Choi Daniel transforms into weather forecaster to promote 'Salon De Nabi'

Actor Choi Daniel appeared in a morning news studio, transforming into a weather forecaster. By layering the personality of his character from his current drama onto the role of delivering the weather, he successfully promoted his new project and introduced his character through a brief, impactful appearance.

Choi appeared as a special weather forecaster on JTBC's 'Morning &' on the morning of the 21st. Standing in the studio alongside the news hosts, he began the forecast playfully, saying, "I am greeting you today as a special weather forecaster. From now on, I will perfectly deliver today's weather."

After calmly delivering the weather and temperatures across the country, he added the wit expected of an actor. Choi connected the weather information to the professional characteristics of his character, stating, "Today's styling index rated by hair designer Gwang-su is 90 points."

He continued with comments fitting for a hair designer, saying, "You'll be able to maintain the hairstyle you put so much effort into this morning for quite a long time." Finally, he naturally brought attention to the drama's title by offering a greeting: "I hope you all fly high wonderfully today."

Gwang-su, played by Choi, is a key figure in the JTBC weekend drama 'Salon De Nabi', which premiered on the 19th. He is a hair designer working at the hair salon 'Butterfly', known as the 'God of Cutting' due to his outstanding skills, but he is also a character who pursues perfection in everything.

'Salon De Nabi' is more than a simple professional drama set in a hair salon. According to the program introduction released by JTBC, the series focuses on how customers use their hair as a medium to share stories with hairdressers that they cannot easily tell even to family or friends. Ultimately, the work explores people's wounds, relationships, and the way they view themselves through the familiar space of a salon.

The significance of the character Gwang-su within the context of the series is substantial. A hairdresser is not merely a technician who cuts and styles hair, but a professional who encounters customers' appearances, self-esteem, and daily changes at a very close distance. Gwang-su, played by Choi, becomes involved in various relationships and incidents occurring within the salon through his expertise and perfectionist tendencies.

This transformation into a weather forecaster can be seen as a kind of 'character expansion' that imprints the character's professional identity on viewers. By delivering actual weather information while cracking jokes about hairstyles, the identity of Gwang-su from 'Salon De Nabi' was easily conveyed to the audience.

An actor appearing for promotion as their character is a strategy frequently utilized in recent content marketing. Rather than simply announcing "a new drama has started," having an actor directly demonstrate the character's speech patterns and professional traits increases accessibility to the work.

This type of variation is not unfamiliar to Choi. Having shown his characteristic relaxed tone and playful manner while moving between dramas and variety shows, he naturally combined his character's traits with his own strengths without becoming overly rigid in the news studio.

'Salon De Nabi' continued with its second episode on the 20th following its premiere on the 19th. The first episode recorded an audience rating of 2.0%, and the second episode recorded 2.2%, with the peak minute audience rating rising to 3.4%.

The first episode depicted Gwang-su, Michelle (Oh Yoon-ah), and Jen (Shim Eun-woo) working together at the salon and the process of looking for an intern, while the intern Joy, played by Kim Hyang-gi, also showed her growth in the new environment. In the second episode, the story entered another phase as mysterious men visited the salon.

There is a high possibility that Gwang-su will show aspects beyond being a simple 'perfectionist hairdresser' in the future. While he meticulously manages customers' hair and styles on the surface, the series sets the salon as a space where inner selves and relationships intersect, leaving room for him to change as he clashes with other characters.

Linking the weather and hairstyles during this appearance on 'Morning &' follows this same logic. Although he briefly borrowed a completely different profession, what Choi ultimately delivered was the personality of 'Gwang-su' rather than the weather.

For actors, program promotion is expanding beyond simple introductions into a task of infiltrating the character itself into the daily lives of the public. Choi's brief transformation on the morning news is a prime example of this trend. Delivering the weather while ending with a message like "fly high wonderfully"—mirroring the drama's title—was the most clever highlight of his appearance.

'Salon De Nabi' airs every Saturday at 10:40 PM and Sunday at 10:30 PM.