Yunjin Kim

Yunjin Kim
Kim in 2022
Born
Kim Yun-jin

(1973-11-07) November 7, 1973 (age 51)
Seoul, South Korea[1]
Citizenship
  • South Korea
  • United States[2]
EducationBoston University (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1996–present
AgentZion Entertainment
Spouse
Park Jeong-hyeok
(m. 2010)
Korean name
Hangul
김윤진
Revised RomanizationGim Yunjin
McCune–ReischauerKim Yunjin

Yunjin Kim (born November 7, 1973) is an American actress.[3][4][5] She is best known for her role as North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film Shiri (1999) and Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series Lost (2004–2010). Her other notable works include Seven Days (2007), Harmony (2010), The Neighbors (2012), and Ode to My Father (2014).

Early life

[edit]

Kim was born in Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea.[1] She emigrated to the United States with her family in 1983–1984.[6] 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 BFA degree in drama at Boston University. Kim has remarked that in her zeal to become Americanized quickly, she studied acting, academics and pronunciation with equal intensity.[citation needed] She is also a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.[7]

Career

[edit]

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 1997, she starred in Splendid Holiday, a Korean TV drama shot on location in New York. Kim decided to return to Korea. She was cast in the TV drama Wedding Dress and was also invited to act in Lee Kwangmo's feature Spring in My Hometown, although she ended up not taking this role.[citation needed] Her breakthrough debut came in the 1999 film Shiri, South Korea's first blockbuster film. Shiri became the highest-grossing film in Korean history at the time. In November 2000, she continued her association with Kang Je-gyu in The Legend of Gingko.

After acting in a Japanese film and a feature set in Los Angeles, Kim appeared in the sci-fi feature Yesterday. Then in 2002, Kim took the lead role in Ardor, the feature film debut of documentarist Byun Young-ju. The film was invited to screen in a non-competitive section at the 2003 Berlin film festival.

In 2004, Kim started appearing in the U.S. television series Lost, which ran for six seasons.

In May 2006, Maxim named Kim number 98 on its annual Hot 100 List.[8] In October 2006 she was featured on the cover of Stuff, as well as an inside spread.

Kim in 2011

In 2013, she had a leading role in the ABC drama series Mistresses.[9]

Kim in 2015

In 2018, Kim returned to Korean television by headlining the series Ms. Ma, Nemesis.[10]

In 2022, she starred as Seon Woo-jin in the Korean remake of Money Heist, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.

In 2023, she acted as Principal Jina Lim in revolutionary English-Korean Netflix TV Series, XO, Kitty.

Personal life

[edit]

Kim married her former manager Park Jeong-hyeok in March 2010 on the island of Oahu, after shooting her final scenes for Lost.[11]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1999 Shiri Lee Myung-hyun / Lee Bang-hee
2000 The Legend of Gingko Yeon
2001 Rush! Seo-yeong
2002 Iron Palm Ji-ni
Yesterday Kim Hisu / No Hisu
Ardor Mi-heun
2005 Diary of June Seo Yun-hee
2007 Mother
2008 Seven Days Yoo Ji-yeon
2010 Harmony Jeong-hye
2011 Heartbeat Chae Yeon-hee
2012 The Neighbors Kyung-hee
2014 Ode to My Father Young-ja
2017 House of the Disappeared Kang Mi-hee
2020 Pawn Myung-ja Special appearance
2022 Confession Yang Shin-ae [12]
2024 Dog Days Jeong-ah [13][14]

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1996 Splendid Holiday
1997 Foreboding Jang Se-young
1998 Wedding Dress Drama Gina
1999 Love in 3 Colors Jang Hee-ju
2004–2010 Lost Sun-Hwa Kwon
2013–2016 Mistresses Karen Kim
2018 Ms. Ma, Nemesis Ms. Ma / Ma Ji Won
2022 Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area Seon Woo-jin Part 1–2 [15][16]
2023 XO, Kitty Principal Jina Lim
2024 Station 19 Jeonghee Lee Episode "Ushers of the New World"

Video games

[edit]
Year Title Voice role Ref.
2007 Lost: Via Domus Sun-Hwa Kwon
2012 Sleeping Dogs Tiffany Kim

Accolades

[edit]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipient Result
1999 35th Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actress (Film) Shiri Nominated
36th Grand Bell Awards Best New Actress Won
19th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Won
22nd Golden Cinematography Awards Won
20th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best New Actress Nominated
2000 21st Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Supporting Actress The Legend of Gingko Nominated
2002 23rd Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Leading Actress Milae Won
5th Director's Cut Awards Best Actress Won
7th Women Viewers Film Awards [ko] Won
2003 40th Grand Bell Awards Nominated
2nd Korean Film Awards Nominated
39th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress (Film) Nominated
2006 Asian Excellence Awards Outstanding Television Actress Lost Won
12th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Won
2007 28th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Dresser Award Won
2008 2nd Asian Film Awards Best Actress Seven Days Nominated
44th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress (Film) Nominated
45th Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Won
5th Max Movie Awards Won
29th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Leading Actress Nominated
7th Korean Film Awards Best Actress Nominated
2009 35th Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actress Lost Nominated
2010 47th Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Harmony Nominated
31st Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Leading Actress Nominated
2015 52nd Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Ode to My Father Nominated
8th Seoul Senior Citizen Movie Awards Movie in couple Award (with Hwang Jung-min) Won
2017 2017 Korean Film Shining Star Awards Star Award House of the Disappeared Won
1st The Seoul Awards Best Actress Nominated
2018 SBS Drama Awards[17] Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Daily and Weekend Drama Ms. Ma, Nemesis Nominated
2023 43rd Korean Association of Film Critics Awards[18] Newcomer Criticism Award Won

Listicles

[edit]
Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement
Publisher Year Listicle Rank Ref.
The Screen 2009 1984–2008 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies 32nd [19]
2019 2009–2019 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies 34th [20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b 김윤진 (Kim Yun-jin). Cinefox (씨네폭스) (in Korean). Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  2. ^ Park, Hae-na (April 26, 2019). [단독] "대한민국 배우"라던 월드스타 김윤진, 국적은 '미국' : 네이버 포스트. Hankook Biz (in Korean). Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  3. ^ "Actress Kim in Lost as Sun". July 17, 2013. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  4. ^ William Keck (January 15, 2006). "Actress Kim gets 'Lost' in generous gifts, jewels". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  5. ^ Jae-Ha Kim (April 13, 2005). "Asian stars are rising – Latest TV breakthroughs look like the real deal". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  6. ^ Todd Gilchrist (August 29, 2006). "Interview: Yunjin Kim". IGN Entertainment, Inc. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  7. ^ "Yunjin Kim Pictures, Blog, Interviews, News, Trivia, Yunjin Kim Biography". Buddytv.com. November 7, 1973. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  8. ^ "2006 Hot 100 List". Archived from the original on February 2, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  9. ^ Matt Webb Mitovich Lost's Yunjin Kim Finds Role on ABC's Mistresses Archived March 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, TVLine, March 16, 2012
  10. ^ "Yunjin Kim hopes 'Ms. Ma, Goddess of Revenge' becomes her best Korean TV series". Yonhap News Agency. March 17, 2018. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  11. ^ "Lost's Yunjin Kim gets married in Hawaii". CNN. March 30, 2010. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
  12. ^ Lee Mi-ji (April 22, 2022). 소지섭X김윤진 '자백', 제24회 우디네 극동영화제 폐막작 선정(공식) [So Ji-sub X Kim Yun-jin's 'Confession' selected as the closing film of the 24th Udine Far East Film Festival (official)] (in Korean). Herald Pop. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Naver.
  13. ^ Kim Na-ra (April 28, 2022). 도그데이즈', 크랭크업...윤여정 "웃음+공감 있는 영화" [공식] [Dog Days', crank up... Yoon Yeo-jeong "Laughter + Sympathetic Movie" [Official]] (in Korean). My Daily. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022 – via Naver.
  14. ^ Jo Ji-young (January 2, 2024). [공식] 윤여정X유해진 '도그데이즈' 2월 7일 개봉 확정..설날 극장 정조준. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  15. ^ Kim Na-young (March 31, 2021). 한국판 '종이의 집', 유지태·김윤진→박해수·전종서·김지훈 출연 확정 (공식). MKSports (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  16. ^ Lee Min-ji (April 29, 2022). '종이의 집:공동경제구역' 6월 24일 파트1 공개, 하회탈 선택[공식] [House of Paper: Common Economic Zone' Part 1 released on June 24, Hahoe Mask Selection [Official]] (in Korean). Newsen. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022 – via Naver.
  17. ^ Kim, Soo-hyung (January 1, 2019). 베스트커플→대상" 감우성♥김선아, 노련美로 완성한 '무진커플'의 위력 [2018 SBS 연기대상] [Best Couple → Daesang" Gam Woo-sung ♥ Kim Seon-ah, the power of 'Mujin Couple' completed with expert beauty [2018 SBS Drama Awards]] (in Korean). OSEN [ko]. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2022 – via Naver.
  18. ^ Yang, So-young (September 4, 2023). 김서형 류준열, 영평상 주연상 받는다...작품상은 '다음 소희 [Kim Seo-hyung Ryu Jun-yeol, Youngpyeong Award for Best Actor... 'Next Sohee' for Best Picture] (in Korean). Star Today. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023 – via Naver.
  19. ^ "1984~2008 한국영화 배우 흥행 파워 50" [1984–2008 Top Box Office Powerhouse Actors in Korean Movies]. thescreen.co.kr. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  20. ^ 한국영화 배우 흥행 파워 TOP 배우 하정우 그러나 TOP 10위 안에 여성 배우는 실종...여성 주연 영화 부재가 원인 [Korean movie actor box office power TOP actor Ha Jung-woo but the female actor in the top 10 is missing... Due to the absence of female-starred films]. RNX (in Korean). January 2, 2020. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
[edit]