Park Ji-hoon, Ong Seong-wu and 8 Wanna One Members Building Drama Careers

The acting careers of former Wanna One members are drawing attention again. After receiving wide love as a project group, the members moved into their own lanes, continuing as solo singers, group performers and actors. For fans who first knew them on stage, their familiar faces have also remained through roles in television dramas and films.

That attention has become more specific with Park Ji-hoon returning as Yeon Si-eun in Netflix's Weak Hero Class 2. His performance has helped sharpen the way audiences look at idol-turned-actors, because it places a former K-pop project group member back inside a role built on restraint rather than stage immediacy. Since Wanna One ended activities in 2019, the 11 members have moved through different agencies and genres. Among them, eight members have confirmed acting filmographies: Yoon Ji-sung, Ong Seong-wu, Hwang Min-hyun, Kang Daniel, Park Ji-hoon, Bae Jin-young, Lee Dae-hwi and Lai Kuan-lin.

Park Ji-hoon's return as Yeon Si-eun in Weak Hero Class 2 on April 25, 2025 stands at the center of this renewed discussion. Among the former members, he was one of the quickest to imprint an actor's image on viewers. He appeared in Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, Love Revolution and At a Distance, Spring Is Green before taking on Yeon Si-eun in Weak Hero Class 1. He then returned to the same character in Netflix's Weak Hero Class 2, which was released on April 25, 2025.

Weak Hero Class 2 is a school action drama based on a webtoon. The second season continues with Sieun after he transfers to Eunjang High and faces a larger circle of violence. Yeon Si-eun is a character who speaks little and holds back emotional expression, making small changes in facial expression and the movement of his gaze central to the role. Park Ji-hoon, who once drew immediate reactions on stage, rebuilds Sieun through a face that keeps emotion pressed down.

Hwang Min-hyun has also expanded his acting profile through roles with different rhythms. After Live On, he built a line of credits that includes Seo Yul in Alchemy of Souls and Kim Do-ha in My Lovely Liar. A fantasy period drama and a romantic mystery ask for different kinds of performance. One requires an actor to make dignity and distance believable inside a constructed world, while the other asks for a more everyday rhythm as emotions are exchanged with a co-star.

Ong Seong-wu is one of the Wanna One members who has spent a longer stretch on acting after the group. He moved from At Eighteen to More Than Friends and Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?, and then entered a more mainstream genre setting as detective Kang Hee-sik in Strong Girl Nam-soon. Starting from the delicate emotional lines of youth dramas and moving into a series that mixes comedy and crime elements broadened the range of roles he could take on as an actor.

Other members with shorter acting histories have also left their own works behind. Kang Daniel played Wi Seung-hyun, a police academy freshman, in the Disney+ series Rookie Cops. Yoon Ji-sung participated in the drama Let Me Be Your Knight as Kim Yoo-chan, a band member.

Bae Jin-young gained acting experience through the web drama User Not Found and the film The Antique Shop. Lee Dae-hwi built his own acting credits through Mon Chou Chou Global House and Love Is for Suckers. Lai Kuan-lin continued as a leading actor in Chinese dramas including A Little Thing Called First Love, Don't Disturb My Study and Love The Way You Are.

The recognition built during idol years can be powerful enough to make viewers watch a first episode. What keeps audiences waiting afterward, however, depends on how strongly the role remains with them. For Park Ji-hoon, Yeon Si-eun has become that kind of turning point. For Hwang Min-hyun and Ong Seong-wu, the different faces they have built across separate projects are what make their next choices worth watching.