Actor Heo Nam-jun opened up about how he powered through his unknown years — and the overwhelming excitement he felt starring in IU’s music video.
On July 1, a video featuring Heo Nam-jun was posted on the Harper's Bazaar Korea YouTube channel. In it, Heo thoughtfully answered pre-submitted fan dilemmas and offered candid advice.
One fan, the same age as Heo and born in 1993, asked, "When life felt bleak and I didn’t know how to move forward, how did you get through it?" Heo replied, "What if you stopped framing it as bleak from the start? Depending on your mindset, even heavy things can feel lighter. I think that’s something you can train." He also urged fans not to carry their pain alone, adding, "If it’s really tough, you should speak openly to the people around you and ask for help."
Heo then looked back on his early days. "I was way more positive than you’d think. Even a tiny role made me genuinely happy. If I had just one line, I’d throw a party with my friends," he said. He recalled that during the Netflix film Night in Paradise, his only line was a brief dialect one-liner, and he still celebrated with a party. He shared that he did the same when he appeared in the film Hostage: Missing Celebrity, cheering over another short line with his friends.
What especially stood out was his story about appearing in the music video for IU’s remake album title track, 'Never Ending Story.' "Back then, every single day was a party. I didn’t miss a day — all the way up to the shoot," he reminisced.
Toward the end, Heo mentioned IU and joked, "From the moment she knew I was alive and breathing in this world, I had no more regrets," drawing laughter.
Heo Nam-jun debuted in 2019. After making steady appearances across various projects, he won major love as Cha Sae-gye in the SBS drama My Royal Nemesis.