Netflix’s Start-Up star Nam Joo-hyuk is K-drama’s hottest actor of the moment, appearing alongside Bae Suzy and in upcoming Korean movie Josée – how much do you know about him?
He was originally scouted as a model, like Stephanie Lee and ex-girlfriend Lee Sung-kyung, and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo was his first claim to fame – but he originally wanted to be a basketball star like NBA’s Stephen Curry
So what’s with all the buzz surrounding Nam, and how does he have the time and energy for all these projects? Here are a few things we know about him.
He loves working out
On Netflix K-drama interview show The Swoon, the actor once revealed that he prefers to follow rather than to lead. But if he ever was a CEO, he and Suzy joked that he’d be the CEO of a gym – as he’s quite the avid gym-goer and works out regularly. According to Channel Korea, he does four-minute push-ups before going to bed.
He originally wanted to be a basketball star
But he didn’t want to be either an actor or model when he was young. On the talk show Radio Star, he recalled that he dreamt of becoming a basketball star, playing point and shooting guard on his middle school basketball league. He’s still a big fan of basketball today, even meeting and playing against his idol, NBA player Stephen Curry, on an episode of MBC’s Infinite Challenge.