Kim Min-seol lands first lead role in MBC's '첫 번째 남자' after sports announcer detour

Kim Min-seol wrapped her first lead role this month. She played Jin Hong-joo in MBC daily drama 첫 번째 남자 (First Man), a character described as someone who is honest about desire. In real life, she identifies as an ENFP.

Her path to that role was anything but direct. She debuted in 2022 on KBS2's 미남당, then added EBS1's 네가 빠진 세계 and tvN's 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 to her credits before appearing on Netflix's 솔로지옥4 last year.

Before any of that, there was a Philippines chapter. Min-seol grew up there and came to Korea at 20 years old — technically a 12th grader by school placement. She spent about a year on university entrance prep starting in that final year, applied to several schools, and landed at Seoul University of the Arts. "My mother said she had a dream that I would go to Seoul University of the Arts before the exam, and it really came true," she said.

She enrolled as part of the class of 2020. That meant Zoom lectures and a lot of unstructured time. Rather than sit on it, she trained at an announcer academy and eventually worked actual sports broadcast sites as a sports announcer. "It was a difficult time due to COVID, but I challenged it with the mindset of spending time meaningfully," she said.

Being the eldest daughter factored in. She described a strong sense of responsibility and a need to pursue work that would reliably generate income. That's what pointed her toward announcing in the first place. The acting career she'd been building since 2022 ultimately won out, and 첫 번째 남자 gave her the lead she'd been working toward.