Kim Hyunjoo was at the center of attention when young stars poured out and dominated TV dramas in the 1990s. Having vaguely admired celebrities, she began to stand in front of cameras when she happened to have a chance to appear in music videos when she was a high school senior. Kim Hyunjoo rose to stardom at a rapid pace and is an uncommon type of actor who has maintained the position for a long time. Becoming known in earnest in 1998 by winning the New Actress awards from both SBS and MBC for Love You Love You and I Don’t Know Anything But Love, Kim enjoyed her heydays starring in TV series with her stable acting skills and cute and emotional image. Without being trapped in youth dramas, Kim Hyunjoo’s expansion was great from period dramas to family dramas and costume dramas, all of which were popularly successful, and her acting skills were recognized through them: Virtue (2000), Her House (2001), Sangdo, Merchants of Joseon (2001), and so on. Considering that Kim Hyunjoo was in her early 20s, it is surprising that the young actor led the works as the main characters in such a broad spectrum of dramas.

Although her filmography is unbiased, Glass Slippers (2002) and Marrying a Millionaire show Kim Hyunjoo’s expertise best. Kim is an actor who embodied a woman perfectly, the character born with a dirt spoon went through a hard time in a harsh environment but toughed out the adversity with a strong will to live instead of a complex. This bright image is Kim Hyunjoo’s own vibe that the public loved the most. In the movie world, she made a debut with the film If It Snows on Christmas (1998), and in 2003, she appeared in Star Runner directed by Daniel Lee, a joint venture with Hong Kong, and performed with Vanness Wu.

After running nonstop, Kim Hyunjoo has reduced the number of her works since she was in her 30s. As an actor famous for having a sharp batting eye for work choices, she shows her acting talents that never let down the public in all her works. Especially in I Have a Lover (2015), she pulled off nearly 4 characters alone, winning the Best Actress at the SBS Drama Awards and the APAN Star Awards. Recently, she appeared in the genre drama series Watcher (2019) and Undercover (2020), expanding her acting spectrum and solidifying her position as a drama queen. Kim Hyunjoo’s next film is Netflix Original Series Hellbound and Netflix Original SF Film Jung Yi (Working title). Expectations are high on what synergy Kim Hyunjoo will create with Director Yeon Sangho, who directed the two films, and if she can rise to take the tile of the Netflix drama queen, too. Kim Hyungseok