Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema

Choi Ji Woo    

Choi Ji-woo is a very successful young woman.  As well as television and film her face has been seen in many advertisements.  In 1996 she appeared in her first film, Adventures of Mrs.Park. 1997 came The Snare and 1998 saw First Kiss.

She joined an excellent ensemble in 1999's Nowhere to Hide and then continued back and forth, still working in television.  2002 was a very good year for her. She teamed up once again with veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki to star in The Romantic President and also managed to become one of the biggest TV names, having shown off an emotionally charged performance in Winter Love Story "Winter Sonata".

Choi continues to crossover from television to film. It can no doubt be hard work but it's payed off and we hope to see more from her soon.

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Won Bin

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SONG Hye Kyo

Birthday : 26, Feb 1982 ( Friday )


Zodiac Sign : Pisces


Blood Type : A


Height : 161cm


Weight : 45kg


Measurement : B34":W24":H35"

TV series: Guardian Angel, Hotelier, All In, Autumn In My Heart

Movie: 

This production has brought not only the greatest Korean cast, but also a budget of 5 billion won and a cover shot at Canada.

Email:  Hyekyo@neyetv.com

http://hyekyo.neyetv.com

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Son Ye-jin

	Date Of Birth: Film Highlights:	11 January 1982 Chiwaseon Crazy First Love Lover's Concerto The Classic
Son Ye-jin is another promising young actress who now focuses on film after being a successful TV drama performer. In 2000 she made her debut in Secret Tears earning her some much appreciated attention. She was promptly cast in 2002's Chiwaseon starring popular, big gun actor Choi Min-shik as a gifted artist. The film was well received despite not being a huge success and certainly the performances were not faulted. Her performance in 2003's The Classic won over many fans and she has been touted as being one of South Korea's most gifted young talents. Her latest film is Crazy First Love - Dunno if it's any good or not though.

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Jang Dong-gun

Jang Dong-gun (b. March 7, 1972), also famous as a singer and fashion model, acted in his first film in 1997. As popular as he is in Korea, he he has even more fans throughout Southeast Asia, where his TV dramas have made him a major star.

In 1999, after acting in the critically acclaimed Nowhere to Hide as Park Joong-hoon's younger partner, Jang moved on to star in a feature that was filmed on location in Shanghai. Titled The Anarchists, this tale of five young terrorists from 1930s China helped to elevate his status even further within his home country.

Jang's most famous role came in early 2001 in Friend, the biggest Korean film of all time. After playing the nice guy in almost all his previous roles, this portrayal of a gangster from Pusan has led him to local stardom. He also starred in the popular action blockbuster 2009 Lost Memories set in a futuristic Great Japan.

After appearing in the low-budget film The Coast Guard by controversial director Kim Ki-duk, Jang starred in Kang Je-gyu's Taegukgi, an epic film about two brothers set during the Korean War that became the best-selling Korean film of all time.

Links: Virtual Jang Dong-gun and jangdonggun.pe.kr, two English-language fansites.

Complete Filmography:

Taepung (2005?) dir. Kwak Kyung-taek ** currently in development **
The Promise (2004) dir. Chen Kaige (CHINA-KOREA-JAPAN) ** currently in production **
Taegukgi (2004) dir. Kang Je-gyu
The Coast Guard (2002) dir Kim Ki-duk
2009 Lost Memories (2002) dir. Lee Shi-myung
Friend (2001) dir. Kwak Kyung-taek
The Anarchists (2000) dir. Yoo Young-shik
Nowhere to Hide (1999) dir. Lee Myung-sae
Love Wind, Love Song (1999) dir. Park Tae-young
Holiday in Seoul (1997) dir. Kim Ui-seok
Repechage (1997) dir. Lee Kwang-hun

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Jeon Ji-hyun

Jeon Ji-hyun (b. October 30, 1981) first became well-known as a commercial model and as a TV actress. Although she made her film debut in the little-watched White Valentine in 1999, it was not until later in the year when she was featured in an advertisement for an audio system that she became a popular sensation. The dancing and attitude expressed in the ad made her into an icon for Koreans in their late teens and early twenties.

After continuing her TV and modelling career, Jeon made her first well-publicized film appearance in late 2000 with Il Mare. A handsomely-shot melodrama set on Kanghwa Island, the film did respectably well at the box office and solidified her status as a star.

Jeon's breakout film was comedy My Sassy Girl which became a huge hit both in Korea and throughout Asia with its tale of a gullible college student and his wacky girlfriend. Currently Jeon remains almost unrivalled in terms of popularity. In 2003 an "occult thriller" titled The Uninvited re-teamed her with actor Park Shin-yang from White Valentine. Her latest project Windstruck reunited her with the director of My Sassy Girl.

LINK: Jeon Ji-hyun fansite

Complete filmography:

Windstruck (2004) dir. Kwak Jae-yong
The Uninvited (2003) dir. Lee Su-yeon
My Sassy Girl (2001) dir. Kwak Jae-yong
Il Mare (2000) dir. Lee Hyun-seung
White Valentine (1999) dir. Yang Yoon-ho

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Shin Hyun-june

Shin Hyun-june (b. March 24, 1968) was an athletics major at Yonsei University before starting a career in modeling and acting in 1989. His film debut came in veteran director Im Kwon-taek's stylish Son of a General series, set under the Japanese occupation in the 1920s. For the first half of the 1990s he continued working with Im Kwon-taek and also acted in Hwa-om-kyung, Jang Sun-woo's award winning film based on the Avatamska Sutra.

In recent years Shin has turned more towards popular cinema, finding his greatest success in fantasy/sci-fi works such as The Gingko Bed, The Soul Guardians, and the Korean-Chinese coproduction Bichunmoo. In 2001 he starred in the third film by director Jang Jin (The Spy), where he acted opposite TV star Won Bin and Shin Ha-kyun. He drew praise in this film for his acting, and the film went on to become hugely successful at the box-office. His next feature however, submarine drama Blue, proved a disappointment at the box-office. His next film saw him team up with actress Song Yoon-ah.

Selected filmography:

Face (2004) dir. Yu Sang-gon
Blue (2003) dir. Lee Jeong-guk
Guns & Talks (2001) dir. Jang Jin
Siren (2000) dir. Lee Ju-yeop
Bi-chun-moo (200) dir. Kim Young-jun
The Soul Guardians (1998) dir. Park Kwang-jun
The Story of a Man (1998) dir. Shim Seung-bo
Maria and the Inn (1997) dir. Whan Sun-woo
Channel 69 (1996) dir. Lee Jeong-guk
The Gingko Bed (1996) dir. Kang Je-gyu and Park Chul-min
The Taebaek Mountains (1994) dir. Im Kwon-taek
Hwa-om-kyung (1993) dir. Jang Sun-woo
Son of a General 3 (1992) dir. Im Kwon-taek
Son of a General 2 (1991) dir. Im Kwon-taek
Son of a General (1990) dir. Im Kwon-taek

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Jin Hee-kyung

Jin Hee-kyung (b. September 17, 1968) majored in cello at college and began work as a fashion model in 1989. After her debut in film, her first big hit was The Ginkgo Bed directed by Kang Jae-gyu. She has taken on a variety of genres in her career, from horror (The Opening) and melodrama (Emergency Room) to more artistically-inclined films such as Motel Cactus and Girls' Night Out.

Jin has played mostly supporting roles since 2000, from a teacher in plum blossom Plum Blossom, to a thief in Jakarta, and an old lover in I Wish I Had a Wife. In 2003 she had a minor role in the box-office smash Marrying the Mafia. Her next role will be as a woman who becomes an object of desire for several older men in comedy Dance With Solitude.

Complete filmography:

Sweet Sixties (2004) dir. Lee Su-in
Marrying the Mafia (2003) dir. Jung Hong-soon
I Wish I Had a Wife (2001) dir. Park Heung-shik
Jakarta (2000) dir. Jung Cho-shin
Plum Blossom (2000) dir. Kwak Ji-kyun
Emergency Room: The Movie (2000) dir. Choi Yoon-seok
The Opening (1999) dir. Kim Sung-hong
Girls' Night Out (1998) dir. Im Sang-soo
Motel Cactus (1997) dir. Park Ki-yong
Holiday in Seoul (1997) dir. Kim Ui-seok
The Ginkgo Bed (1996) dir. Kang Jae-gyu
Deep Scratch (1995) dir. Kim Sung-hong
Coffee, Copy, Koh-pi (1994) dir. Kim Yoo-min

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Bae Doo-na

Bae Doo-na (whose name means "beautiful star") was born on October 11, 1979. In 1998 she was walking along the streets of Apkujong, Seoul when a recruiter approached her about a job in modeling. She soon branched out from modeling into TV dramas (her debut was the KBS drama School), and in 1999 she had her first film appearance as the psychic girl/ghost in The Ring Virus, Korea's remake of the Japanese film Ring.

In 2000 Bae continued to act in TV dramas and also expanded her presence on the screen, starring in the critically-acclaimed Barking Dogs Never Bite and later in Plum Blossom, a well-received film about adolescence and sex. At the time she concurrently studied in Hanyang University's department of Film and Drama.

Bae's 2001 film Take Care of My Cat was highly acclaimed by critics and screened in many festivals including Rotterdam and Berlin. She also starred in Park Chan-wook's grim followup to JSA, the acclaimedSympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Her next features were more light in tone: Saving My Hubby, about a mother who straps her baby onto her back and goes out to rescue her husband from a band of gangsters, subway action film Tube, and Spring Bears Love, a melodrama by debut director Yong Yi. Bae's next film will reportedly be a Japanese feature film.

Excerpt from an interview with Bong Jun-ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite):

Bae Doo-na is a very beautiful young woman. But in the film you make her look very mundane, dishevelled, with no make-up...

"You're right (laughs). Many actresses in Korea hate to act without make up, they want to look shiny! But Doo-na was great because she had no desire to show off, rather she really threw herself into the character. I was really happy with her." [Interview and photo from Filmfestivals.com]

Complete filmography:

Spring Bear's Love (2003) dir. Yong Yi
Tube (2003) dir. Baek Woon-hak
Saving My Hubby (2002) dir. Hyun Nam-seop
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) dir. Park Chan-wook
Take Care of My Cat (2001) dir. Jung Jae-eun
Plum Blossom (2000) dir. Kwak Ji-kyun
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) dir. Bong Jun-ho
The Ring Virus (1999) dir. Kim Dong-bin

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Lee Byung-heon

Lee Byung-heon (b. July 12, 1970) majored in French at Hanyang University before making his television debut on KBS in 1991. A fixture in TV dramas throughout the decade, Lee has continued to work on television even after becoming a major film star. His movie debut came in 1995 as the lead in Who Drives Me Mad?, and he worked off and on in the film industry up until his breakthrough film in 2000, Joint Security Area.

For a long time thought of as just another pretty face, Lee in recent years has earned great praise for his acting, both for his turn in JSA and especially for his role in Bungee Jumping of Their Own. He also starred in the television drama Beautiful Days, which screened in spring 2002 on SBS.

In 2002, Lee starred with actress Lee Mi-yeon in Addicted, a melodrama about two brothers who fall into a coma on the same day. The following spring he also took the lead role in the highly popular TV drama All In, about a successful gambler.

Lee's latest film is a remake of the comedy About Adam, in which he stars with actresses Choi Ji-woo, Kim Hyo-jin, and Choo Sang-mi.

Link: byunghunlee.pe.kr - a bilingual fan site

Complete filmography:

Everybody Has Secrets (2004) dir. Jang Hyun-soo ** currently in post-production **
Addicted (2002) dir. Park Young-hoon
Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2001) dir. Kim Dae-seung
Joint Security Area (2000) dir. Park Chan-wook
Harmonium in My Memory (1999) dir. Lee Young-jae
Elegy of the Earth (1997) dir. Kim Hee-chul
Kill the Love (1996) dir. Lim Jong-jae
Armageddon (1996) (voice) dir. Lee Hyun-se
Runaway (1995) dir. Kim Sung-soo
Who Drives Me Mad? (1995) dir. Koo Im-seo

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Lee Mi-yeon

Lee Mi-yeon (b. September 23, 1971) debuted in 1989 in a production by Cinema Service founder Kang Woo-suk titled Happiness Has Nothing To Do With School Records. Over the course of the 1990s she became quite famous, and after a short pause from filmmaking in 1995 she returned with a vengeance, taking on a role in the cult hit No. 3 and, in the following year, taking the lead in the second-biggest Korean film of 1998, Whispering Corridors.

In 2001 Lee seemed to enjoy a resurgence of her popularity, after winning the 2000 Blue Dragon Award for Best Actress for Pisces. In Indian Summer she played a woman accused of killing her husband, and then in November she starred as a Communist sympathizer in the latest feature by veteran director Bae Chang-ho.

Her most recent feature was the melodrama Addicted, which teamed her with popular star Lee Byung-heon.

Complete filmography:

Addicted (2002) dir. Park Young-hoon
The Last Witness (2001) dir. Bae Chang-ho
Indian Summer (2001) dir. Noh Hyo-jung
Pisces (2000) dir. Kim Hyung-tae
Love Bakery (2000) dir. Park Hun-soo
Harmonium in My Memory (1999) dir. Lee Young-jae
Whispering Corridors (1998) dir. Park Ki-hyung
Motel Cactus (1997) dir. Park Ki-yong
No. 3 (1997) dir. Song Neung-han
Go Alone Like a Rhino's Horn (1995) dir. Oh Byung-chul
I Will Survive (1993) dir. Yoon Sam-yuk
Snow Flower (1992) dir. Park Chul-soo
Do You Like an Afternoon Without Rain? (1991) dir. Cho Keum-hwan
An Autumn Journey (1991) dir. Kwak Jae-yong
Sometimes Let's Look at the Sky (1990) dir. Kim Sung-hong
Happiness Has Nothing To Do With School Records (1989) dir. Kang Woo-suk

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Song Seung-hun

After beginning his career as a model, Song Seung-hun (b. October 5, 1976) first became known to viewers in the popular sitcom Three Men, Three Women in 1996. The following year he started his extremely successful career in TV dramas, which made him well-known throughout Korea. His feature film debut came in 1999 in the film Calla together with star Kim Hee-sun.

True stardom only came to Song in late 2000, however, with the broadcast of the hugely popular TV drama Autumn Story (a.k.a. Endless Love). The series was exported all over Asia, making pan-Asian stars of both him and co-stars Song Hye-gyo and Won Bin. Since then he has been actively recuited for film roles and advertisements in Hong Kong and other Asian countries.

In 2002, Song starred in the comic-action film Make it Big by director Cho Ui-seok, and also in the Hong Kong film So Close with Hong Kong actresses: Karen Mok, Shu Qi and Zhao Wei. His latest projects are a mountaineering film shot in the Canadian Rockies -- which he stars in together with Lee Sung-jae and Kim Ha-neul -- and a comedy based on an internet novel with actress Jung Da-bin from TV drama Attic Cat.

Complete filmography:

He Was Cool (2004) dir. Lee Hwan-kyung ** currently in production **
Ice Rain (2003) dir. Kim Eun-sook
So Close (2002) dir. Corey Yuen (HONG KONG)
Make it Big (2002) dir. Cho Ui-seok
Calla (1999) dir. Song Hae-sung

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Kim Hee-sun

Kim Hee-sun (b. February 25, 1977) debuted on TV in 1993, and has since become famous both at home and abroad as one of Korea's best-looking actresses. Having acted in many TV dramas, Kim has also gradually built up a career in film, beginning in 1997 with Repechage opposite Jang Dong-gun.

Kim's most high-profile role to date has been in the big-budget martial arts fantasy Bichunmoo, shot in China and released in the summer of 2000. Although criticized for her acting in the film, it gave her more local and international exposure than any of her other films. In late 2001, Kim took on a completely different kind of role, cutting her hair short and starring as an animator in Wanee and Junah. Although her acting in this film drew a favorable response from critics, the film itself was not as popular with audiences.

In 2003 she will co-star with Shin Ha-kyun in the film A Letter From Mars by Kim Jung-kwon, the director of Ditto.

English-language fansite: Kim Hee-sun Gallery

Complete filmography:

A Letter From Mars (2003) dir. Kim Jung-kwon
Wanee and Junah (2001) dir. Kim Yong-gyun
Bichunmoo (2000) dir. Kim Young-jun
Calla (1999) dir. Song Hae-sung
Ghost in Love (1999) dir. Lee Kwang-hoon
Repechage (1997) dir. Lee Kwang-hoon

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Lee Mi-sook

Lee Mi-sook (b. Apr. 2, 1960) first debuted in film at the age of twenty in An Innocent College Student in 1980. Throughout the 80s she became one of Korea's most well-known actresses, starring in such well-known and popular films as Whale Hunting, That Winter Was Warm, Bbong, and Wanderer in Winter. Her early career lasted until the film Love Triangle in 1987, and then she retired from the cinema.

Over ten years later, however, Lee returned with a widely praised role in the award-winning film An Affair, about a woman who falls in love with her sister's fiance. Using this film as a springboard, she re-launched her career and has since found a series of high-profile roles in film and on television.

Lee's most recent roles were in major hit Untold Scandal, a retelling of the novel Dangerous Liasions, and in the well-received melodrama ...ing.

Selected filmography:

...ing (2003) dir. Lee Eon-hee
Untold Scandal (2003) dir. E J-yong
Oh! LaLa Sisters (2002) dir. Park Je-hyun
Besame Mucho (2001) dir. Jeon Yoon-su
The Legend of Gingko (2000) dir. Park Je-hyun
An Affair (1998) dir. E J-yong
Love Triangle (1987) dir. Kwak Ji-kyun
Affection (1987) dir. Kim Ki
A Street Musician (1987) dir. Jung Ji-young
Eunuch (1986) dir. Lee Du-yong
Wanderer In Winter (1986) dir. Kwak Ji-kyun
Bbong (1985) dir. Lee Du-yong
That Winter Was Warm (1984) dir. Bae Chang-ho
Autumn After Love (1984) dir. Jeong Jin-woo
Whale Hunting (1984) dir. Bae Chang-ho
Strange Relationship (1983) dir. Lee Du-yong
Where Is My Ideal Lady? (1981) dir. Park Chul-soo
Three Women in an Umbrella (1980) dir. Lee Du-yong
An Innocent College Student (1980) dir. Kim Eung-cheon

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Cha Tae-hyun

Cha Tae-hyun (b. March 25, 1976) started his career as a silver medalist in a 1995 KBS Talent Contest. Over the next several years he would star in a large number of TV dramas such as Sunflower and Happy Together, while also working as a model and appearing in a huge number of TV commercials.

His film debut came with a bang, in the hugely successful 2001 comedy My Sassy Girl. This established him as a recognized star throughout Asia as well as Korea, and many of his subsequent films would do very well in other Asian countries. He starred opposite actress Son Ye-jin in the box-office hits Lovers Concerto and Crazy First Love, and appeared together with actress Kim Seon-ah in Happy Ero Christmas. His next feature Two Guys sees him team up with Nowhere to Hide star Park Joong-hoon.

Complete filmography:

Two Guys (2004) dir. Park Heon-su
Happy Ero Christmas (2003) dir. Lee Geon-dong
Crazy First Love (2003) dir. Oh Jong-rok
Lovers Concerto (2002) dir. Lee Han
My Sassy Girl (2001) dir. Kwak Jae-yong

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