Choi Min-gi (Korean: 최민기; born November 3, 1995), known professionally asRen (Korean: 렌), is a South Korean singer, actor and television personality. He began his professional career in 2012 as a vocalist of the South Korean boy groupNU'EST. Following his contract's expiration inPledis Entertainment in March 2022, Choi established his career as a solo artist signed underBPM Entertainment.
Ren was accepted intoPledis Entertainment after auditioning in 2010.[citation needed] Prior to debuting, Ren appeared as a back-up dancer inAfter School Blue's "Wonder Boy" in 2011. He participated in Pledis Entertainment's Christmas single "Love Letter" and was also featured in an alternate music video for the song as a member of Pledis Boys.[3] He performed with After School with the rest of Pledis male trainees, dubbed "After School Boys", at theSBS Gayo Daejeon.[4]
Ren debuted as a sub-vocalist ofNU'EST in 2012. Within a month of debuting, he modelled for Park Yoon-so during the Fall/Winter Seoul Fashion Week,[5] and his androgynous styling drew attention for breaking gender norms.[6]
In 2017, alongside bandmatesJR,Baekho andMinhyun, Ren competed onProduce 101 Season 2 under his birth name for a chance to debut in project groupWanna One.[9] He was eliminated in the finale with a final rank of #20. Following the show's conclusion, he and the remaining NU'EST members promoted as the sub-groupNU'EST W from 2017 to 2018.[10] During the group's activity, he wrote the lyrics for his solo songs, "Paradise" and "You & I."[11][12] At the same time, Ren became a fixed panellist on the talk showLearning the Hard Way.[13] He was also cast in a starring role on the dramaFour Sons,[14] but the show's production was briefly suspended in 2018 with only four of sixteen episodes filmed.[15][16][17]
In 2018, Ren became a regular cast member onThe Kkondae Live.[18] In 2019, he became a regular cast member onHogu Chart.[19]
From 2020 to 2021, Ren hosted the radio show"To.Night" on Naver NOW with bandmateAron.[20][21]
Ren began his musical theatre career in 2020, starring in the lead role ofEverybody's Talking About Jamie as Jamie, a schoolboy aspiring to be a drag queen.[22] Following on exceptional reception and praise for his 'overflowing talent' and 'unrivalled stage presence' in his debut work that 'heralded the birth of a new musical star',[23][24][25] Ren was cast the next year in rock musicalHedwig and the Angry Inch as titular genderqueer singer Hedwig.[26] He remains the only active idol to have been cast as Hedwig over all Korean renditions of the musical, and have spoken on his 'raw yet youthful' charm in his approach to the character.[27][28] Ren has been critically acclaimed for these two characters, and has been lauded as the one 'at the forefront of third-generation idol musicals', with emphasis on his choices to portray unconventional and high-skill level roles.[29]
NU'EST's exclusive contract with Pledis Entertainment expired on March 14, 2022, and Ren (alongside membersAron andJR) left the agency, therefore concluding their 10-year career as a group.[30]
In May 2022, Ren signed withBPM Entertainment as a solo artist.[31] In the same month, Ren also joined the platformUniverse.[32] Upon moving agencies, he was immediately cast in the musicalBungee Jumping Of Their Own as second male lead Lim Hyun-bin.[33]
In September 2022, it was confirmed by his agency that Ren would hold fan-concerts "The Day After" in Korea and Japan in early November.[34]
In November 2022, Ren was cast as murder suspect Oh Jin-woo inENA mystery-thriller dramaLonging for You, his first recurring role in a TV drama.[35][36] In addition, Ren continued his musical theatre career by appearing inThe Three Musketeers musical as D'artagnan for two consecutive seasons (2022[37] to 2023[38])
From November 2022 to February 2023, Ren held his first solo fan-concerts since 2019, bringing "The Day After" to Seoul, Japan and Hong Kong.[39][40][41] In March 2023, Ren competed inKing of Mask Singer as 'Disco Pang Pang', reaching the second round.[42]
On June 15, 2023, Ren made his solo debut with theEPRen'dezvous, headed by its lead single "Ready to Move".[43] Following music show promotions, he embarked on a mini fan-concert tour with "Ren'dezvous" in Seoul, Japan and Hong Kong.[44][45][46]
Ren turned his focus on acting in the latter half of the year. He was cast in November as the male lead in musicalWinter Wanderer.[47] Ren also took part in his first Joseon-era drama special inShadow Confession.[48] His portrayal of sickly noble son Yunho earned him his first acting award nomination at the 2023KBS Drama Awards.[49]
On April 18, 2018, Ren hand-delivered two piggy banks to the Korea Pediatric Cancer Foundation to support the latter's "Creating My Own Angel Contest" campaign.[50] The following year, he and bandmateMinhyun brought the children of the foundation to NU'EST's 2019 LOVE Page Fan Meeting in Seoul.[51] In December of the same year, Ren donated all the proceeds of his self-published fairy tale book함께라서 행복한 우리들 (lit.We're Happy Because We're Together) to the foundation.[52]
^권, 수빈 (December 13, 2016).뉴이스트 렌, 경리 남친으로 웹드라마 '소녀접근금지' 등장 [NU'EST Ren, Kyungri's boyfriend, appears in the web drama "No Girl Access."].News1 (in Korean). RetrievedJune 3, 2025.
^ab뉴이스트 측 "'프로듀스 101' 출연 확정".TenAsia (in Korean). February 24, 2017.Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. RetrievedJanuary 10, 2020.
^abPark, Sang-jin.뉴이스트 아론&렌, 네이버 NOW.'To.Night' 첫 방송 [NU'EST Aaron & Ren, Naver NOW.'To.Night' first broadcast] (in Korean).Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. RetrievedApril 11, 2021.
^abPark, Dong-sun (January 5, 2021).뉴이스트 아론·렌, 네이버 NOW. '투나잇' 종영소감 전해..."또 다른 소통, 행복한 시간" [NU'EST Aaron Ren, Naver NOW. Delivering the end of 'To.night'... "Another communication, happy time"] (in Korean).Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. RetrievedApril 11, 2021.
^Lee, Min-ji (May 7, 2022).뉴이스트 출신 렌, 빅플래닛메이드 전속계약...본격 홀로서기[공식] [NU'EST's Ren signed an exclusive contract with Big Planet Made...Standing alone in earnest [Official]] (in Korean). Newsen.Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. RetrievedMay 7, 2022 – viaNaver.
^Kim Hyun-sook (May 18, 2022).뉴이스트 출신 렌, 유니버스 합류...내달 팬사인회 [Ren from NU'EST joins Universe... Fan signing next month] (in Korean).Newsis.Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. RetrievedMay 18, 2022 – viaNaver.
^abKim Hyun-jung (May 9, 2022).이창용·정택운·렌·위키미키 지수연 등 '번지점프를 하다' 캐스팅 [공식입장] [Lee Chang-yong, Jung Taek-woon, Ren, Weki Meki Ji Soo-yeon, etc. Casting 'Bungee Jumping [Official position]] (in Korean). xportsnews.Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. RetrievedMay 9, 2022 – viaNaver.
^Yoon, Ki-baek (September 15, 2022).렌, 11월 한일 단독 팬콘 '더 데이 애프터' 개최 [Ren to hold solo fancon 'The Day After' in Korea and Japan in November] (in Korean).Edaily. RetrievedSeptember 15, 2022 – viaNaver.
^abKim Hyeon-jeong (July 26, 2022).'삼총사' 신성우·이건명·김형균·렌·라키·경윤·민규 캐스팅...4년만 컴백 [공식입장] [The Three Musketeers' cast Shin Sung-woo, Lee Geon-myung, Kim Hyung-gyun, Ren, Rocky, Kyung-yun, Mingyu... Comeback after 4 years [Official position]] (in Korean). X-ports News.Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. RetrievedJuly 26, 2022 – viaNaver.
^abJang Min-soo (August 2, 2023) (August 2, 2023).박장현, 후이, 렌, 유태양, 민규...'삼총사' 달타냥 변신 [Park Jang-hyun, Hui, Ren, Yoo Taeyang, Min-gyu... Transformation into 'The Three Musketeers' D'Artagnan]. mhns.co.kr (in Korean).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^이, 다원 (September 15, 2022).렌(최민기), 韓·日 솔로 팬콘 개최.sports.khan.co.kr (in Korean). RetrievedJanuary 1, 2024.
^Kim, Jae-hyeon (June 15, 2023).렌, '랑데부'로 솔로 데뷔 [틀린그림찾기] [Ren, solo debut with 'Rendezvous' [Find the Difference]].MK Sports (in Korean). RetrievedJune 19, 2023 – viaNaver.
