Hyun-woo began his acting career in 2008 through a minor role in the movie A Frozen Flower.  He first gained attention when he played the role of a pretty boy chef in the 2010 MBC workplace romantic comedy Pasta. In 2014, he was nominated for an Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards for his work in the daily series My Dear Cat. In 2016, he won the Best Couple Award with Lee Se-young at the KBS Drama Awards for the family weekend series Laurel Tree Tailors. In 2017, he starred in the Korean-Filipino film You With Me, opposite Filipina actress Devon Seron.


Hyun-woo also ventured into music. In 2009, he formed the K-Pop project group 24/7 together with Lee Jang-woo and No Min-woo. They released the single 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week, but disbanded shortly after. He was also active in the musical theater world from 2010 to 2014.


In September 2018, Hyun-woo and his Laurel Tree Tailor co-star Pyo Ye-jin went public with their relationship. In November 2019, it was confirmed that the couple parted ways.