| Kang Hye-jeong | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 4, 1982 Incheon, South Korea |
| Other names | Kang Hye-jung |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Spouse | Tablo (2009–present) |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 강혜정 |
| Hanja | 姜惠貞 |
| Revised Romanization | Gang Hye-jeong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kang Hye-chŏng |
Kang Hye-jeong (Hangul: 강혜정; born January 4, 1982) is a South Korean actress.
Contents |
Kang Hye-jung 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 Nonstop 3. 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.[1]
Kang's first major hit film was opposite Choi Min-shik in the modern-day classic Oldboy 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.[1]
It was in 2005, however, that Kang established herself as a star outside of her appearance in Oldboy. The sharp-edged relationship drama Rules of Dating, in which she starred opposite Park Hae-il, proved to be an unexpected hit, and then two months later she took a small but central role in box office megahit Welcome to Dongmakgol.[1][2]
In 2006 she starred in Love Phobia opposite then-boyfriend Jo Seung-woo, as well as the Thai film Invisible Waves by rising directorial star Pen-ek Ratanaruang.[1]
Famous for taking risky, unconventional roles, Kang little by little started going off the predictable path that the public expected her to take. She starred in melodramas and romantic comedies -- Love Phobia, Herb, Kiss Me, Kill Me and Why Did You Come to My House? -- while still giving those roles her trademark quirkiness. In Girlfriends, she played an ordinary twenty-something woman who goes through growing pains and lovelife troubles.[3][4] Kang has said that this career shift reflects the limited number of interesting scripts that she receives, as well as her calmer, softer state of mind after settling down.[5]
In 2010 Kang made her stage debut in Proof, playing the role of Catherine, who worries about whether she has inherited all of her mathematician father’s genius and lunacy.[6]
After making the little-seen 2007 KBS drama Flowers for My Life with Cha Tae-hyun,[7] Kang returned to television in 2011 in MBC's Miss Ripley, a tale of one woman (Lee Da-hae) who spins a web of love, ambition and lies.[8][9][10] Originally touted as a drama with four lead roles, Kang later expressed dismay and disappointment with her drastically reduced screen time.[11]
Kang made her English-language debut in the culture-clash romantic comedy Wedding Palace. Director Christine Yoo reportedly cast Kang after her distinctly Korean beauty in Oldboy and Welcome to Dongmakgol grabbed Yoo's attention.[12] Shot over a one year period between October 2008 through November 2009,[13] the US-Korea co-production premiered at the 2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival[14] and received the Independent Feature Filmmakers Award at the 2011 Cine Gear Expo.[15]
She dated Love Phobia costar Jo Seung-woo for three years;[16] the high-profile couple broke up in 2007.[17]
On October 26, 2009, while three months pregnant,[18] Kang married Tablo of hip hop group Epik High.[19] The couple's first child, a daughter, was born on May 2, 2010.[20] Her agency YG Entertainment and Tablo announced on the same day that both mother and child are healthy.[21]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||