All the Ahn Hyo-seop movies and K-dramas to add to your watchlist, from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ to ‘Business Proposal’

In Ahn Hyo-seop’s big-screen debut, he’s joined by a star-studded cast that includes Lee Min-ho, Chae Soo-bin, Blackpink’s Jisoo, Shin Seung-ho and After School’s Nana. As Kim Dok-ja, he’s a regular Joe who is forced to play hero when the world begins morphing into the fictional post-apocalyptic universe of his favourite webtoon.

Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy, itself adapted from a popular webtoon, drew mixed reactions, particularly from fans of the original material. Even before the big-budget fantasy film was released, it faced scrutiny, from casting choices to visual effects to the challenges of compressing the dense source material into a two-hour film. Still, it marks an ambitious step into blockbuster territory for Ahn Hyo-seop.

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KPop Demon Hunters, the Netflix animated blockbuster, is having a moment. It not only won Best Animated Picture and Best Song for “Golden” at the Academy Awards this year, but also achieved the unexpected—getting Leonardo DiCaprio to hold a lightstick during Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami’s performance.

Ahn Hyo-seop, who provided the speaking voice of Jinu in the film, had a big night, too. In his first-ever Oscars appearance, he stole the spotlight on the red carpet, working the Glambot like a pro and leaving Canadian entertainment reporter Lainey Lui nearly breathless.

Although a KPop Demon Hunters sequel is already officially in the works, there’s no word yet on whether Jinu—and Ahn Hyo-seop—will be returning after (spoiler alert) the character disintegrated into nothing K-drama-style at the end of the film.

See more: ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ locations you can actually visit in Seoul, South Korea

In A Time Called You, the time-slip, soul-swap Jeon Yeo-been and Ahn Hyo-seop K-drama, he plays Gu Yeon-jun/Nam Si-heon. The series is a Korean remake of the 2019 Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, which explores themes of grief, love and fate.

The convoluted plot may have proved a bit cumbersome for audiences to follow, but fans agree that Ahn Hyo-seop’s and Jeon Yeo-been’s acting performances—layered with psychological depth—carried the series through. They brought the emotional complexity required to play dual roles, using microexpressions and subtle cues to shift between the characters they portrayed with ease.

A sleeper hit for both SBS and streaming giant Netflix, this Ahn Hyo-seop K-drama cemented his rom-com appeal. Starring opposite K-pop idol Kim Se-jeong, he plays Kang Tae-moo, the modern-day poster boy for lovestruck chaebols.

Business Proposal owes its success to Ahn Hyo-seop and Kim Se-jeong’s undeniable chemistry and the actors’ impeccable comedic timing. In lesser hands, the character of Kang Tae-moo, which leaned heavily into K-drama chaebol tropes, could have been predictable and outdated, but Ahn Hyo-seop instead plays him as disarmingly charming and endearing.

In Lovers of the Red Sky, Ahn Hyo-seop enters his Joseon era. He navigates three genres in one K-drama—sageuk, fantasy and rom-com—and takes on three distinct roles: the blind astrologer Ha-ram, his secret identity Ilwolseong and Ma Wang, the demon king sealed within him.

He drew praise from audiences for his acting, particularly how he brought a sinister edge to the character whenever Ha-ram was under Ma Wang’s possession. Fans of the drama also loved the red-eyed astrologer’s striking visuals, and his chemistry with co-star Kim Yoo-jung, who plays his love interest Hong Cheon-gi.

In Dr Romantic 2 and Dr Romantic 3, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung star as Seo Woo-jin and Cha Eun-jae, respectively. Playing Master Kim’s latest crop of doctor students—and taking over romantic-lead duties from the first season’s Yoo Yeon-seok and Seo Hyun-jin—the pair steps into the established rhythm of the series without missing a beat, while also giving distinct life to the new characters.

Viewers were impressed by how Ahn Hyo-seop navigated Seo Woo-jin's character arc, from a down-on-his-luck young doctor to Doldam Hospital’s competent new mentor. His chemistry with his co-star was also a highlight for fans, who will forever remember the “reset kiss” he shared with Lee Sung-kyung in the drama. Aside from winning audiences over, the role also earned him the Best New Actor trophy at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards in 2020.

This Ahn Hyo-seop K-drama marks his major first leading-man role, and pairs him with beloved actress Park Bo-young. In it, the two are reincarnated in different bodies with the help of a mysterious bead called “abyss”: Ahn Hyo Seop’s Cha Min, a kindhearted chaebol, undergoes the ultimate glow-up. Meanwhile, Park Bo-young’s Go Se-yeon ends up in a “plain-looking” body.

The sci-fi fantasy K-drama’s convoluted plot left viewers scratching their heads, but its leading lady’s star power and leading man’s boyish charm more than made up for it. Abyss also solidified Ahn Hyo-seop’s status as a rising star, proving he was ready for the big leagues.

Long before Ahn Hyo-seop put on his white coat for two seasons of Dr Romantic, stole hearts as the suave chaebol in Business Proposal or jumped on rooftops with Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters, he gave audiences second-lead syndrome as Yoo Chan in the healing K-drama Still 17.

In the series, Shin Hye-sun’s Woo Seo-ri ends up with Yang Se-jong’s Gong Woo-jin, but that hasn’t stopped audiences from rooting for Yoo Chan, whose sweet and earnest affection for Seo-ri won fans’ hearts. The role also won him the 2018 SBS Best New Actor award, proving that Ahn Hyo-seop was one to watch and further hinting at his leading-man potential.

The 52-episode family K-drama centres around the everyday lives of the Byun family: father Han-soo (Kim Young-chul), mother Young-sil (Kim Hae-sook) and their four children—Joon-young (Min Jin-woong), Hye-young (Lee Yoo-ri), Mi-young (Jung So-min) and Ra-young (Ryu Hwa-young)

Ahn Hyo-seop plays Park Chul-soo, the love interest of Ra-young, the youngest Byun child. It’s a supporting character—he was, after all, a relatively new actor at the time—but his turn as the runaway chaebol, coupled with his striking visuals, made a lasting impression. Today, it is largely credited as Ahn Hyo-seop’s breakout role.

In the third instalment of MBC’s Three Colour Fantasy drama trilogy, Ahn Hyo-seop takes on the lead role opposite his Splash Splash Love co-star Kim Seul-gi. This six-episode miniseries offers 30-minute bite-sized episodes, perfect for those who only have time for a quick Ahn Hyo-seop K-drama watch.

While Abyss marked his first major lead role, Queen of Ring was his first lead role in a short-format series. Here, he plays Park Se-gun, a cold and arrogant fashion student who eventually learns, with the help of a magical heirloom, that beauty is only skin deep.

Before Ahn Hyo-seop voiced Jinu, the lead of the boy band Saja Boys in the animated film KPop Demon Hunters, he appeared as Ji-noo, the lead of the fictional boy band Jackson, in Entertainer. The K-drama stars legendary actor Ji Sung and Hyeri of the popular girl group Girl’s Day. Ahn Hyo-seop plays a small supporting role in one of his earliest on-screen appearances.

Here’s another deep cut for Ahn Hyo-seop fans. In this 51-episode family K-drama, he made a brief appearance as Choi Chul-soo, a supporting character in the huge ensemble cast.

In One More Happy Ending, one of his earliest on-screen K-drama credits, Ahn Hyo-seop played Ahn Jung-woo, the younger boyfriend of Go Dong-mi. 

Ahn Hyo-seop’s acting debut is in the television movie Splash Splash Love, which was headlined by his Queen of Ring leading lady Kim Seul-gi and Yoon Doo-joon. In this time-travelling romance drama, he played a small supporting role as Che Ah-jik.

See more: Meet Jisoo’s boyfriends in the latest Netflix K-drama ‘Boyfriend on Demand’

From early supporting roles to global breakout hits, Ahn Hyo-seop’s filmography is packed with must-watch K-dramas and movies. As anticipation builds for Sold Out on You on Netflix, now is the perfect time to revisit his best performances—from Business Proposal to KPop Demon Hunters—and see why he remains one of today’s most in-demand Hallyu stars.

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