Song Hye-kyo was ranked seventh on Forbes magazine's Korea Power Celebrity list in 2017, and sixth in 2018. She is one of "The Troika," along with Kim Tae-hee and Jun Ji-hyun, who are known collectively as "Tae-Hye-Ji." The international success of Song's television dramas established her as a top Hallyu star.
Early childhood and education
Song's parents divorced when she was a young girl, and she was raised by her mother.
They relocated from Daegu to Seoul's Gangnam District, where she trained as a figure skater in elementary school before quitting when she was in the eighth grade. Song considered herself shy and introverted, but when she attended Ewha Girls' High School, her high school teacher described her as having a "cheerful character, she mixed well with her friends, and was always in a bright mood." Song Hye-kyo studied Film Arts at Sejong University.
2013-present: Career resurgence
Song collaborated with the writer and director of Worlds Within again in That Winter, the Wind Blows, a 2013 remake of the 2002 Japanese drama Ai Nante Irane Yo, Natsu ("I Don't Need Love, Summer"). In the melodrama, she played a blind heiress opposite a con man who pretended to be her long-lost brother (played by Jo In-sung). That Winter, The Wind Blows ranked first in its time slot for the majority of its run, and Song and Jo were praised for their performances. At the 2nd APAN Star Awards, Song received the Daesang (or "Grand Prize"), the highest television award.
Song's second Chinese film, The Crossing, was a romantic epic. It was directed by John Woo (Woo's longtime friend and producer Terence Chang has been managing Song's overseas activities since 2008). Previously titled 1949 and Love and Let Love, the long-gestating project was first announced at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, then cancelled in 2009, and then revived in 2011. Woo's recovery from tonsil tumor removal in 2012 caused another delay due to scheduling conflicts among the cast, and Song finally began filming in June 2013. The Crossing is based on the true story of the Taiping steamer collision. It follows six characters' intertwined love stories in Taiwan and Shanghai during the 1930s. Song portrayed the daughter of a wealthy banker.
Another Chinese film, The Queens, followed in 2015, a contemporary romantic comedy about three cosmopolitan women - an actress, a public relations specialist, and a gallery manager - who manipulate friends and put down their enemies while playing the game of love. It was Annie Yi's directorial debut, also starring Joe Chen and Vivian Wu.
After a two-year hiatus, she returned to the small screen with the romantic-melodrama Encounter, co-starring Park Bo-gum.
In 2021, Song appeared as a team leader of a fashion company's design department in the SBS romantic drama Now, We Are Breaking Up.
