Lee Mi-sook

Lee Mi-sook (b. Apr. 2, 1960) first debuted in film at the age of twenty in Thoughtless Momo in 1979. By the mid-1980s she had became one of the best-known actresses of her era, together with Lee Bo-hee and Won Mi-kyung. Her most famous films from this era include Bae Chang-ho’s Whale Hunting and That Winter Was Warm, Lee Doo-yong’s Bbong and Eunuch, and Kwak Ji-kyun’s 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 E J-yong’s 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.

In 2000 Lee was cast in the high profile project The Legend of Gingko, which was considered to be production company Kang Jegyu Film’s followup to the successful Shiri (even though Kang himself was not directing). However the film proved to be a critial and commercial disappointment. Lee’s next two films, Besame Mucho and Oh! Lala Sisters, were also more or less ignored by audiences. In contrast, her appearances in TV dramas such as Solitude (2002) were more successful.

However 2003 was one of Lee’s best years, with her highly praised role in E J-yong’s Untold Scandal, a retelling of the novel Dangerous Liasions, and her role as a single mother in Lee Eon-hee’s well-received melodrama …ing.

taken from : http://www.koreanfilm.org

Baek Yoon-shik

Baek Yoon-shik (b. March 16, 1947) made his debut in 1970 on KBS TV. In the coming years he would appear in four films, taking lead roles in his debut Excellent Guys and in romantic comedy Only With You with Seo Mi-kyung, a young star of the time. He also studied in the film and theater department at Chung-Ang University’s graduate school.

Nonetheless, his film career appeared to end in the 1970s and he became known thereafter as a TV actor. In the late 1990s and early 2000s he attained a certain degree of visibility in TV dramas such as Moon Over Seoul (1994, with Han Suk-kyu and Choi Min-shik) and Jang Hee-bin (2002, with Kim Hye-soo).

Lee Na-young

The public persona of Lee Na-young (b. February 22, 1979) is interesting for its contradictions. She is most famous, perhaps, as Korea’s quintessential cosmetics model. Only top-ranked models are able to get anywhere near cosmetics ads, and she is considered to have one of the most beautiful and idealized faces in Korea.

She has played off this image to a certain extent in her appearances on TV dramas. Her debut was in the SBS drama Queen in 1998, the same year she started her modeling career. In the coming years she would appear in a number of popular dramas, including Have We Really Loved? (1999) with Bae Yong-joon, KAIST (2000), the critically acclaimed Ruler of Your Own World (2002), and Ireland (2004).

Cho Seung-woo

Cho Seung-woo (b. March 28, 1980) grew up in a musical family: his father Cho Kyung-soo is a singer, and his older sister Cho Seo-yeon acts in musicals. Cho himself also dreamed of becoming a musical actor from an early age, however in 1999 while a student at Dankook University he was persuaded to join auditions for Im Kwon-taek’s film Chunhyang, and he ended up winning the part from among a field of 1000 actors. Chunhyang would screen as the first Korean film in competition at Cannes, although domestically it failed to attract much of an audience.

Cho did go on to appear in musicals after his film debut, acting in local productions Subway Line 1 and The Last Empress. Soon he was drawn back into the film industry, however, with a key supporting role in Wanee and

Kim Suna

Kim Suna (b. October 1, 1975) was born in Daegu and then spent much of her school years in Tokyo. After first appearing in a music video by Kim Hyun-cheol, she started appearing often on TV but did not emerge as a star. She would first become well known as a film actress, debuting in the big-budget box office failure Yesterday but going on to play a lead role as a student teacher in the unexpected hit Wet Dreams.

Following this, Kim began to establish a niche for herself in comedies, often appearing as a straight-talking and not particularly demure comic heroine. She appeared in three films in 2003: a memorable cameo appearance in the period comedy Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield, opposite Im Chang-jung in the strong hit The Greatest Expectation, and together with Cha Tae-hyun in the little-watched Happy Naked Christmas. In 2004 she took the lead role in S Diary as a jilted woman who decides to get revenge on her ex-boyfriends.

Bae Yong-joon

Bae Yong-joon (b. August 29, 1972) spent the first nine years of his show biz career in TV dramas, gradually building up a tremendous fan base across Asia, and particularly in Japan, that has made him one of Korea’s most famous stars. His debut came in the 1994 TV drama Love Greeting, and from 1995 to 2002 he went on to appear in nine more TV dramas. Have We Really Loved? (1999), Hotelier (2001) and especially Winter Sonata (2002) gave him tremendous exposure throughout Asia. In Japan in particular, Winter Sonata enjoyed unprecedented popular success, particularly among middle-aged women. Bae was subsequently dubbed with the honorific nickname “Yonsama”, and became the most famous Korean star in Japan. Japanese prime minister Koizumi even joked, perhaps not untruthfully, that Bae’s popularity had outstripped his own.

Son Ye-jin

Son Ye-jin (b. January 11, 1982) has taken on a variety of roles in her career to date, propelling her to fame both in Korea and in other Asian countries. She first appeared in a supporting role in Park Ki-hyung’s film Secret Tears in 2000, and then went on to take the lead in TV dramas such as Delicious Proposal, Sunhee Jinhee, and Daemang: Great Ambition. Her first high-profile role in cinema was in Im Kwon-taek’s Chihwaseon, which screened at Cannes and took home a Best Director award in 2002.

The biggest success of her early career was in the subsequent films Lovers Concerto and The Classic. Both were solid mid-level hits in Korea, and The Classic in particular — being a work of My Sassy Girl director Kwak Jae-yong — received wide exposure in countries such as Hong Kong and China.

Gang Hye-jung

Gang Hye-jung (b. January 4, 1982) began working as a model in her first year of high school, and throughout the late 1990s she appeared in small roles in TV dramas and sitcoms such as Jump and Non-Stop III. Her first film role was in Moon Seung-wook’s arthouse/sci-fi film Nabi, for which she won a Best Actress award at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. Following this she appeared in a short film by Song Il-gon titled Flash as well as an internet film Naebang-nebang.

Gang’s first major hit film was opposite Choi Min-shik in the modern-day classic Old Boy by Park Chan-wook. Her portrayal of the character Mido won her considerable attention both domestically and abroad, and she also picked up acting honors from the Grand Bell Awards and Pusan Film Critics Association. The following year she also appeared in Cut, Park Chan-wook’s 30-minute contribution to the omnibus horror film Three… Extremes.

Jung Jae-young

Jung Jae-young (b. November 21, 1970) started his career taking minor roles in films ranging from his debut The Adventures of Mrs. Park to Green Fish, The Quiet Family, and Die Bad. However throughout this period he was primarily occupied with works by director/playright Jang Jin, both on the stage and in minor roles for the films The Happenings and The Spy.

Jung’s first prominent film role came in Jang Jin’s third film Guns & Talks, where he played one member of the film’s central quartet of assassins. Shortly after that he turned in a memorable performance as a ruthless, cruel-minded hustler in Ryoo Seung-wan’s No Blood No Tears. Around this time he began to be associated in audience’s minds with tough, intense, masculine characters who would start a fight at the slightest provocation. His role as a death row convict turned soldier in the record-breaking Silmido marked the height of this stage of his career.

Moon Geun-young

Moon Geun-young (b. May 6, 1987), through a combination of excellent acting skills and a sweet, innocent-looking manner, became a superstar in Korea long before she turned twenty. Moon first started modeling at the age of 12, and then in 2000 appeared in the docu-drama On the Road by artist Choi Jae-eun. That same year she appeared as the younger Song Hye-gyo in the hugely successful TV drama Autumn Fairy Tale, which was exported throughout Asia. She then played the younger version of Lee Mi-yeon’s character in the KBS drama The Last Empress.

Moon’s first appearance in a film was in a supporting role as Cha Tae-hyun’s younger sister in Lovers Concerto (2002). It would be the following year that she would be launched as a major star, however, with her role in Kim