvN/Netflix
Start-Up (2020)
Set in a fictional start-up accelerator in South Korea called Sandbox, Start-Up tells the story of a myriad of people in the exciting world of startup companies. Nam Joo Hyuk's Nam Do-san is the founder of Samsan Tech who happens to encounter Dal-mi at the right time in his life. With a messy, somewhat complicated misunderstanding having Dal-mi believe he is her first love, he tries to turn this into a reality and we see romance blossom between the two as the (current) drama goes along!
Photo Credit: tvN/Netflix
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
Just breaking a new record for making it to Netflix's Global Top 10 Chart, 'Twenty-Five Twenty-One' is a drama we have fallen in love with. Directed by Jung Ji-hyun and starring Kim Tae-ri, Nam Joo-hyuk, Bona, Choi Hyun-wook and Lee Joo-myung, the series depicts the romantic lives of five characters spanning from the year of 1998 to 2021.
Photo Credit: Netflix, tvN
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
The story? A love story, of course! Twenty-Five Twenty-One is about the love of passionate spitfire Na Hee-Do (Kim Tae-Ri) and hardworking Baek Yi-Jin (Nam Joo-Hyuk). As the title suggests, at ages 22 and 18, they said each other's names for the first time; and at ages 25 and 21, they fall in love.
Photo Credit: Netflix, tvN
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
It's been quite a wait to see Nam Joo Hyuk return to our screens again, but Twenty-Five Twenty-One is definitely worth it! Are you watching this current ongoing drama?
Photo Credit: Netflix, tvN
And there you have it—all of Nam Joo Hyuk's eleven dramas for your binge-watching pleasure! Have you watched them all?
Nam Joo Hyuk shares a sweet kiss with Lee Sung-kyung in 'Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo' | MBC, Netflix
Lead photos from 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo', 'The Bride of Habaek', and 'Start-Up' courtesy of SBS, tvN, and Netflix.
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