‘The Last-Row Boy’ Character Stills Revealed Featuring Choi Min-sik x Choi Hyun-wook! A Meeting Between a Professor of Korean Literature and a Mysterious Boy!

A suspense drama 〈​The Last-Row Boy〉​ portrays the story of a failed writer and a professor of Korean literature, ‘Heo Moon-oh,’ who discovers the genius of ‘Lee Kang,’ the boy in the very last row of a classroom, and becomes fixated on his writing. The drama has released character stills of ‘Heo Moon-oh’ and ‘Lee Kang,’ drawing attention.

The released stills capture the two characters’ somewhat contrasting emotions and atmosphere, stimulating curiosity even just by looking. The passionate side of ‘Heo Moon-oh,’ a professor of Korean literature teaching students in the classroom, stands in stark contrast to ‘Lee Kang,’ who appears completely indifferent, staring only out the window as if he has no interest in the lecture. ‘Heo Moon-oh,’ the failed Korean literature professor known for being snappish and abrasive and who has been unable to write new work since a single novel published 20 years ago, is played by acclaimed actor Choi Min-sik, whose performance delicately brings out the psychology of a precarious character engulfed in a sense of defeat—no modifiers are needed for the actor’s credibility.

Meanwhile, ‘Lee Kang,’ the enigmatic student who always sits in the last row of the classroom, is portrayed by rising star Choi Hyun-wook, who has made his mark with the public thanks to outstanding acting, and he delivers a strong presence. In the stills showing ‘Heo Moon-oh’ and ‘Lee Kang’ facing each other in a study, viewers can sense the subtle tension between them, heightening curiosity about what kind of ripple effects their secret lesson will create. After ‘Heo Moon-oh’ reads ‘Lee Kang’s’ assignment, he becomes instantly captivated and proposes a private literature class, only for ‘Heo Moon-oh’ to grow increasingly obsessed with ‘Lee Kang’s’ writing—an unpredictable story that is expected to captivate viewers worldwide with a gripping suspense that, once started, is hard to stop.

Director Kim Gyu-tae said, “Through Choi Min-sik’s performance, a complex and three-dimensional ‘Heo Moon-oh’ character has been completed, with emotions layered in multiple depths. Choi Min-sik can convey complex expressions in an extremely brief moment, and he naturally reshapes them as the emotions shift like flowing water. I think Choi Hyun-wook is one of those actors among his peers whose acting skills are second to none. At the filming site, with the amazing focus and power that erupts, he portrayed the ‘Lee Kang’ character in a way that makes him truly captivating.” He adds expectations for the two actors, fully immersing themselves in their roles.