| How Kim Yoon-jin's Korean Success Helped Her Make It in Hollywood (Source) |
2010/02/01 |
Kim Yoon-jin spends nine months of the year in Hawaii shooting the popular U.S. drama series "Lost" and the remainder resting and working in Korea. She is the first Korean actress to have successfully launched a career in the U.S., though many others have tried. The fact that she moved to the U.S. as a child probably helped as there was no language barrier to overcome, but that alone would not have been enough.
"I strategically pretended to be terribly busy when I first tried to get acting jobs in the U.S"., she says. "I didn't want to seem desperate to be cast. I intentionally made appointments in Korea and told my U.S. agent that I'm busy and only available on certain dates. I wanted them to think of me as someone who is not readily available so they couldn't cancel meetings. That worked, and I was able to meet high-ranking influential people much quicker". Producers in the U.S. took note of what Kim did in Korea, and word of her reputation and popularity in Korea got to the U.S. ... |More
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| 'Lost' star gets in tune with 'Harmony' (Source) |
2010/01/28 |
'I wanted a role that would really be different ... but I'm attracted to strong female characters'.
When people make mention of actress Kim Yoon-jin, the adjectives attractive, intelligent and charismatic often pop up in the text.
Kim, who is known outside of Korea as Sun Kwon on the U.S. television drama "Lost", has built her career around characters who also possess these qualities.
Now, Kim is hoping to add a new dimension to her image with a new role in the Korean film "Harmony", which was released yesterday.
In the film she plays Jeong-hye, who is given a 10-year prison term for killing her abusive husband. Shortly after she is put in jail, Jeong-hye gives birth to a child. Eighteen months after that she will have to give up her child for adoption, in accordance with Korean law. In the meantime, Jeong-hye organizes a choir to deal with the hardships she is facing and through it she is offered the possibility of earning a special one-day leave to see her son.
"Even b... |More
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| Kim Yoon-jin Sings in 'Harmony' Onscreen (Source) |
2010/01/12 |
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Not long after "The Executioner", the first movie to be filmed in a real prison, and "Actresses", featuring a rare all-female cast, comes "Harmony", about women living behind bars in tune to a different synchronization.
Kim Yoon-jin returns to the local screen two years after starring in the hit thriller "Seven Days". The "Lost" star has shed her serious image to wear an unfading smile and a blue jail uniform in the tearjerker family drama.
"It's a movie for which we had to reshoot scenes because we cried too much", the actress said Monday in Seoul following the film's press preview. Produced by "Haeundae" director Yoon Je-kyoon and directed by newcomer Kang Dae-gyoo, the movie is indeed designed to draw out tears ― and despite some oddly placed musical moments and mainstream superficiality, it works.
Kim stars as Jeong-hye, who, after killing her abusive husband, is sentenced to serve 10 years in Cheongju Women's Prison. She gives birt... |More
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| 'No Mercy' marked by dramatic plot twists (Source) |
2010/01/07 |
The new Korean thriller "No Mercy", which opened in local theaters yesterday, happens to have the same title as the 1987 action movie starring Richard Gere. There are other similarities between the two - both contain a lot of action scenes and center around a crime - but the Korean film is more closely tied to other Korean thrillers such as "Seven Days" (2007) and "Secret - 2009" (2009).
No Mercy began drawing attention before its release for its high-profile cast and suspenseful plot. The film's stars, Seol Kyeong-gu and Ryoo Seung-beom, have both gained widespread respect for their acting skills and this is the first time they have appeared on screen together. The plot is reported to have a dramatic reversal that has been called the most shocking ending in Korean film since "Old Boy" (2003), the internationally acclaimed Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook.
The plot follows forensic pathologist Kang Min-ho (Seol) as he tries to track down Lee Seong-ho (Ryoo), an environmenta... |More
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| [PREVIEW] Film "No Mercy" (Source) |
2010/01/06 |
"No Mercy" - Can you have mercy on the film's ending?
Actors Seol Kyeong-gu (left) and Ryoo Seung-beom in "No Mercy" [Cinema Service]
A chopped-up body of a young woman is found at the mouth of the Keum River. Korea's top forensic investigator Kang Min-ho (played by Seol Kyeong-gu) is brought in to look into the cruel, horrendous crime method. His medical advice and detective Min Seo-young's (played by Han Hye-jin) deduction lead to the arrest of a prime suspect -- an environmental activist named Lee Sung-ho (played by Ryoo Seung-beom). Lee's confession wraps up the first part of the movie but this is where the real story of film "No Mercy" begins. Lee Sung-ho, who... |More
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