Putting in the effort to prevent even seemingly inevitable change—that’s how HWANG MIN HYUN stays true.

You were discharged not too long ago, and this is your first photoshoot in a while, so it must feel pretty special. [Note: This interview took place on January 5.]
HWANG MIN HYUN: It still feels weird—like, really weird. I’m not even that into taking selfies. (laughs) When I was on the job, I was always onstage and filming dramas, so there was nothing unusual about being in front of a camera, but now even phone cameras feel awkward. I am slowly getting used to it, though.

Did you notice any changes in yourself after spending a year and nine months in a completely different world?
HWANG MIN HYUN: When I was working, the other group members, the actors I worked with, and people on staff were all pretty close to me in age, but while serving, I mostly helped out with food at a nursing home, so I spent time with women who were older than my mom. What I ended up realizing was that I’m actually pretty good with older adults. (laughs)

I can imagine them really doting on you. (laughs)
HWANG MIN HYUN: They sure did. And I’m proud to say so. (laughs) Because they treated me like their own son, it was easy for me to open up and be affectionate with them too.

Did you have some kind of secret to that?
HWANG MIN HYUN: The thing I felt was most important was being polite. There was a lot I had to learn since I was basically starting life over in a totally unrelated field, and I felt like the most important thing was to be polite. The women actually found me a bit intimidating at first, so I tried to become a more familiar face around them—like when I went out for lunch, I’d buy snacks like salt bread and bring them back so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable around me.

I’m guessing that having such a different lifestyle also helped you discover new things about yourself.
HWANG MIN HYUN: My work doesn’t usually come with a fixed schedule. On Monday I might film a drama, then record vocals on Tuesday—my schedule fluctuates like that, so it wasn’t easy for me to get used to a routine where my work and living space were exactly the same every single day without the slightest variation. MBTI can’t tell you everything about a person, but since I’m a J [judging], I thought a stable routine would suit me, but that wasn’t the case at all. (laughs)

Did that make you hungry to get back to work? You were back at it pretty fast—you did “2025 MBC Gayo Daejejeon: MUT” right after you were discharged.
HWANG MIN HYUN: It’s not like I felt impatient, but “2025 MBC Gayo Daejejeon: MUT” was the one thing I told the label from the start that I really, really wanted to do, no matter what. It’s essentially a year-end festival on TV, so I thought it’d be the perfect place to say hi to everyone again after so long away. I was nervous when I hosted the 2023 show two years ago since it was my first time, but this time I was nervous because it had been so long. For a year-end celebration like that, I felt like the host should hold everything together, so I kept reading the script in advance and practicing my delivery over and over. And I lost weight, too. (laughs) I went all in on my diet.

There was a viral video comparing how you looked the same hosting two years ago and when you were on “2025 MBC Gayo Daejejeon: MUT.” It really showed how much your efforts paid off.
HWANG MIN HYUN: It was my big return to the stage, and I was really hoping people would say things like, “He’s just the same as before he went away,” or, “He’s even better now.”

Right after your discharge and before talking to your fans on Weverse LIVE, you actually did a workout on an empty stomach. You mentioned before that you don’t like working out much, so I’m curious what pushes you to keep at it so consistently.
HWANG MIN HYUN: There are definitely times when it’s tough. I think that goes for everyone. (laughs) It might not seem like it, but I really love sugary desserts too. What motivates me is Hwangdo. They say things like, “I couldn’t be prouder to be a fan of HWANG MIN HYUN.” I think there’s more to being an artist than just looks, but I do think taking care of yourself is a basic requirement, and on top of that you have to be good at your actual job. So whenever I have something important coming up, I start working on myself early, go on a diet, and just try to live really diligently.

Hwangdo did a series of challenges in August when you left, and for them, you took on missions like “film a challenge within the year” and “send DMs” as soon as you got back.
HWANG MIN HYUN: For a year and nine months, I had this endless desire to communicate with Hwangdo, and I felt like they’d been anticipating that just as much as me, so I really wanted to give something back. When I did my first post-discharge Weverse LIVE, I was worried I might come across as awkward since it’d been so long, but once I got on, I ended up having so much fun joking around with them that I ended up talking with them more often. When we’re spending time together, I want them to feel relaxed. I make myself look all sleek when I’m onstage, but when we’re just having a regular conversation, I kind of want to be like a comedian for them. I want our fan–artist connection to be fun, like with friends. I feel like, when the artist is happy and enjoying themselves, the fans pick up on that energy exactly.

Your sincerity was evident in all the vocal cover videos you recorded in advance and uploaded for Hwangdo while you were away. A lot of them, like “Laundry” by Lee Juck or “UN Village,” by BAEKHYUN, are songs you can only pull off if you have a solid set of core skills to work off.
HWANG MIN HYUN: I thought a lot about what kind of content I could gift Hwangdo during my time away that they’d actually like, and I think a lot of them like seeing me sing, so I chose cover songs. I tried to pick as many different genres as possible. I’m putting a little more time into acting these days, but I really wanted to show that my passion for singing is still there too.

You’ve been consistent about keeping that passion for your work alive. You even kept taking vocal and acting lessons during your service.
HWANG MIN HYUN: Watching Hwangdo write to me on Weverse every single day without fail and cheer me on, I saw how much love they show me and how they were waiting around until I get back, so I thought about what I could do for them while I was away. I felt like the biggest gift I could give them was to not waste that time. So even when I was tired after duty, I pushed myself to study singing and take acting lessons, and to work out, too.

You’re normally a very rational and level-headed person, but you express a special part of yourself through your music and acting. What does that process mean to you?
HWANG MIN HYUN: When I first started acting, there were things I really struggled with. I was like, I hardly ever get angry or annoyed in real life, so how am I supposed to show that? I’ve never really blown up on anyone before—how am I supposed to yell like that? I ended up watching how the other actors performed on set and learned from them, and I’d practice at home alone with a blanket over my head. But then I realized, they’re different people from me, so I shouldn’t be trying to copy them exactly. I’m not quite at the level of some other artists when it comes to singing and acting yet, so I think what matters most is figuring out what I’m capable of.

No doubt there was also a process of getting to know yourself better when portraying the main character in the drama “Study Group,” Yoon Gamin. He’s courteous, but very sure about what he wants, which feels similar to you.
HWANG MIN HYUN: Gamin has really strong convictions. He doesn’t care that much about how other people see him or what they say. He has this extreme desire to study and do well, and even though things don’t go the way he wants and he gets frustrated, he never gives up. I’m also not someone who gets too hung up on other people’s opinions. I tend to think and act according to my own beliefs, and once I develop a desire to be good at something, I keep at it and don’t give up. I felt we were similar in that sense. The difference is, Gamin’s good at sports and fighting too, but he’s so single-minded he barely pays attention to what’s happening around him and just focuses exclusively on studying. So I saw comments like, “If all that studying still doesn’t work for him, why doesn’t he just do sports instead?” I’m such a logical thinker that I actually struggled a bit with that single-minded side of Gamin, but I got something from talking with the director: Why does a student need some special reason to want to be good at studying? That’s something anyone who’s in school could relate to. I decided to ground my approach to Gamin with that for season two.

“Study Group” is also action-heavy, which must have been a big challenge. I heard you had real fire on your foot for that kick in the first episode.
HWANG MIN HYUN: There were action sequences in “Alchemy of Souls” too, but this was my first time doing a true action series. I started practicing the action sequences every single day two to three months before we started shooting. I worked with the other actors and the stunt team for a really long time to get our timing down. And there were a lot of scenes involving kicks, so I had to do the splits for the first time since the end of middle school. (laughs) I’ve been pretty stiff ever since I was born. Even after enduring daily torture, it wasn’t easy. (laughs) Anything really dangerous or that involved jumping from high places was done by my stunt double, but as filming went on, I started wanting to do more myself, so I ended up doing something like 95% of the stunts myself.

It sounds like you’re a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to work—in a good way.
HWANG MIN HYUN: I don’t usually think of myself as a perfectionist (laughs) but I guess I just wanted to do more and better as it went on. If the stunt crew gets a stand-in, you can’t really show the front or side, so they mostly end up shooting from the back. That puts constraints on the editing later, unfortunately. If you can get it from a lot of cool, different angles, you end up with a better final product. And the biggest thing is, I don’t think I could feel that proud of it in the end if it wasn’t me doing it, so I trained really hard and threw myself into it completely. I felt really proud of myself when people told me later how cool it looked.

Other actors from “Study Group” said in interviews that you became the nexus of the cast. You’d always said you didn’t really see yourself as a leader, so what was that experience like?
HWANG MIN HYUN: Most of the people I acted with were new to the profession. In terms of acting, some of them could definitely have more skill than me, but when I thought back to how I felt going into my very first show, I remembered how weird being on set felt, how nervous I was, and how I worried about whether I’d make the other actors in the scene uncomfortable, so I thought one thing I could do for them was to help us develop a relationship quickly so they could show off how much they prepared. I’d take the lead in getting everyone together to eat or have coffee whenever there was time, and seeing everyone all grow closer and have fun on set together made me really proud. I also wanted to treat them to a lot of meals since I’ve been in the industry for a long time, but they never took that for granted. They always found some way to show consideration in return. I was really grateful for their kindness. I think I got to meet some fantastic actors.

It seems like acting’s presented you with a way that’s completely different from music of discovering more to yourself.
HWANG MIN HYUN: I don’t normally wear my heart on my sleeve—my friends are always fascinated how little my mood fluctuates (laughs)—but there’s times when I’m acting and immersed in the scene and playing off the other actors where I surprise myself at the kind of sadness I feel. Acting was really hard for me at first, and I worried over that a lot, but as time goes on, it’s becoming fun to study someone who isn’t me and yet show who they are using my own voice and expressions.

The love you have for your work really shows.
HWANG MIN HYUN: I’d say you’re doing things right in life if you have 10 people, other than your parents, who love you conditionally. But I have way more than that—I have Hwangdo. I get to do this fun job, and at the same time I have fans who love me and cheer me on. It’s already rare that you get to do something you love for work, and on top of that I receive so much help with it from so many people. That’s why I think it’s important for me never to forget how grateful I am to my fans and everyone else in my life. I think I have to stick with it and avoid burning out if I’m going to keep at it for a long time.

You also talk a lot about how important it is to have an unwavering attitude.
HWANG MIN HYUN: I don’t think people tend to change, in good ways or bad. It might look like you’ve changed if you put in enough effort, but I don’t think you really change inside that easily. And so I want to work hard to make sure the good parts of me don’t change, and grow in a way that lets me fix the parts that aren’t so good. Sometimes I used to try and run away from things I found uncomfortable or difficult, but from now on, I plan to put my all into everything I do, for my sake and for Hwangdo’s. I want to sing music that moves people, and I want to challenge myself to step up my acting games and broaden my range.

You say people don’t change, but you’re always trying to change yourself for the better. Why is that?
HWANG MIN HYUN: Maybe all of this is actually my way of trying not to change. (laughs) The way I felt when I first became a trainee and was getting ready to become a singer, the determined mindset I worked so hard with to be good after I debuted, and then, after things started going well, the feeling of wanting to hold onto my hard-earned accomplishments and protect all the people by my side—I think I keep working hard because I want to hold onto those feelings for a long, long time.