For lovers of K-dramas, Ahn Hyo Seop has become a household name after his roles in iconic series such as Dr. Romantic and Business Proposal. But this wasn’t always the case.

Ahn Hyo Seop’s journey into showbiz began when he returned to South Korea after spending many years in Canada. He was scouted by JYP Entertainment, where he later became a trainee. During an interview on the KBS talk show Happy Together, he discussed rumors about how he was nearly included to become part of the K-pop powerhouse Got7, talking about his time practicing with them. He later revealed, however, that he was unable to make the cut, confessing that he still lacked the talent back then and that he was too tall. He would later be included in the project group One O One but it is assumed the group has disbanded due to their inactivity since 2019.

Nevertheless, Ahn Hyo Seop continued to work hard. He made a name for himself through acting in K-dramas. He would find himself cast in supporting roles for series such as Splash Splash Love, Happy Home, One More Happy Ending, and Entertainer. Eventually, he would find himself becoming a well-known star after his first lead role in Queen of the Ring. This led him to get into the bigger projects we know him from today.

As he got onto bigger projects, the rising star soon found he had quite the following, a good chunk of which, exists right here. It’s why, thanks to Bench, Ahn Hyo Seop took a stop here in the Philippines on his first fan meet tour entitled “The Present Show: Here and Now.” It took place last Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Before the event, we had enough time to get to know him a bit more during a press conference held at the Grand Hyatt Manila in BGC, Taguig.

Waving to the crowd with a large smile on his face, Ahn Hyo Seop took to the mic to greet members of the press in Filipino. “Kamusta ka? Ako si Ahn Hyo Seop,” he started. He proceeded to talk about how busy he had been and how happy he was to finally get to meet his fans in the Philippines. “The past few years I have been very busy due to different shoots and projects so there were a lot of things I really wanted to do and wanted to try so to be given this opportunity, I am really happy that I got to visit the Philippines,” he said. He also spoke warmly about all his previous interactions with fans. “Being able to meet my fans itself is a great experience. While I was in Korea and working, I was thinking, ‘Do my fans really exist?’ But through this fan meet, I was able to really see clearly with my eyes the love-filled hearts of fans from different countries and I really felt it,” he shared. Aside from the Philippines, Ahn Hyo Seop will also be visiting neighboring countries such as Japan.

Seeing as to how he has made quite a name for himself in showbusiness, we asked him how he would commit to his roles each time.

Could you walk us through your process in preparing for a role, especially if it’s challenging? How do you get into character?

Whenever I try a new role, I first try to think of the history of the character, beginning from his past to the present. I also try to use this as an opportunity tackling how this person came to be to have this character at the present. And I think this allows me to really try different things I walk, change the way I walk, change the way I look at people… Being into the character. And after getting into the character, I try to think about the physical appearance of how this character would look like. And I think this is possible through the help of the director, and the makeup team, and the other staff too.

Of all the characters you’ve played so far, which one do you think came closest to defining you?

I can see that the different roles I’ve tried show a different part of who I am. I think if I would be specific, it was my role as Seo Woo Jin. Because when I was first introduced to the character Seo Woo Jin, I noticed that the character itself was very negative, pessimist, (didn’t) have high hopes about the world. But from (Seo) Woo Jin who was like that, when he was able to be a “romantic doctor,” he was able to change just like that. I feel that through my process of meeting different staff while shooting Romantic Doctor, it also allowed myself to grow. And also, in reality, after this show ended, it changed me to become a more optimistic and (to) be able to see the world in a beautiful perspective too. That’s why I’m very thankful for the project. And also, this is one of the projects I really (hold) dear in my heart.

What roles do you wish to play in the future?

There are a lot of roles that I haven’t been able to try yet, so I can’t say specifically which one I want to try. But I think I have a thought that I want to try roles that suit my current age. So I think student roles are not for me anymore. And if we see that I get older, I can try action roles or other genres too. But of course, regardless of the genre, I want to try any role.