1. His grandfather gave him a meaningful name
Rowoon’s real name is Kim Seok-woo, a special name that was given by his grandfather. “Seok stands for mineral and Woo stands for helper. He wanted me to help others and contribute to the world,” Rowoon told Studio A.
Today, it might even inform his life philosophy. “I think my strength is the fact that I want to be a good person. There is no clear-cut standard about being a good person, and everyone has a different perspective on it. Wherever I am, I want to bring good vibes,” he told Men’s Folio.
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2. His first TV drama role was a K-pop idol
Making his acting debut in School 2017, Rowoon brought his real-life career to the screen as Issue, a student member of a boy band. The minor role landed him supporting roles in About Time and Where Stars Land a year later.
He was the breakout star in 2019’s Extraordinary You, winning him best new actor at the 2019 MBC Drama Awards. His next lead role in historical drama The King’s Affection (2021) sealed his popularity globally.
3. He works hard for his success
Rowoon’s achievements are the fruit of his hard work. During his six-year training before his debut as SF9’s lead vocalist and visual core, he “just worked through whatever came up and prepared for the next thing”, he said, according to Soompi. He usually spends his time studying his scripts and characters to portray them convincingly.
“If there’s something that I’ve learned while working in the entertainment industry, it’s that nothing works out just because you’re good looking. I want to make myself better on the inside rather than my outer appearance, and I hope I can show that through my music or acting,” he said.
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4. Beauty brands love him
Speaking of being good looking, he’s no slouch in that department either. Nicknamed “face genius”, Rowoon is a hot commodity among beauty and skincare brands. Earlier this year, he was selected as the official model for cosmetics brand Cleanup Beauty. After Extraordinary You, he landed lucrative deals with Biotherm Homme, Estée Lauder Korea and Klavuu.
“Rowoon’s pure and clean image suits well the brand value of Klavuu which pursues clear and transparent values,” the company said.
Additionally, in 2020, he also became the ambassador of The North Face and Taiwanese tea brand Gong Cha, and appeared on Tommy Hilfiger’s runway at London Fashion Week 2020.
5. Add writing poetry, painting and cooking to his skills
Singing, dancing and acting are not enough for Rowoon. He can play danso (Korean traditional bamboo flute) and writes poems. “It’s just a hobby I do when I have the time. I write things down like a diary when I’m on my veranda. My thoughts are organised and sometimes, I think of turning those poems into song lyrics,” he said, according to KDrama Stars.
He also recently took up painting as another way to record his life experiences and remember them when he is older, he shared with Esquire Korea. Another skill that is “easy” to Rowoon is cooking, per AllKpop. Once on TV show Baek Jong-won’s Top 3 Chef King, he impressed the audience with his tangsuyuk, or fried pork with sweet and sour sauce.
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If Rowoon hadn’t become a singer or an actor, football might have been his career. He played the sport when he was young and finished in third place at the National Soccer Competition, according to Channel Korea.
6. He prefers to live for the moment
He might be Tomorrow’s star, but he believes in the present, explaining that he used to make clear plans for the future but they didn’t go as expected, so now he just focuses on today.
“In the book The Courage To Be Disliked, I remember the quote by psychologist Alfred Adler: ‘The biggest lie in life is not to live now.’ The present is the only thing I can change because the moment becomes the past and the future is still unknown,” he said, according to Soompi. “I’m just trying to be satisfied with the present. I think that’s the path to happiness.”
