Jeon Do-yeon

This is a Korean name; the family name is Jeon.
Jeon Do-yeon
Born February 11, 1973 (1973-02-11) (age 39)
Seoul, South Korea
Years active 1990–present
Spouse Kang Shi-kyu (2007-present)
Korean name
Hangul 전도연
Hanja 全度妍
Revised Romanization Jeon Do-yeon
McCune–Reischauer Chŏn Toyŏn

Jeon Do-yeon (전도연) (born February 11, 1973) is a highly-acclaimed South Korean actress who has won many awards including best actress at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[1] She is most famous for her extraordinary portrayal of a broken woman who has lost everything in Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine.

Contents

Career

Jeon Do-yeon spent five years starring in television dramas before achieving instant star status with her film debut opposite Han Suk-kyu in The Contact. She went on to establish a reputation as a "chameleon" who can take on a wide variety of roles, from her performance as a doctor in the hit melodrama A Promise, to that of a schoolgirl in The Harmonium in My Memory to that of a wife having an adulterous affair in Happy End. In 1999 and 2000 she received a Best Actress award from both the Blue Dragon and the Grand Bell awards for her role in The Harmonium in My Memory.[2]

In 2001 she very skillfully played a very ordinary bank teller in Park Heung-shik's debut I Wish I Had a Wife. After starring as the tough-talking "Sunglasses" in Ryu Seung-wan's No Blood No Tears, Jeon spent time acting in a TV drama titled Shoot for the Stars. In 2003 she found box-office success in E J-yong's Untold Scandal, based on the famous French novel Dangerous Liaisons. The following year she reunited with director Park Heung-shik in a dual role for the time-bending melodrama My Mother, the Mermaid.[2]

In 2005 Jeon burst back into the limelight playing a prostitute who contracts AIDS in Park Jin-pyo's hard-hitting melodrama You're My Sunshine. The performance helped turn the film into a box-office hit (3 million+ admissions), and also won her yet more additions to her collection of local acting awards.[2] She then returned to television in Lovers in Prague which depicts the love story between the president's daughter and an ordinary detective; the drama averaged over 27 percent viewer ratings.[3] It is rare for a movie and a drama with the same leading actor or actress to become major hits at the same time, but Jeon managed to pull both roles off perfectly without causing any confusion in the audience.[4]

But it was her role in Lee Chang-dong's Secret Sunshine in 2007 that would see her emerge in full glory. Although the film itself, which debuted at Cannes, evoked widely differing assessments from international critics, Jeon's performance was universally praised, and indeed she was presented with a Best Actress award by the Cannes jury -- the first Korean ever to receive an acting award at Cannes.[2][5]

After making the charming, laidback road movie My Dear Enemy post Cannes,[6] Jeon gave birth to a daughter and rested for a while. In 2010 she reiterated her status as Korea's premier A-list actress, headlining the controversial remake The Housemaid.[7]

Jeon next stars in Countdown, a caper movie which tells the story of Cha Ha-yeon, a female con artist who risks her life for ten days for a final deal with cold-hearted debt collector Tae Gun-ho (played by Jung Jae-young).[8][9][10] Countdown premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[11]

Although not as broadly popular with audiences as some other stars, Jeon is widely respected for her acting abilities, and many young actresses cite her as a role model.[2]

Filmography

TV Dramas

Theater

Music video

The Name (The Name, 2002) - Co-starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Ryu Seung-beom.

Commercials and Print Ads

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b "Festival de Cannes: Secret Sunshine". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4435113/year/2007.html. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema. Koreanfilm.org.
  3. ^ Drama Looks for Love in Prague. Korea Times. September 14, 2005.
  4. ^ Jeon Do-yeon's multiple hits stem from passion for acting. Korea Herald. September 29, 2005.
  5. ^ Interview with Jeon Do-yeon. CNN. October 9, 2007.
  6. ^ Jeon Do-yeon on Pregnancy, Post-Cannes Film. Korea Times. September 21, 2008.
  7. ^ Korea’s Queen of Cannes is back. Reuters. April 26, 2010.
  8. ^ Cannes Winner Jeon Hopes 'Countdown' a Commercial Hit. Chosun Ilbo. October 1, 2011.
  9. ^ Interview: Actress Jeon Do-youn - Part 1. 10Asia. October 21, 2011.
  10. ^ Interview: Actress Jeon Do-youn - Part 2. 10Asia. October 21, 2011.
  11. ^ Korean pic "Countdown" announced as part of 1st lineup for TIFF. 10Asia. July 27, 2011.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Miki Nakatani
for Memories of Matsuko		 Asian Film Award for Best Actress
2008
for Secret Sunshine		 Succeeded by
Zhou Xun
for The Equation of Love and Death