"Worldwide all-kill with her aegyo pout!" Hyeri enters her Nth prime in 2025—Expectations for 2026 UP! UP!

Hyeri heated up 2025 intensely, further raising expectations for her activities in 2026. 2025 was a year of rediscovering Hyeri. In the mystery girls' thriller drama Friendly Rivalry (STUDIO X+U), which aired in February, Hyeri played Yoo Jae-yi—a top 0.1% high school student hiding secrets behind a perfect exterior. She broke away from her existing image, exuding sharp charisma and earning rave reviews from viewers. This not only expanded her acting spectrum but also led to massive success both domestically and internationally. Riding the wave of Friendly Rivalry's hit status, Hyeri stood in the global spotlight and embarked on her 2025 HYERI FANMEETING TOUR <Welcome to HYERI's STUDIO>, performing in 10 cities across Asia. Additionally, she held exclusive fan meetings titled Life's Leading Lady (인생여주) in four Chinese cities, proving her unparalleled presence.

 

Hyeri's outstanding performance and soaring popularity were further proven at various award ceremonies. She consecutively won the Upbit Popularity Star Award at the 4th Blue Dragon Series Awards, the Best Couple Award (with Chung Subin) at the 16th Korea Drama Awards, and the Best Actress Award at the Asia Artist Awards (AAA) 2025. Additionally, at the 34th Buil Film Awards, she achieved a double win by taking home both the Best New Actress and Female Star of the Year awards for her role in the movie Victory, released the previous year.In particular, Hyeri stole the spotlight at AAA 2025 with boy group TWS's "Angtal Challenge" (cute pouty aegyo dance from their song "Overdrive"). The video of Hyeri's Angtal Challenge went viral across YouTube and various SNS platforms, racking up millions of views and drawing massive attention.

Hyeri's 2026 is also slated to be packed with non-stop activities spanning films, television dramas, and variety shows. First, in the film Tropical Night (also known as Night Heat or Night Fever)—a story capturing the most intense 24 hours of people throwing everything on the line to survive in Bangkok, a city where the heat never fades even at night—Hyeri takes on the role of Ari, a former K-pop girl group leader now working as a pole dancer in Bangkok's Walking Street club, challenging herself with a bold new genre.Additionally, Hyeri makes her romantic comedy drama comeback after about five years since tvN's My Roommate Is a Gumiho with the upcoming Genie TV/ENA original Dream to You (scheduled for 2026). Transforming into Joo Yi-jae—a passionate, skilled breadwinner reporter stumbling through regrets from her past—Hyeri is set to deliver fluttering romance in a reunion story opposite Hwang In-youp (as Woo Soo-bin). Her variety show prowess is also generating buzz. Hyeri showcased timeless chemistry with the Reply 1988 family in tvN's Reply 1988 10th Anniversary special, which premiered last Friday (the 19th), nailing both laughter and heartfelt moments. Following that, Netflix's adventure mystery variety show Agents of Mystery Season 2 is gearing up for release in 2026. As Hyeri effortlessly crosses genres to prove yet another career peak, all eyes are on what new milestones she'll achieve in 2026.

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