Han Hyo Joo

Han Hyo-joo was born in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Her mother was an elementary school teacher before becoming an inspector for public schools, and her father was an air force officer. As a child, she was good in sports, particularly track and field. In her sophomore year of high school, she moved to Seoul and attended Bulgok High School, despite the objections of her strict and conservative father. She then entered Dongguk University, where she joined the theater and film department.

Han Hyo-Joo's commercial break-out role came with her performance in the popular 2009 SBS drama series “Brilliant Legacy,” alongside actor/singer Lee Seung-Ki. The drama series, mixing a healthy dose of Korean melodrama with a Charles Dickens' “Great Expectations” like storyline, captured the attention of Koreans throughout the summer of 2009. “Brilliant Legacy”regularly received ratings in excess of 40% and catapulted Han Hyo-Joo as one of the more popular young actresses in Korea. With her popularity, media reports and gossip magazines began to speculate on who Han Hyo-Joo was dating. In 2010, Han Hyo-Joo branched out of her comfort zone and took the lead role in the MBC historical drama series “Dong Yi”.

In 2003, Han Hyo-Ju won the grand prize for the Miss Bing-geure contest, which attracted the attention from the entertainment world (Bing-geure is a Korean food company). In 2005, Han Hyo-Ju received her first acting roles in the MBC sitcom “Nonstop 5” and the movie “My Boss, My Teacher”. Her debut performances went largely unnoticed. In 2006 Han Hyo-Ju received her first leading role in the KBS2 drama “Spring Waltz”. Director Yun Seok-Ho of “Spring Waltz” stated that he first got the idea to cast Han Hyo-Joo after browsing the Internet and coming across her picture. Yun Seok-Ho felt she still held the purity of a child and a sense of mysteriousness which suited her character well. Han Hyo-Joo also stated that working on “Spring Waltz” was difficult, largely due to her inexperience in acting. Han Hyo-Joo's first leading performance in a feature film came with the 2006 independent film “Ad Lib Night,” helmed by well-regarded director Lee Yoon-Ki. Han Hyo-Joo's experience working on “Ad Lib Night” went far more smoothly than her first leading role in a drama series. Han Hyo-Joo recalled that the one month shoot seemed to zoom by and wished it could have lasted longer. Her performance was enthusiastically received by critics and Han Hyo-Joo received “Best Actress” awards from the 26th Korean Movie Critics Organization and the 20th Singapore International Film Festival.