Saturday, September 19, 2009

Yunjin Kim







Yunjin Kim (Korean: ???, Hanja: ???, born November 7, 1973 in Seoul, South Korea) is an American-Korean film and theatre actress. Although she is best known in the English-speaking world for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series, Lost, Kim has also appeared in numerous film and TV projects in South Korea.

Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. At the age of ten, Kim emigrated to the United States with her family. They lived in Staten Island, New York. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical My Fair Lady.

Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, a public high school located in Manhattan. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts and later earned her drama degree at Boston University. She is a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.

After graduation, Kim devoted herself full time to acting. She garnered several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the off-Broadway stage. In 1996, a South Korean TV show filming in Manhattan called and persuaded her to return to her country of origin, to appear in the South Korean TV drama A Gorgeous Vacation. This was followed by two other roles in Foreboding and the miniseries Wedding Dress. Then in 1997 she was offered a script for her debut film, Shiri (1999). Shiri was South Korea's first blockbuster film and became the highest grossing film in the history of Korean cinema in 1999.

Over the next several years, she starred in five additional films. In July 2003, Kim signed a three-year contract with William Morris, an American agency representing Hollywood stars such as Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, Kevin Spacey, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and Reese Witherspoon.

Kim can currently be seen as the character Sun-Hwa Kwon in the television series Lost.
In May 2006, Maxim named Kim #98 on its annual List. In October 2006 she was featured on the cover of Stuff, as well as a spread inside the magazine.

Kim appeared in Maxim again in March 2007, where she was described as "the Korean Julia Roberts" in her native Korea.

Kim won the 2008 Daejong Award's Lead Actress Award for "Seven Days (2007)" on June 27, 2008, in South Korea.

She also appeared in S.G. Wannabe's music video, "Timeless" opposite Kim Nam Jin.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Lee Da Hae








Lee Da Hae, in real name Byun Da-hye, is a South Korean actress who has appeared in a number of Korean television series and dramas such as My Girl and Green Rose.
She was born on April 19, 1984 in South Korea.

She and her family moved to Sydney, Australia, for five years, and graduated from Burwood Girls High School before debuting as an actress in Korea. She now lives with her mom in Seoul while her dad and brother still reside in Sydney, Australia.

Besides acting Lee Da Hae's other passion is traditional Korean dance, having performed many a time in front of small audiences in Australia.

Ha Ji-won








Ha Ji-won
was born on June 28, 1979 in South Korea. She is a South Korean actress. She is also the Grand Prize (Korean: 대상) winner of 2005 KBS Acting Awards for her performance in TV drama Hwang Jin-i.

Ha Ji-won started her career playing supporting roles in television productions.

In 2002, Ha Ji-won had her breakthrough role as the lead in the horror film Phone, earning her a best actress nomination at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Since then she has gone on to make films like the Sex Is Zero, Reversal of Fortune and more recently, 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant. She also began an attempt at a recording career in 2002, releasing a music album titled Homerun.

Ha Ji-Won has also starred in the TV series Something Happened in Bali in early 2004, co-starring Jo In-sung and So Ji-sub. In that project, she played tour guide Lee Soojung, who consequently attracted two men who she did not like. She won a Baek-Sang Best Actress Award for her performance in this drama.

Jun Ji-hyun








Jun Ji-hyun
also known as Gianna Jun, is a South Korean actress and model famous for her role in My Sassy Girl, Il Mare, and Windstruck.
Was born on October 30, 1981 in Seoul, South Korea.

Jun was born in Seoul, South Korea, and studied in the Department of Theater and Film at Dongguk University. She began her career as a fashion model for Echo Magazine in 1997 at the age of 16.

After appearing in a number of TV sitcoms, her movie debut came in White Valentine (1999). This was followed by a role in Il Mare (2000), which proved to be a success. An American remake of Il Mare, The Lake House, was released 14 June 2006. However, her biggest breakthrough was in My Sassy Girl (2001), a romantic comedy that went internationally well known, and won her a Best Actress award at the Daejong Film Festival in 2002. In 2004, she starred in the film Windstruck, a South Korean fantasy-romantic comedy which was directed by Kwak Jae-yong. The film was also another major success and was the 8th-highest grossing Korean film of 2004. In 2006, she was also in the movie Daisy. In 2008, she was also in the film A Man Who Was Superman.

Ji Hyun worked closely with CJ Entertainment, particularly with the distribution of Windstruck, The Uninvited, and A Man Who Was Superman.

In 2009, she made her English-language film debut when she starred as Saya in Blood: The Last Vampire, which was filmed in China and Argentina in March 2007. It is slated for a March 2009 release. During that time, she adopted the Westernised name Gianna Jun. The film was Jun's first official action film and was a "drastic" change in her image from previous films.

It was stated that Ji Hyun might possibly be working with Korean singer Rain in the near future for the drama, Four Seasons, which will be directed by Choi Moon-Seok. The project was conceived as early as 2008, however, because of a scheduling conflict, the project has been postponed.

Son Ye-jin










Son Ye-jin
was born on January 11, 1982 in Daegu, South Korea, she is a South Korean actress. After graduating from the Film Art Department at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, Son made her debut in the lead role of the MBC drama Delicious Proposal (Sweet Proposal) in 2001. Her big-screen debut came in Secret Tears (2000). In 2002 she won the 22nd Korean Federation of Film Critics "Best New Actress Award" for her role as Soo-In in Lover's Concerto (2002). Her moving acting in the movie The Classic (2003) earned her several other awards as well as international recogniton (see Awards). In 2008 she won "Best Leading Actress" for her role in My Wife Got Married at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

She is also noted for her acting roles in the 2003 KBS drama Summer Scent, co-starring Song Seung-hun and the 2006 SBS drama Alone in Love. She is very popular in Japan: two of her movies headed the Japanese list of the most popular Korean films there. In 2009, she will work in a teledrama "Into the White Night", based on a Japanese novel of the same title, under KBS. She will play her character's heartless girlfriend of character of Ko Soo.

Kim Jung-eun


















Kim Jung-eun
is a South Korean actress most popular and famous for her roles in Lovers in Paris and Marrying the Mafia. Known for her spunky, princess-like image, she admits to having been fat early in her life. She also declared openly that when she graduated from high school, her mother allowed her to have plastic surgery as a graduation gift. She is notable for her appearances in Korean television advertisements.

She was born on March 4, 1976 in Seoul, South Korea.

She is the former girlfriend of Lee Seo Jin, her partner in her drama, Lovers They broke up October 29, 2008.

Han Ji-hye








Han Ji-hye
is a South Korean actress and model. She was born in Gwangju, South KOrea on June 29, 1984. She made her debut in 2001 in dramas before taking up a lead role in Sweet 18. Born Lee Ji-hye, she used the stagename "Han Ji-hye" upon learning that her real name would cause confusion among fans with an older actress, Lena Lee, who has the same Korean name as Han.

Together with Song Seung-hun and Son Ye-jin, Han is noted for her role in the well-known KBS drama Summer Scent.

There has been speculation among fans that Han is Lee Dong-Gun's girlfriend, mostly based on the fact that they are frequently seen together in publicity photographs. Both of them vehemently deny this alleged relationship, but the couple was later confirmed when they announced it individually on their websites. They have since broken up.

Han Hyo-joo





















Han Hyo-joo
is a South Korean actress and model affiliated with Fantom Entertainment Group. She made her debut in the sitcom Nonstop 5.

She was born on February 22, 1987 in Cheongju, Chungbuk,South Korea.

She joined the ranks as a prominent Pan-Asian star due to the rising popularity of Spring Waltz (the fourth and final installment of Yoon Suk-ho's season drama series, following Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata and Summer Scent) in other Asian countries, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore.

The film called Ad-lib Night (a subtle drama by Lee Yoon-ki) follows a young single woman who rediscovers herself through an eerie overnight encounter with strangers. The film, in which she has the starring role, premiered in November 2006. She was then chosen for the title role in a daily soap opera called 하늘만큼 땅만큼 ("Like the Heavens, Like the Land), on KBS in January 2007.

Han Hyo-joo was then cast in the SBS drama Iljimae, which also stars Lee Jun Ki, Lee Young Ah, and Park Shi Hoo.

Her latest film, Ride Away, debuted in the Jeonju International Film Festival in 2008.

In 2009, Han Hyo-joo starred as the lead actress in the highly successful SBS drama, Shining Inheritance, along with Lee Seung Gi. The drama's popularity, with a peak viewership rating of 47.1% in South Korea, has increased her visibility in the Korean media and popularity as an entertainment personality. Since the drama's conclusion, she has experienced a sharp rise in interest for endorsement deals and media requests for interviews.

Following her success on Shining Inheritance, Han Hyo-joo was slated to assume the lead female role in the upcoming KBS2 drama, Chuno. However, she withdrew from the role prior to production allegedly due to issues relating to her management and salary.

Han Hyo-joo will also star in 2009's collaborative Korean-Japanese telecinema production, Heaven's Postman. The drama also features Kim Jaejoong from TVXQ.

Jang Nara








Jang Nara is a very popular Korean singer and actress. She also sings in Chinese and is known there by her Chinese name (traditional Chinese: 張娜拉, simplified Chinese: 张娜拉); (pinyin: Zhāng Nà Lā).

She was born in Seoul, South Korea on March 18, 1981.

As a child, Jang spent most of her childhood in her birthplace, Seoul, but appeared with her father in a play, Les Misérables, in her primary school days, thus sparking her interest to become an actress. Jang also went on to become an advertisement model for some television advertisements in her high school days before entering into the Department of Theater, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Chungang University in March 2000.

Jang moved into a singing career by signing up into SM Entertainment, however SM Entertainment had dropped Jang due to assumptions that Jang would have lesser or no popularity. Despite SM's opinion, Jang released her first album with the title song, "Burying My Face In Tears". The album sold 300,000 copies in the process. Her pop ballad style song, Confession and the April Story, was ranked at the top in various music charts. Thus, this resulted in Jang holding a 'Live' music TV programme in the MBC music camp.

Jang also has a successful acting career, in which she appears in a TV sitcom "New Nonstop" with famous Korean young stars such as Park Kyung-lim and Yang Dong Geun. Together with Jang Hyuk, she also played the leading role in a TV drama, "Successful Story of a Bright Girl", which recorded high audience rating.

In recent years, she starred in a drama in China, called "Bratty Princess". Being the lead actress, she has attracted much affection from Chinese-speaking fans and has become quite popular in Chinese-speaking countries in Asia.