Actor Heo Sung-tae is set to show off a "Heo-vely" side—Heo Sung-tae plus lovely—that's a world away from his usual hard-hitting villain roles.
The Dec. 10 episode of MBC variety show Radio Star features Heo Sung-tae, Shin Sung-rok, Jung Yi-rang, and Kim Hae-jun under the theme "A Thousand Faces—Do You Know Who I Am?" Heo opens up about landing his first-ever lead in the film Jeongbowon and shares candid behind-the-scenes stories from his intense bad-guy turns in Squid Game, The Outlaws, and The Age of Shadows.
"This one has not just action but romance too," Heo says, hyping up Jeongbowon. He even teases an outfit reveal for his character to heat up the studio. On top of that, he and Kim Hae-jun present a "Heo-cane" dance as their initiation bit, blowing up a cute, mischievous charm that flips his usual intimidating image on its head.
In particular, Heo admits he primed himself for his first lead by repeating, "I am Won Bin, I am Ma Dong-seok," a little self-hypnosis that cracks up the room. A die-hard fan of Won Bin who says he has watched The Man from Nowhere hundreds of times, Heo jokes that "putting on airs makes my fingers curl" and introduces himself as a lovable goof, sending the studio into laughter.
The chat also digs into his villain portfolio: the razor-wire tension on the set of Squid Game, the gravelly tone he crafted for The Outlaws, and the struggles of staying in a Japan-aligned persona for The Age of Shadows. He recalls that, because of his role at the time, he naturally hung out more with the Japan-faction characters like Song Kang-ho and Um Tae-goo, quipping, "There was a separate Gong Yoo–Han Ji-min line," which gets a big laugh.
His unexpected softness gets airtime too. On screen he's terrifying, but when a bug appeared on set he jumped in surprise, cracking everyone up. Seeing this, Kim Gook-jin praised, "From afar he looks like a villain, but up close he's adorable," and Heo answered with his signature grin.
Heo's life story also turns heads. Before acting, he worked at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and LG Electronics. Then SBS's talent-discovery program Miracle Audition flipped his life's direction and he became an actor. He remembers auditioning with a scene he memorized end-to-end from Choi Min-sik, prompting the MCs to marvel, "That really is a miracle." He also shares a touching anecdote about Seol Kyung-gu gifting him a classic director's chair with his name engraved in gold after seeing his performance, plus a special "crisis hack" he recently learned from Seol, earning more laughs.
To wrap, he tells a story about Park Bo-gum, who is famous for his acts of kindness. Heo says he "doesn't easily trust people" and initially eyed Park with suspicion, but came to learn firsthand on set that Park really is the real deal. Asked to choose between the so-called "kindness two-top" of Kang Ha-neul and Park Bo-gum, he gives a disarmingly honest answer that piques curiosity. He also reveals that, inspired by Park, he recently decided to check into a stop-smoking camp, surprising everyone.
The episode airs at 10:30 p.m. on the 10th.