Long before the world was swamped by K-drama fame, one actress led the way with her unforgettable works in the 1990s. Kim Hyun-joo began her acting career with the TV drama The Reason I Live (1997), followed by the romcom If It Snows on Christmas (1998) alongside the late Park Yong-ha.
This year, the 44-year-old actress returns with a bang in Netflix’s much-anticipated drama-fantasy Hellbound, starring Yoo Ah-in, who portrays a cult leader, and Park Jeong-min, who plays a broadcasting station PD. The series will be released in 190 countries on November 19th, and it has already premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Kim began her modelling career as a young model in high school. She later appeared in Kim Hyun-Lifetime chul’s One’s music video before making her television debut. It took her a few years to find a breakthrough part, but she finally stole the show in the Cinderella-esque romcom Glass Slippers (2002), co-starring Kim Ji-ho and Han Jae-suk. In 2004, she charmed viewers once again in the classic Ms. Kim’s Million Dollar Quest and the big-budget period drama Toji, the Land. Kim’s popularity has grown over the previous decade, thanks to top-rated K-dramas such as Twinkle Twinkle (2011), What Happens to My Family (2014), and I Have a Lover (2015). (2015).
Kim has collaborated with fellow actress Ji Jin-hee in I Have a Lover and JTBC’s Undercover earlier this year, after their spectacular debut in Ms. Kim’s Million Dollar Quest. In an interview with Korea Times, her favourite co-star admitted that he was initially concerned about returning for the third time with Kim because he was concerned that “viewers would feel bored,” but he finally “felt free from such anxiety” and added, “that’s how much trust I have in her.”
