Kim Hyun-joong originally wanted to pursue a modeling career since his high school years. He debuted as a runway model in 2009 at the age of 20 and began appearing in prêt-à-porter and Seoul Fashion Week collections until the present.
2011-2012: Acting career beginnings, birth of his stage name Kim Woo-bin
As his career progressed, he started doing commercials which required basic acting skills. So Kim began studying acting to become a better model, under acting coach Moon Won-joo. But Kim fell in love with acting, saying, "In the course of doing so, I found myself feeling the same thrill and enthusiasm that I felt the first time I came to walk on the runway."
Under the stage name Kim Woo-bin, he made his acting debut in 2011, starring in mystery drama White Christmas and the cable sitcom Vampire Idol which was originally scheduled for 120 episodes, low viewer ratings lead to the show’s end at only 79 episodes.
