K-actor Heo Nam-jun scores breakout role in My Royal Nemesis

SEOUL – For years, Heo Nam-jun was a familiar face in supporting roles. Now, he finds himself at the centre of one of South Korea’s streaming hits.

The South Korean actor recently wrapped My Royal Nemesis (2026), a fantasy romantic comedy that climbed to No. 2 on Netflix’s weekly non-English TV chart during the June 8 to 14 tracking period.

Heo, 33, stars as Cha Se-gye, a chaebol heir whose cool exterior begins to crack when he meets a Joseon-era woman, played by South Korean actress Lim Ji-yeon, who has inexplicably time-slipped into modern-day Seoul.

Speaking with reporters in Seoul on June 18 ahead of the series’ finale, he said he initially struggled with the role of Cha and continued to wrestle with it throughout filming, as the character’s blunt, assertive personality is far from his own.

“At first, that was something I worried about a lot. I’m not really the type of person who says things like, ‘Hey, this is a fact, so this is obviously the right answer’, and I don’t speak in that kind of assertive, matter-of-fact way,” he said.

“I don’t really have the cold, prickly side that the character has. But I think I share some traits with him, like being playful, a bit cheeky and speaking in a witty way.”

Heo said he frequently sought reassurance from the show’s director and writer as he worked on Cha’s matter-of-fact way of speaking, which he feared might clash with the conventions of a romantic leading man.

“I kept asking, ‘Is it really okay for a romance drama’s male lead to talk like this? Will I come across as charming? Is it okay if I deliver lines in this style?’”

As filming progressed, Heo said he began to trust the creative team’s vision. He realised the character’s dialogue had been carefully crafted and that the directness he initially questioned ultimately became part of Cha’s appeal.

“They had calculated all of that when they wrote it,” he said. “I trusted them and went with it. In the end, I think it made the character even more attractive.”

This unassuming approach aligned with Heo’s longstanding acting inspirations. He points to veteran performer Kim Mu-yeol – with whom he shared the screen during the second and third seasons of Netflix’s Sweet Home (2020 to 2024) – as his definitive professional benchmark.

“I’ve given the same answer (that Kim is my role model) ever since I was a rookie and that hasn’t changed with time,” Heo said.

What commands respect, he said, is Kim’s work ethic, which remains fiercely intact despite an already established career. Witnessing Kim’s generosity on the gruelling set of Sweet Home left a memorable impression on him.

“He embodies my standard for what a genuinely good person should be,” Heo said, adding that Kim, 44, is the blueprint for who he aspires to become, both as an artiste and an individual. “He is grounded, devoted to his family and exceptional at his craft.”

Before anchoring a global hit with My Royal Nemesis, Heo spent years logging screen time in the mystery thriller Missing: The Other Side (2020 to 2023), the period drama Snowdrop (2021 to 2022) and Your Honor (2024).

He was often cast as a villain or an emotionally distant, cold-hearted figure – memorable but rarely central to the story. While several of those shows were popular, Heo’s relatively brief screen time kept him largely categorised as a hidden industry asset.

With mainstream visibility now, he said he is grateful for the traction My Royal Nemesis has generated, yet his focus remains forward-looking.

“I’ve gained a lot of fulfilment from this project and I am aware of the momentum it has injected into my career trajectory,” he said.

“At the same time, I think I need to compartmentalise that success as a beautiful milestone and keep my eyes trained on the horizon. At my core, I am a working actor and my priority going forward will be the execution of the next performance.”

That next performance is in the highly anticipated 2027 period romance Whale Star, set against the sweeping backdrop of colonial-era Seoul and the Korean independence movement. It casts Heo as Song Hae-su, a resolute freedom fighter. The role promises a thematic departure from his contemporary romcom turn.

“Compared with Cha Se-gye, this character operates with a sense of gravity and emotional maturity,” Heo said. “He is self-contained and measured, whereas Cha behaved like a runaway train, charging forward without inhibition.”

Despite the temperament gap, Heo identifies a compelling psychological connection between the two characters. “Like Se-gye, Hae-su is motivated by deep psychological scars. And that vulnerability makes the character pop.”

Meanwhile, the actor’s rising profile has brought standard show business scrutiny, including a recent wave of dating rumours with model-actress Hong I-seol, which he greeted with more amusement than anxiety.

“My initial reaction was just pure amusement,” he said. “I have never even crossed paths with the individual in question, so my immediate thought was simply, ‘Where is the connective tissue here?’”

However, as the narrative gained velocity, Heo began to view it as an organic, if surreal, metric of his newfound status.

“I never anticipated it generating that level of traction,” he said. “But as the articles multiplied, it hit me, ‘I suppose I’ve finally succeeded.’ (Maybe) that’s why such dating rumours are coming out.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK