Choi Ji-woo | |
|---|---|
 Choi in April 2024 | |
| Born | Choi Mi-hyang (1975-06-11)June 11, 1975 (age 49) Paju,Gyeonggi Province, South Korea |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Agent | Studio Santa Claus Entertainment |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 최지우 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Ji-u |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Chiu |
| Birth name | |
| Hangul | 최미향 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Mi-hyang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Mihyang |
Choi Ji-woo (born Choi Mi-hyang on June 11, 1975) is a South Korean actress. Considered one of South Korea's most beautiful women, she has received critical acclaim for her work in a wide range of melodramas, most notablyBeautiful Days (2001),Winter Sonata (2002),Stairway to Heaven (2003),Air City (2007),Star's Lover (2008),The Suspicious Housekeeper (2013), andTemptation (2014), as well as the romantic comedy seriesTwenty Again (2015) andWoman with a Suitcase (2016).
Choi Mi-hyang was first discovered when she won a talent audition organized byMBC in 1994, then made her acting debut in the drama seriesWar and Love in 1995. Afterwards, she adopted thestage name Choi Ji-woo.
She was cast in her first major role in1996 filmThe Gate of Destiny, but her limited acting skills resulted in her being replaced during filming.[1] In the next couple of years Choi continued to star in bothTV dramas and films, includingThe Hole (the Original version of Hollywood thrillerHush), as well as theromantic comediesFirst Kiss withAhn Jae-wook andThe Romantic President withAhn Sung-ki. It was her portrayals on TV of tragic heroines with a pure and innocent image—notably inTruth oppositeRyu Si-won andBeautiful Days oppositeLee Byung-hun—that boosted her rising popularity.
In 2002, she reunited onscreen withBae Yong-joon (she previously had a supporting role in his 1996 dramaFirst Love) that she would star in her most famous, iconic role. Directed byYoon Seok-ho as the second installment of his "season dramas,"[2]Winter Sonata became a phenomenal hit throughout Asia and has been credited as one of the initiators of theKorean Wave.[3] As a result, Choi gained wide pan-Asian recognition, especially a huge following in Japan where she acquired the nicknameJi-woo Hime ("Princess Ji-woo").[4] In 2009 she and Bae reprised their roles as voice actors forWinter Sonata Anime.[5][6][7] She continues to be a lucrative star and brand in Japan, fetching high licensing/broadcasting rights for her dramas and selling out concerts and merchandise (tvN'sE News compiled a list of the topHallyu stars in Japan based on their approximate gross incomes for the first half of 2011, and Choi was number five with approximatelyUS$2 million).
After the success of her 2003 melodramaStairway to Heaven withKwon Sang-woo,[8] Choi again attempted to break into film. She played a terminally ill heroine inNow and Forever,[9][10] and a more risque character in sex comedyEverybody Has Secrets ("The Original Version of Irish filmAbout Adam).[11][12] Both films were poorly received by critics and audiences in South Korea, but performed well at the Japanese box office.[13]
Choi then spent the next few years overseas, shooting theChinese drama101st Proposal with Sun Xing, and theJapanese dramaRONDO oppositeYutaka Takenouchi.[14][15][16][17] She returned to Korean television in 2007 inAir City alongsideLee Jung-jae; her role was the Chief Operating Officer ofIncheon Airport.[18]
In 2009, she starred oppositeYoo Ji-tae in the dramaStar's Lover, playing a top actress who falls in love with an ordinary man.[19][20] Choi received ₩48 million per episode, the highest salary for a Korean actress at the time (her record was later broken byGo Hyun-jung's ₩55 million for the 2010 dramaDaemul).[21][22]
That same year, she set up her own management agency called C,JW Company with her brother asCEO.[23][24] She also joined the ensemble cast of semi-improvisationalmockumentaryActresses, arguably her most significant film yet.[25][26]
During the press conference for the 2011 series,Can't Lose, co-starringYoon Sang-hyun, featuring a lawyer couple facing their own divorce suit, she was asked if she worried about shedding her pure and innocent image. Choi said, "I've had the same image for 15 years. Isn't it time for me to break out? I was a melodrama queen and now I want the title of romantic comedy queen." She added that she had gained more fans after showing her cheerful, easygoing side as a guest on the reality show2 Days & 1 Night.[27][28]
In 2012, Choi was cast in the Chinese dramaCity Lovers, in which she portrayed the CEO at an event management company oppositeQin Hao, a newly employed businessman at her firm.[29][30][31]
Later that year, she became the host ofChoi Ji-woo's Delicious Korea on food lifestyle cable channelO'live TV alongside fashion designer Jung Kuho. The 5-episode show, which aired from November 23 to December 21, 2012, aimed to promote Korean cuisine and culture to the world, and the two hosts traveled through South Korea and introduced little-known regional food to the viewers.[32][33]
She next headlined the 2013 remake of the hit 2011 Japanese dramaKaseifu no Mita. InThe Suspicious Housekeeper, Choi played the titular character, an icy and stoic yet amazingly capable housekeeper who comes to work for a recently widowed father and his four children.[34][35] Despite the difficulty of not being able to react to her costars, Choi said she chose the role because she "was really charmed by the way the heroine refrains from letting her emotions show."[36][37]
In February 2014, Choi signed with the talent agencyYG Entertainment.[38][39][40][41] She then reunited with previous costar Kwon Sang-woo inTemptation; she played a rich woman who makes a dangerous offer to a married man.[42]
Choi joined the fourth season of travel-reality showGrandpas Over Flowers in 2015, where she andLee Seo-jin backpacked through Greece with veteran actorsLee Soon-jae,Shin Goo,Park Geun-hyung andBaek Il-seob.[43][44][45][46]This was followed by the cable seriesTwenty Again, where she gained critical acclaim as a shy 38-year-old housewife who decides to experience campus college life for the first time alongside her 20-year-old son.[47][48]
In 2016, Choi returned to the big screen in seven years, starring in theensemble cast romance filmLike for Likes.[49][50] The same year, she starred in the legal romance dramaWoman with a Suitcase.[51]
In 2017, Choi was cast in the family melodramaThe Most Beautiful Goodbye, a remake of the dramaThe Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World byNoh Hee-kyung.[52]
In 2019, Choi made a cameo appearance as herself in episode 13 of the tvN drama,Crash Landing on You.
Choi majored in aerobic dance atBusan Women's College. She later enrolled inHanyang University's Department of Theater and Film and completed her first year; however she had to withdraw from college studies due to her hectic work schedule.[53]
Choi married her non-celebrity boyfriend who is 9 years her junior, on March 29, 2018, in a private wedding, only publicly announcing it just hours prior through a handwritten letter released in her fan club website.[54] Choi announced that she was pregnant with her first child on December 23, 2019,[55] and gave birth to a daughter on May 16, 2020.[56]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Adventures of Mrs Park | Eun-jin | |
| 1997 | Hallelujah | Bar madam | bit part |
| The Hole | Su-jin | ||
| 1998 | Alien | Kim's daughter | Voice |
| First Kiss | Song Yeon-hwa | ||
| 1999 | Nowhere to Hide | Kim Ju-yeon | |
| 2002 | The Romantic President | Choi Eun-soo | |
| 2004 | Everybody Has Secrets | Han Sun-young | |
| 2005 | Shadowless Sword | Femalemartial artsgosu | Cameo |
| 2006 | Now and Forever | Han Hye-won | |
| 2009 | Actresses | Herself | |
| 2016 | Like for Likes | Ham Joo-ran | |
| 2023 | New Normal | Hyeon-jeong | Closing film at26th BIFFF[57][58] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | War and Love | ||
| 1996 | MBC Best Theater: "Love, Just That One Thing" | ||
| First Love | Kang Seok-hee | ||
| Three Guys and Three Girls | Cameo appearance | ||
| 1997 | Happiness Is in Our Hearts | Seon Kyung-ah | |
| 1998 | Love | Yoo Ji-young | |
| 1999 | Love in 3 Colors | Eun Ji-soo | |
| Love Story | Min-jung | Episode 3–4 | |
| 2000 | Truth | Lee Ja-young | |
| Mr. Duke | Jang Soo-jin | ||
| 2001 | Beautiful Days | Kim Yeon-soo | |
| 2002 | We Are Dating Now | Cameo (episode 15) | |
| Winter Sonata | Jeong Yoo-jin | ||
| 2003 | Stairway to Heaven | Han Jung-seo | |
| 2004 | Full House | Herself | Cameo (episode 3) |
| 101st Proposal | Li Shao Rong | Chinese drama | |
| 2006 | Rondo | Choi Yoon-ah | Japanese drama |
| 2007 | Air City | Han Do-kyung | |
| 2008 | Star's Lover | Lee Ma-ri | |
| 2009 | Winter Sonata Anime | Jeong Yoo-jin | Voice |
| 2011 | Fuyu no Sakura | Inaba Tatsuki's Korean girlfriend | Cameo (episode 2) |
| Can't Lose | Lee Eun-jae | ||
| 2013 | The Suspicious Housekeeper | Park Bok-nyeo | |
| 2014 | Temptation | Yoo Se-young | |
| 2015 | Second 20s | Ha No-ra | |
| 2016 | Woman with a Suitcase | Cha Geum-joo | |
| 2017 | The Most Beautiful Goodbye | Yeon-soo | |
| 2020 | Crash Landing on You | Herself | Cameo (episode 13, 15) |
| 2022 | Shooting Stars | Eun Si-woo | Cameo[59] |
| 2024 | Black Pean Season 2 | Park Seo-hyun | Japanese drama[60] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | We Broke Up | Herself | Cameo (episode 3) |
| 2016 | 7 First Kisses | Goddess | Episode 1, 7 |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Line to the Law Center | VTR appearance |
| 2012 | Choi Ji-woo's Delicious Korea | Host |
| 2013 | MBC Human Documentary - Love | Narration |
| 2013 | Running Man Eps 126 - 127 | Guest |
| 2015 | Grandpas Over Flowers | Cast member (season 4) |
| 2017 | Candy in my Ears - Season 2 | Cast member |
| 2019 | Coffee Friends | |
| 2021 | Bistro Shigor[61] | restaurant president |
| 2024 | The Return of Superman | Host (along with CommedienneAhn Young-mi) |
| Year | Song Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Endless Love(moo han ji ae)" | Kim Jung-min |
| 1998 | "Scenery" | Goo Bon-seung andJang Dong-gun |
| "Na Na Na" | Yoo Seung-jun | |
| 1999 | "For Your Soul" | Jo Sung-mo |
| 2003 | "The Young Prince's Dream" | Cha Tae-hyun |
| 2013 | "Ziugae"[62] | ALi |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Korea'sIsabelle Adjani Contest | — | — | Won |
| 1996 | KBS Drama Awards | Best New Actress | First Love | Nominated |
| 1997 | 18thBlue Dragon Film Awards | Best New Actress | The Hole | Nominated |
| 1998 | 34thBaeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actress (Film) | Won | |
| 21st Golden Cinematography Awards | Best New Actress | Won | ||
| 1999 | 14thGolden Disk Awards | Golden Video Best Actress | For Your Soul | Won |
| 20thBlue Dragon Film Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nowhere to Hide | Nominated | |
| 2000 | 37thGrand Bell Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | |
| MBC Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress | Mr. Duke,Truth | Won | |
| 2001 | SBS Drama Awards | Beautiful Days | Won | |
| Top 10 Stars | Won | |||
| 2002 | Model Line Best Dresser Awards | Swan Award | — | Won |
| 38thBaeksang Arts Awards | Most Popular Actress (TV) | Winter Sonata | Won | |
| KBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Won | ||
| Popularity Award | Won | |||
| 2003 | Andre Kim Best Star Awards[63] | Female Star Award | — | Won |
| 26th Golden Cinematography Awards | Most Popular Actress | The Romantic President | Won | |
| SBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | Stairway to Heaven | Won | |
| Top 10 Stars | Won | |||
| 2004 | 40thBaeksang Arts Awards | Most Popular Actress (TV) | Won | |
| 4th Proud Korean Awards (Journalists Federation of Korea) | Recipient | — | Won | |
| 2005 | 41st Baeksang Arts Awards | Hallyu Special Award | — | Won |
| The Motion Pictures Association of Korea | — | Won | ||
| 2006 | Dior Timeless Beauty Awards[64] | Recipient | — | Won |
| 2009 | International Cultural Industry Exchange Foundation Awards | Recipient | — | Won |
| 4thSeoul International Drama Awards[65][66] | Inducted into the Star Hall of Fame | — | Won | |
| 36th Tourism Day | Presidential Commendation[67] | — | Won | |
| SBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | Star's Lover | Nominated | |
| 2010 | World Tourism Cities Forum | Top Popularity Award | — | Won |
| 2012 | 7th Asia Model Awards[68][69] | Asia Star Award | — | Won |
| Seoul International Social Work Conference | Social Welfare Award[70] | — | Won | |
| 2013 | SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | The Suspicious Housekeeper | Nominated |
| 2014 | 7th Korea Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress | Nominated | |
| SBS Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | Temptation | Nominated | |
| 2016 | MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | Woman with a Suitcase | Nominated |
| tvN10 Awards | Best Actress | Second 20s | Nominated |
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