For Marie Claire Korea’s Art Edition, the actor explained why he is drawn to creators who preserved their own vision despite the judgment of their time.
Ahn Hyo Seop is imagining a different kind of transformation for his future roles.
The actor appears on the special cover of the 2026 Marie Claire Art Edition, the official magazine of Kiaf Seoul. Built around the theme “Life as Art,” the editorial explores how he sees creativity not only in galleries or performances, but also in ordinary people and everyday moments.
Ahn moved between denim, leather, tailored clothing and sleeveless looks for the accompanying photographs. Deep red, blue and monochrome settings gave each image a different emotional texture, allowing him to communicate through posture and expression rather than dialogue.
The interview, however, revealed something more interesting than the styling: the two historical figures he would like to portray.
Why Van Gogh and Nietzsche Interest Him
Asked which figures he would want to play, Ahn selected painter Vincent van Gogh and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
The choices initially seem unusual for an actor best known internationally for contemporary Korean dramas. Yet both figures fit the qualities Ahn appears to value in a creative life.
“They never let go of their own perspective and philosophy until the end, and that ultimately remained beyond their time,” he said, according to the Korean interview.
Van Gogh received little recognition during his lifetime, but his use of color, texture and emotional intensity later transformed how the world understood modern painting. Nietzsche’s philosophical writing also challenged the values of his era and continued influencing literature, psychology and culture long after his death.
Ahn’s interest appears to lie less in their fame than in their refusal to abandon an individual point of view because it was not immediately understood.
For an actor, either role would demand more than physical resemblance. Van Gogh’s inner turmoil and Nietzsche’s intellectual isolation would require performances shaped by contradiction, vulnerability and conviction.
Finding Art in Ordinary Lives
Ahn also described art as something visible in everyday life when people take the time to observe closely.
“When you look carefully, you can see the individual colors of each person’s life,” he said. Even moments without an extraordinary meaning can appear beautiful, he explained, because the lives people build day by day become pieces that collectively form the world.
That observation gives the “Life as Art” theme a more personal meaning.
Ahn is not suggesting that every ordinary moment must be turned into a grand artistic statement. His point is that attention itself can change how a moment is understood. A familiar expression, routine or private struggle may become meaningful when someone truly notices it.
The same principle applies to acting. Memorable characters are rarely created through dramatic scenes alone. Small gestures, pauses and ways of looking at another person can reveal an entire interior life.
An Actor Continuing to Widen His Range
Ahn has steadily expanded the ways international audiences encounter his work.
He built his television career through dramas including Still 17, Dr. Romantic 2, Lovers of the Red Sky, Business Proposal and A Time Called You. Each project asked him to move between romance, comedy, historical fantasy and emotionally heavier material.
He later reached another global audience as the English-language voice of Jinu in Netflix’s animated phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters. Netflix describes Jinu as a character whose confident exterior conceals a more vulnerable side, a duality that allowed Ahn to communicate an emotionally conflicted performance entirely through his voice.
The Marie Claire Art Edition does not mean Ahn is leaving acting to become a visual artist. Instead, it shows how his curiosity about painting, philosophy, fashion and ordinary human behavior may inform the roles he chooses.
His Next Transformation Takes Place in a Kitchen
Ahn will return to television in JTBC’s upcoming drama Final Table, playing internationally trained chef Kang Han, also known as Chris K.
The series centers on a competition called The Table: K-Chef 2026, which brings Korean chefs from around the world together to determine who deserves the top title. Its story is expected to use food as a way for its characters to understand one another, rather than treating cooking only as spectacle.
The role creates an interesting connection with Ahn’s latest comments. Like painters, philosophers and actors, chefs also communicate a personal perspective through their work. Ingredients become their materials, while taste becomes a language.
Ahn’s admiration for people who protect their individual vision may therefore offer a clue to how he approaches Kang Han. The character is not simply trying to win a competition. He must persuade others to understand his culinary philosophy.
For Ahn Hyo Seop, art does not appear to belong to one discipline. It can exist in a painting, a philosophical idea, a performance, a carefully prepared dish or the unnoticed details of an ordinary day.
The common element is the willingness to look closely and hold on to a point of view.