Kang Ha Neul Is Getting Social Media Attention With His ~New~ Look

Kang Ha Neul is on a roll! After winning the Best Actor Award at the 56^th Baeksang Arts Awards last June, the Hallyu heartthrob brought home yet another prestigious award from the 47th KBS Broadcasting Awards for his performance as Hwang Yong-sik in When the Camellia Blooms.

While he was at it, the K-drama actor definitely didn’t fail to make quite an impression on the red carpet as he debuted his new look. Clad in an all-black suit, Kang Ha Neul sported noticeably longer and disheveled hairstyle coupled with a growing beard. And while the internet didn’t exactly hate his new look, it certainly got them talking.

One Twitter user couldn’t help but humorously compare Kang Ha Neul’s new look to his last public appearance at the Baeksang Arts Awards, back when the actor still had a clean-shaven look and intricately styled hair. “Before quarantine [versus] after quarantine,” he jokingly captions his post.

Another netizen chimed in, implying how she almost didn’t recognize the actor. She writes, “Kang Ha Neul, who????” In the same tweet though, she quickly adds, “But it is okay, the beard can't hide his handsome face.”

In case you’re wondering, the actor’s new look actually hints at his new character for an upcoming movie that he’s currently working on. In The Pirates 2, Kang Ha Neul plays the role of Woo Moo-chi, the leader of a group of bandits and Goryeo’s best swordsman.

In fact, the actor already confirmed this in a previous interview, as pointed out by Twitter user @kangmidam for “those who are wondering and [are] surprised by his new appearance.”

“The reason I grew my hair and beard is because I am filming the movie Pirate. I couldn’t do anything because my hair was too long,” Kang Ha Neul explains in the aforementioned interview. “The viewers might be wondering, ‘Didn’t you take a shower?’ But with that in mind, please wait for Pirate.”

LOL! We definitely will. Congratulations, Kang Ha Neul!

The 47th KBS Broadcasting Awards marks Kang Ha Neul's second Best Actor win for his performance in When the Camellia Blooms. His upcoming movie, The Pirates 2, which will also star Han Hyo Joo, Lee Kwang Soo, Kwon Sang Woo, Chae Soo Bin, and EXO's Sehun, is slated for a 2021 release.

This story originally appeared on Preview.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Candymag.com editors.