SONG HYE KYO

KOREAN STARS

SONG HYE KYO

PROFILE

Name: 송혜교 / Song Hye Kyo (Song Hye Gyo)

English name: Lorraine Song

Nicknames: Woodpecker, Hejgyo, Yookgyo, Hakkyo

Profession: Actress and model

Birthdate: 1982-Feb-26

Birthplace: South Korea

Height: 161cm

Weight: 45kg

Star sign: Sagittarius

Blood type: A

Talent agency: eden9

Education: Sook Myung Women’s Junior High School, Eun Kwang Women’s

High School, Se Jong University (Arts major)

Hobbies: Shopping, watching movies, listen to music, stitching-knitting and

perfumes collecting

Debut: 1996 SunKyung Smart (school uniform brand) model search Grand Prize winner, 1996 KBS 

Sunday morning drama, Happy Morning , She is a former figure skater

Song Hye-Kyo made her debut as a model, becoming the winner of a school uniform model competition at the age of 14. She then played the character of a cute and clumsy student in the SBS hit sitcom "Sunpong

Sanbuingwa " (1998), but failed to make a lasting impression among fans. Song finally made it big starring in KBS2 ' " Autumn in my Heart " with Song Seung-Heon in 2000 and "All In " with Lee Byung-Hun in 2003. The dramas' popularity soared not only in Korea, but also abroad including Japan, Taiwan and Europe, and Song finally became one of "Korea's sweethearts." Although Song Hye-Kyo's big-screen career has not met as much commercial success she is not afraid take on new challenges. She appeared in the U.S. horror film "Make Yourself at Home " in 2008 and was going to appear in the Chinese film "1949 ," but the movie was canceled by director John Woo .

She dated Hyun-Bin , her co-star from Worlds Within...... . Not romantically involved during filming, the two had kept in touch after the drama ended and they started dating in June 2009. Hyun Bin's being away for the filming of Friend, Our Legend in Busan reportedly made the two realize they were in love.

On March 8, 2011, both Hyun and Song's talent agencies confirmed that they have broken up in early 2011.

In 2011 she filmed the movie La Quotidienne which will be released later in the year. The film is about a documentary producer who loses her fiancé and a deserted genius girl. Song Hye Kyo has been considered Korea's most beautiful woman. In 2010 she was ranked #18 in The Annual Independent Critics List  of the 

100 Most Beautiful Faces.

Notes

1. Read Q&A for movie "A Reason To Live " with Song Hye-Kyo, Nam Ji-Hyun and

director Lee Jeong-Hyang (from movie's press conference at the 2011 Busan

International Film Festival).

Career

Song debuted in the entertainment industry in 1996 when she won the Grand Prize in SunKyung Smart 

(a school uniform company) when she was finishingher third year in junior high school. It was not long until she starred in her first drama , Merry Morning. Since then, she would continue to star in a string of various dramas and sitcoms but it wasn't until the KBS drama Autumn in My Heart in 2000 with Song Seung-hun and Won Bin that she rose to fame throughout Asia.

In 2003, her popularity continued to climb when she played a leading role alongside Lee Byung-hun in the gambling drama All In . The following year, she co-starred with singer Rain in the hit romantic comedy series 

Full House . After the pan-Asian success of Full House , she made her big-screen debut in My Girl and I (a Korean adaptation of Crying Out Love in the Center of the World), which was panned by audiences and critics alike. Vocal about her dissatisfaction with typecasting in the roles she was being offered, Song

went on a 2-year hiatus.

She returned to acting in 2007, as the titular kisaeng in the film adaptation of Hwang Jin Yi. Because they found Song's image "too cute", Jun Ji-hyun and Soo Ae were the producers' original choices for the role, but Song went

on a vigorous diet and surprised them with her will and desire to be Hwang Jini . A year later, she made her American debut in the Hollywood indie Make Yourself at Home (formerly titled Fetish), a psychological thriller about a girl who was born to a shaman mother and tries to flee her fate by becoming an immigrant bride in the U.S. Despite Song’s attempts to challenge herself, both films underwhelmed at the box office.  She made her TV comeback in late 2008 with The World That They Live In, a series set at a broadcast station in which Song and Hyun Bin play drama PDs who work together and fall in love. 

In 2010, she starred in Camellia , an omnibus pic made up of three feature films directed by three Asian directors. Each episode is set in the past, present and future of the city of Busan , Korea. In the film's final segment Love for Sale , Song and Kang Dong-won play former lovers who forget their memories about each other which later leads them to a fatal destiny.  Considered one of Korea's most beautiful women,  in early 2011

Song released the photobook Song Hye-kyo's Moment which was shot by top photographers in Atlanta, New York, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Paris, the Netherlands and Brazil.  She plays a documentary producer who finds the strength to forgive the 17- year-old boy who killed her fiance but instead of redemption finds only greater tragedy in A Reason to Live (Korean title: Today), which after several delays was released in October 2011. Song was a huge fan of the director and had actively sought her out,  and though she had difficulty getting into character,  Song said she fell in love with the script and felt her acting had matured. She considers the film "a turning point" in her life. 

She will next appear in a supporting role in The Grandmasters , Chinese director Wong Kar-wai 's biopic about Bruce Lee 's kung fu master Ip Man .  Song learned Cantonese and martial arts for the film.  Two years after it was cancelled, Song's movie with Chinese director John Woo Love and Let Love (previously titled 1949 ) will begin filming in Shanghai and Taiwan in early 2012. She plays a wealthy, driven woman who lives through the end of World War II and the Chinese Civil War . Woo's longtime friend and producer Terence Chang has been managing Song's overseas activities since 2008. 

TV Series

The World That They Live In (KBS2, 2008)

Full House (KBS, 2004)

Shining Days (SBS, 2004)

All In (SBS, 2003)

Guardian Angel (SBS, 2001)

Hotelier (MBC, 2001)

Autumn Tale (KBS2, 2000)

Soonpoong Clinic (SBS, 1998)

Sweet Bride (SBS, 1999)

What Do You Think of Me (SBS, 1998)

White Night 3.98 (SBS, 1998)

Deadly Eyes (SBS, 1998)

Parade (SBS, 1998)

One of a Pair / Partner (SBS, 1998)

Six Siblings (MBC, 1998)

First Love (KBS2, 1996)

Happy Morning (KBS, 1996)

Movies

Year     Title                                                     Role

2005     My Girl and I                                       Bae Su-eun

2007     Hwang Jin Yi                                        Hwang Jini

2008     Make Yourself at Home                       Sookhy

2010     Camellia - "Love for Sale"                     Bo-ra

2011     A Reason to Live                                  Da-hye

2012     The Grandmasters Love and Let Love

Music Video

Year      Song                        Artist

1997    "This Promise"            Kim Soo Keun

2000    "Curious Destiny"       Shin Sung Woo

2001    "Once Upon a Day"    Kim Bum Soo

MC

Year Variety show Co-host

1998 Saturday (SBS) Park Soo Hong

2000 Music Bank (KBS)

2001 M.net Music Video Festival Cha Tae Hyun

Discography

"Switch: Be White" (duet with John Park - single, 2012)

Awards

2011 Women in Film Korea Awards: Acting Award ( A Reason to Live)

2007 Korean Film Awards : Best New Actress ( Hwang Jin Yi)

2004 KBS Drama Awards: Best Actress, Top Excellence ( Full House)

2004 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award ( Full House)

2004 KBS Drama Awards: Best Couple with Rain ( Full House )

2003 SBS Drama Awards: Best Actress, Top Excellence ( All In)

2003 SBS Drama Awards: Top 10 Stars ( All In)

2002 China Entertainment TV Awards: Top 10 Asian Entertainers

2001 SBS Drama Awards: Top 10 Stars ( Guardian Angel)

2001 Paeksang Arts Awards : Popularity Award (TV category)

2001 Golden Disk Awards : Popular Music Video Award ( Kim Bum Soo 's Once Upon a Day )

2001 Gold Song Awards (Hong Kong): Top Korean Star

2000 KBS Drama Awards: Photogenic Award ( Autumn in My Heart )

2000 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award ( Autumn in My Heart )

1998 SBS Drama Awards: Best New Actor/Actress (Soonpoong Clinic )

1996 SunKyung Smart Model Contest: First Prize

Endorsements

BC Card (credit card)

Clride (clothing line)

Dios (LG)

Etude (cosmetics)

Foce (watches)

Hyundai Oilbank

KTFT Ever (cellphones)

L&C Wells (water purifier)

Litmus (clothing line)

Mcdonalds (fast-food chain)

Olay -China (skin care products)

Orion (food products)

Samsung Auction

Smart (school uniform)

U∫ell (apartment)

Vivien (underwear brand)

VK Mobile (cellphones)

Woongjin (food products)