After just one day, the buzz is explosive. The much-hyped series Notes From the Last Row shot straight to No. 2 on Netflix’s “Today’s Top 10 TV Shows in Korea,” instantly living up to the chatter about a "lead-actor acting sparring" showdown. While veteran icon Choi Min-sik delivers, this drama is, above all, the stunning rediscovery of the literal “last-row boy,” Choi Hyun-wook.
As of the 29th, Notes From the Last Row still holds the No. 2 spot on Netflix’s “Today’s Top 10 TV Shows in Korea.” No. 1 is actor So Ji-sub’s series Agent Kim Reactivated. The show follows Heo Mun-oh (played by Choi Min-sik), a failed novelist and Korean literature professor, who discovers the genius writing talent of engineering undergrad Lee Kang (played by Choi Hyun-wook) sitting in the last row of his class, and volunteers to secretly tutor him—kicking off a gripping psychological suspense. The original work is a 2006 play of the same name by Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga.
The on-screen clash of acting veteran Choi Min-sik and rising star Choi Hyun-wook was a hot topic even before release. Some worried whether Choi Hyun-wook could hold his own right next to Choi Min-sik, but Choi Min-sik repeatedly said, "I’m not just being polite—this drama depends on how well I react to Choi Hyun-wook’s performance," adding, "The more we filmed, the less I could imagine anyone but Choi Hyun-wook as Lee Kang. I watched him become Lee Kang itself."
Choi Hyun-wook’s character Lee Kang is an engineering undergrad whose writing talent outshines even the literature majors. With an unreadable expression, he always sits in the last row, weaving his friends’ family stories into his prose and slowly pulling Heo Mun-oh into his world.
Once Episode 1 dropped, the doubts vanished. Swapping out his usual youth-drama image, Choi Hyun-wook delivers a restrained transformation—conveying a mysterious psyche through nothing but his gaze, breath, and micro-expressions. The result is a subtler, deeper performance that unveils a completely different face. Before the premiere, he shared via his agency Gold Medalist: "To complete Lee Kang, I scrutinized everything from posture to eye-line handling to build the character’s observer-like nature."
Viewers clearly felt that sincerity. After the full run landed, reactions poured in: "Choi Min-sik’s acting is insane—but Choi Hyun-wook doesn’t get overshadowed," and "Great direction and uniformly strong acting made it so immersive—this is Choi Hyun-wook’s big rediscovery." One netizen put it bluntly: "If you can stand your ground against Choi Min-sik, that’s a straight-up monster rookie."
Since his 2019 debut, Choi Hyun-wook has steadily built his filmography with titles like Twenty-Five Twenty-One, Weak Hero Class 1, and D.P. 2. Still, he was often labeled a “youth-drama specialist.” In Notes From the Last Row, he meets fans with a brand-new face, proving he can own both series and psychological suspense. Teaming up with Choi Min-sik has also deepened his career in a big way—raising huge expectations for his next move.
Notes From the Last Row is directed by Kim Kyu-tae—renowned for delicately capturing human psychology in works like Our Blues and It’s Okay, That’s Love—with the script penned by writer Jang Myung-woo. Beyond the powerhouse pairing of Choi Min-sik and Choi Hyun-wook, the whirlwind plot gives you another reason to press play.
If you crave a story that escalates from a simple teacher-student bond into a ruthless psychological cat-and-mouse, or if you want to witness a different side of Choi Hyun-wook, you won’t want to skip Notes From the Last Row this summer.