“Lovely Runner” Actor Byun Woo Seok Beats A-List Celebrities In May Popularity Ranking

Rising actor Byun Woo Seok is gaining attention at a rapid pace.

He is known for appearing on Record of Youth (2020), Moonshine (2021-2022), 20th Century Girl (2022), and Strong Girl Nam Soon (2023). He is currently starring in his first leading role in tvN‘s fantasy drama Lovely Runner (2024).

Lovely Runner tells the story of singer-actor Ryu Sun Jae and his fan Im Sol (Kim Hye Yoon) who wake up 15 years in the past before their career-changing accidents.

His popularity is soaring to greater heights thanks to this K-Drama, as proven by his increase in social media followers and mentions online. The latter was quantified by Rankify in their Star Trend Index for the first week of May. It looks at the previous week’s keyword search volume and Google Trend score.

Byun Woo Seok rose 40,959 points to reach 131,539 points, putting him in the top spot.

Rankify also analyzed gender and age preferences and discovered that he was popular among various age groups: 10% for teens, 27% for 20s, 28% for 30s, 27% for 40s, and 8% for 50s.

With this ranking, the actor beat A-list celebrities such as ADOR girl group NewJeans…

…and trot singer Lim Young Woong who is famous for having a strong older fandom.

Check out Rankify’s full Star Trend Index list for the first week of May below.

1. Byun Woo Seok (Actor)

2. NewJeans

3. Lim Young Woong (Soloist)

4. Lee Chan Won (Soloist)

5. SEVENTEEN

6. IVE

7. Lee Jung Hoo (Athlete)

8. Ma Dong Seok (Actor)

9. Park Na Rae (Comedian)

10. Son Heung Min (Athlete)