Kang Hye-Jung

Kang Hye-jung (born January 4, 1982) is a South Korean actress. Kang first gained acting recognition for her role in the arthouse film Nabi (2001), then two years later, she shot to stardom in 2003 through Park Chan-wook's revenge thriller Oldboy. She continued giving risky performances in the next several years which drew further critical acclaim, notably in Han Jae-rim's relationship drama Rules of Dating (2005), and Park Kwang-hyun's Korean War comedy Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005). In recent years, Kang has starred in more conventional melodramas such as Herb (2007) and Girlfriends (2009), which have been less successful with audiences and critics. Career 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 Flush as well as an internet film Naebang-nebang. Kang's first major hit film was opposite Choi Min-sik in the modern-day classic Oldboy by Park Chan-wook. Her portrayal of the character Mi-do 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's 30-minute contribution to the omnibus horror film Three... Extremes. 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. In a 2005 survey of influential movie producers, she was ranked among the top ten most bankable stars. 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. After playing the developmentally disabled daughter to veteran actress Bae Jong-ok in the 2007 melodrama Herb, in 2009 Kang starred in two unconventional romantic comedies with roles she imbued with her trademark quirkiness. She said she chose Why Did You Come to My House? hoping to "expand the realms" of her lovelorn stalker character; the director said she had written the script with Kang in mind from the beginning. In Kiss Me, Kill Me, she played a woman who, after several failed suicide attempts, hires a professional assassin (Shin Hyun-joon) to kill her, but he falls in love with her instead. Known for taking risky roles, Kang gradually started going off the predictable path that the public expected her to take. In Girlfriends, she played an ordinary twenty-something girl who goes through growing pains and lovelife troubles when she discovers that her boyfriend is also involved with two other women. Kang 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. Personal life She dated Love Phobia costar Jo Seung-woo for three years; the high-profile couple broke up in 2007. On October 26, 2009, Kang married Tablo of hip-hop group Epik High while she was three months pregnant. The couple's first child, a daughter named Haru, was born on May 2, 2010.