Han Hyo-joo

Acting

Han Hyo-joo

Born 1987-02-22 · Cheongju, North Chungcheong, South Korea

Han Hyo-Joo (한효주) was born on February 22, 1987 in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. Her mother worked as an elementary school teacher before becoming an inspector for public schools and her father worked in the military. As a child, Han Hyo-Joo was good in sports and enjoyed track & field. In her sophomore year of high school, Han Hyo-Ju moved to Seoul and attended Bulgok High School. Although her father, conservative & strict, opposed her move to Seoul she was able to go forth with her wishes. After high school, Han Hyo-Joo majored in theatre at Dongguk University. According to Han Hyo-Ju, her personality fits her blood type-A classification: calm, doesn't get angry easily, & able to endure without a lot of expression. 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. 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”.

Acting credits

20th Century Girl poster
8.2

In 1999, a teen girl keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her deeply smitten best friend – then she gets swept up in a love story of her own.

20th Century Girl

2022

Illang: The Wolf Brigade poster
6.3

In 2029, an elite police squad combats an anti-reunification terrorist group while another enemy lurks nearby.

Illang: The Wolf Brigade

2018

The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure poster
6.5

A gutsy crew of Joseon pirates and bandits battle stormy waters, puzzling clues and militant rivals in search of royal gold lost at sea.

The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure

2022

Always poster
7.8

A former boxer turned parking lot attendant finds hope in the love of the blind telemarketer who walks into his booth one day.

Always

2011

C'est Si Bon poster
6.9

A beautiful socialite enters the lives of three bickering musicians and inspires them to write a series of hit love-songs.

C'est Si Bon

2015

Cold Eyes poster
7.5

Ha Yoon-ju becomes the newest member of a unit within the Korean Police Forces Special Crime Department that specializes in surveillance activities on high-profile criminals. She teams up with Hwang Sang-jun, the veteran leader of the unit, and tries to track down James who is the cold-hearted leader of an armed criminal organization.

Cold Eyes

2013

The Beauty Inside poster
7.7

Woo-jin, a furniture designer who wakes up in a different body every day, falls for Yi-soo, a woman he meets through his work.

The Beauty Inside

2015

Believer 2 poster
6.7

A determined detective continues his search for the truth behind Asia's largest drug organization and its elusive boss he has unfinished business with.

Believer 2

2023

Masquerade poster
7.7

Though it places his own life in danger, a look-alike commoner secretly takes the place of a poisoned king to save his country from falling into chaos.

Masquerade

2012

Love 911 poster
7.3

A doctor tries to woo a grieving, widowed firefighter in her attempt to get him to testify on her behalf in a medical malpractice case.

Love 911

2012

Golden Slumber poster
6.7

A delivery man has to flee for his life when he is framed for the assassination of a political candidate and the evidence against him begins to accumulate.

Golden Slumber

2018

Miracle: Devil Claus' Love and Magic poster
5.5

The intertwined love story of four young people on Christmas night.

Miracle: Devil Claus' Love and Magic

2014

Ad-lib Night poster
7.4

A young girl is asked by strangers to impersonate a prodigal daughter to fulfill a father's dying wish, and in doing so tests the fragility of family bonds.

Ad-lib Night

2006

My Dear Enemy poster
6.8

Hee-soo is desperate for money and finds her ex-boyfriend who owes her money. He goes around to various ex-girlfriends to get cash and she trails along to make sure he does not cheat her.

My Dear Enemy

2008

Love, Lies poster
7.8

Two best friends, So-yool and Yeon-hee, dream of becoming the top artists in Seoul together. But their friendship doesn't last long as Yoon-woo, So-yool's first love and songwriter, falls in love with Yeon-hee and her voice. So-yool's feeling of jealousy and inferiority towards Yeon-hee grows by the day, and she eventually makes a drastic decision to bring the two lovers down.

Love, Lies

2016

My Boss, My Teacher poster
5.2

A mobster must complete college and spend some time as an ethics teacher in order to receive a promotion to a coveted territory.

My Boss, My Teacher

2006

The Sun Stands Still poster
6.7

Kazuhiko Takano and Ryoichi Taoka are industrial spies. A conspiracy exits behind the technology which can shake the political and economic world in Japan. Takano faces Korean spy Kim, a mysterious woman Ayako and powerful men from various countries.

The Sun Stands Still

2021

Heaven's Postman poster
6.8

Jae-jun delivers letters to heaven from those who can't get over the loss of their loved ones. One day Ha-na, who writes to her late boyfriend, discovers Jae-jun's secret identity. He offers her a part-time job assisting him, and they set off on a 14-day journey.

Heaven's Postman

2009

Ride Away poster
6.6

Ha-jung, a college freshman, is interested in a boy who works at a secondhand book store near her school. Although a clerk is excited by her, he cannot forget his old girlfriend who has been unconscious since a car accident three years earlier. The growing pains mature the awkward and immature twenty-year-old.

Ride Away

2008