How do you strip away movie-star vibes to become utterly unremarkable? For his film debut, the K-drama heartthrob had to figure it out
Ahn Hyo-seop sits at the Samcheong-dong cafe looking every inch the K-pop idol he once trained to be — even in glasses and a casual sweater, he carries that unmistakable aura. The kind that makes heads turn.
Which presents a problem, considering he’s about to promote his role as Kim Dok-ja, who’s supposed to be the definitively unglamorous protagonist of the upcoming blockbuster “Omniscient Reader: The Prophet.”
The film, adapted from the wildly popular web novel and later web comic, follows an office drone whose decade-long obsession with an obscure web novel becomes his only advantage when fiction bleeds into reality.
In a departure from the source material, director Kim Byung-woo deliberately crafted the character as a below-average everyman — a human participation trophy — who at first seems barely capable of making decisions, let alone saving the world.
“But you can be good-looking and still be ordinary,” Ahn insists, a line that draws laughter from everyone within earshot. “I mean, look around — handsome people, plain people, tall people, short people. Who decides what’s ordinary?”
His approach to the role involved some radical self-effacement. “I stopped looking in mirrors during filming. Completely. I had no idea how I appeared on camera.” The makeup team used foundation to dull his skin tone. His hair stayed deliberately unkempt. The costume department provided three identical suits in progressively smaller sizes — baggy to fitted — to show Dok-ja’s gradual transformation without making him look too heroic.
“The question I asked most often was, ‘Did I look too cool just now?'” He says. “Dok-ja isn’t supposed to be cool. He’s never held a sword, never jumped between buildings. For him, everything should feel awkward.”
The technical challenges went beyond suppressing his natural charisma. Most shootings took place against blue screens, demanding feats of imagination. Take the sea dragon sequence, where Dok-ja gets swallowed whole. “The detail was insane. Is the stomach lining squishy or firm? How deep does your foot sink? They mapped out every texture, every sensation.” He explains. “I was told the belly felt like quicksand — your feet just keep sinking.”
Despite such attention to detail, “Omniscient Reader” faces an uphill battle. With Korean cinema struggling through its worst box office slump in years, even high-budget blockbusters aren’t guaranteed success. Besides, the film itself often feels caught between worlds — too rushed and unfaithful for fans of the sprawling original, too niche and insular to hook newcomers.
Even Ahn seems aware of the challenges ahead. “We had to compress this massive story into two hours. The world-building may feel rushed. I get that.” He pauses, choosing his words carefully. “We tried to capture the essence, but you lose so much. I just hope audiences will be generous.”
What gives him confidence? The film’s universally relatable themes. “It’s about whether humanity deserves saving. Dok-ja keeps getting tested — should he help these people who’ve shown their worst sides? But he chooses hope anyway.”
These days, Ahn’s riding high thanks to another unexpected hit. His voice work as Jinu, the charismatic leader of the demonic boy band Saja Boys in Netflix’s “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” has blown up worldwide, and the dance for the group’s track “Soda Pop” is all over TikTok and Instagram reels. Even at press events for “Omniscient Reader,” reporters beg Ahn to perform the moves, though Andrew Choi provided Jinu’s vocals on the track.
“They say the title’s the biggest turnoff,” he laughs about “KPop Demon Hunters.” “I only auditioned because the script was genuinely fun.” Now, former JYP trainee Ahn watches actual K-pop groups cover “his” song with bemusement. “It’s surreal. I don’t think of it as mine — I’m just another fan.”
This success caps a decade of steady work since abandoning his boy band dreams for acting. “I just kept my head down and pushed forward,” he reflects. “Never gave less than everything, even when I wanted to. That’s just not in my DNA.”
The conversation turns to Dok-ja’s counterpart, the mythic hero Yoo Joong-hyuk, who gains power through endless time loops, reliving the apocalypse until he gets it right. If Ahn could reset his own timeline, would he change anything?
The answer comes instantly, with absolute conviction. “Nothing. Every choice led me here. There are no good or bad decisions — just experiences that become part of you.” He leans forward. “All of it matters. All of it’s precious.”
“Omniscient Reader” hits theaters July 23.
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