Hong Hwa-yeon

Hong Hwa-yeon, who graduated from Konkuk University's Department of Education, debuted as a model in 2020 and first appeared in a music video. She signed with BH Entertainment the following year to pursue acting.^[1][4][5] Hong was also an advertising model for the global brand Burt's Bees as of 2022.^[6]

In 2022, Hong appeared in a supporting role in sports drama Mental Coach Jegal, thus marking her first role as an actress.^[7][6] Hong also appeared in web drama Only You that same year.^[8]

The following year, Hong was cast in 2023 romance-comedy drama True to Love.^[9][10]

Two years later, in February 2025, Hong was cast as the female lead alongside Park Hyung-sik in 2025 revenge drama Buried Hearts, marking her first female lead role of her career. Hong portrayed Yeo Eun-nam, the love interest of Seo Dong-ju (Park's character) and a chaebol chairman's granddaughter who sought to uncover the truth of her father's death and still loves Dong-ju despite her political marriage to another man.^[11][12][13] Hong reportedly auditioned for the character and was successfully cast as Eun-nam after a fierce competition with odds of 100 to 1.^[14] Hong's portrayal of Eun-nam garnered positive reviews and increased public attention.^[15][16][17] Culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon regarded Eun-nam as the character who crucially triggered Dong-ju regain his ambition and struggle for revenge, and praised Hong for seamlessly playing the character and made a stood-out performance amongst her senior cast members who demonstrated weighty performances in the drama.^[9]

During the same year when she appeared in Buried Hearts, Hong was cast as high school girl Yoon Jeong-hee in 2025 political drama I Am a Running Mate.^[1] Hong was also cast as a supporting actress in Tastefully Yours, which also aired in 2025.^[9]

Hong appeared in the Netflix-produced web drama The Price of Confession, which aired in December 2025.^[1][18][19]