“I walked about 8 hours a day”— Lovely Runner’s fame Byeon Woo-seok reflects on his modeling days, expressing embarrassment over his skinny appearance

Byeon Woo-seok revealed that he used to be embarrassed about his skinny silhouette during his modeling days, during an interview with Harper's Bazaar Korea on June 19, 2024. Though he earned tremendous fame through the success of his recent project, Lovely Runner, Woo-seok's journey here has not been easy.

During his years as a model, Woo-seok had to attend many auditions which led to him losing a few pounds in the process. He said

"I was really skinny. When I see my skinny appearance, I feel a bit embarrassed. There was a reason I was so thin back then. I walked around for two weeks during Milan Fashion Week to attend casting auditions, not eating properly just to go to more auditions. I think I walked about 8 hours a day."

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Byeon Woo-seok embarrassed of his skinny appearance during modelling days

Byeon Woo-seok started his career as a model. The early days were difficult and he barely got any time to eat in between the casting auditions during the Milan Fashion Week.

As he was heard saying in the interview, he would quickly grab a bit of a kebab or take a pizza along with him, eating it on the way. Not having much money, he would avoid taking taxis as well and ended up walking for about eight hours per day.

Speaking of a picture of him and Joo Woo-jae which garnered much attention, he said:

"There was a comment saying 'It looks like Woo Jae hyung didn't eat because he didn't want to, but someone must have starved me.' It still makes me laugh whenever I see it."

However, those days are in the past now. Byeon Woo-seok has made a place for himself in the hearts of his audience through his performances in various K-dramas such as 20th Century Girl, Record of Youth, and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. Lovely Runner, however, has brought him to the peak of his career thus far.

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Byeon Woo-seok's journey to the top

Woo-seok started as a model after doing his major in theatre. He was signed with YG KPlus and would do his best to attend as many casting auditions as possible. He even admitted in an interview with Hong Seok-cheon that he was rejected a hundred times before getting a role.

Finally, in 2016, he debuted with the drama Dear My Friends. After being the second lead in Record of Youth, where Park Bo-gum and Park So-dam were the main leads, he got the offer of a lead role in the movie 20th Century Girl, where he starred opposite Kim Yoo-jung. His character, Sun-jae in Lovely Runner seems to have garnered the most attention.

Byeon Woo-seok now has an Asia tour planned where he will meet his fans and interact with them. The cities covered will be Singapore, Jakarta, Manila, Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul.