Park made her acting debut in 1996 teen dramaStart, and rose to stardom in the 1998horror filmWhispering Corridors. She was praised for her emotional performance as asingle mother in theKBS television seriesStock Flower in 2001, but her otherTV dramas were deemed forgettable. She starred in a string of commercial fare on the big screen, namely,Promenade withKim Sang-joong,Just Do It! with Park Sang-myun,Star withYoo Oh-sung, andLove in Magic withYeon Jung-hoon, as well as theindieLove Talk withBae Jong-ok andPark Hee-soon in 2005,[2] but none of her films achieved critical or box office success. Park then stopped working for a year and a half, deciding to take some time off for a little introspection. The hiatus paid off in 2006 when she returned to the small screen inPlease Come Back, Soon-ae, playing a 40-somethingajumma trapped in the body of a sexy young 20-something (with the reverse played byShim Hye-jin).[3] Thebody swap comedy was a hit, with average ratings of 25%.[4]
Her popularity continued in 2007 when her drama withPark Shin-yang,War of Money reached ratings of over 30%. As a righteous woman facing a slew of financial hardships,[4] Park's acting was recognized at theSBS Drama Awards. She then drew laughs as anarcissistic character in the filmUnderground Rendezvous, a 1980s-set comedy about theNorth–south divide co-starringIm Chang-jung.[5] But her next film would be even more high-profile:Shadows in the Palace, a mystery thriller set during the reign ofKing Jeongjo (1752–1800). Playing a court medic who investigates a murder within the ranks of the royal harem and household (the film's Korean title translates togungnyeo, or "palace women"), Park received critical acclaim for her performance, with one review calling it "the peak of her 10-year acting career."[6] She won Best Actress at the Golden Cinematography Awards and theFantasia Festival.[7][8]
Following the 2008 filmSweet Lie (also known asLost and Found) in which her character pretends to haveamnesia to snag her dream guy, Park continued to explore theromantic comedy genre inThe Woman Who Still Wants to Marry (also known asStill, Marry Me). In the low-rated 2010 series, she played a career woman in her 30s who falls for a musician ten years her junior (played byKim Bum).[9][10][11] Park then joined the epicperiod dramaGiant, set during the economic boom of 1970-80s Korea, and co-starringLee Beom-soo andPark Sang-min.[12] The series was a hit with TV critics and audiences, with a ratings peak of 40%. And Park's portrayal of a vengeance-driven, ambitious woman who finds success as aloan shark[13] was again lauded at theSBS Drama Awards.
Park reunited withStock Flower director Park Chan-hong and writer Kim Ji-woo in her next television seriesKimchi Family, which aired on cable channeljTBC in 2011. She played a woman who takes over her father'skimchi restaurant and rediscovers her love for cooking and family, as she fights with and falls for a gangster played bySong Il-gook.[16]
In 2012, she andJohn Park appeared inMusic and Lyrics, anMBC Musicreality show in which an actress and a male singer are paired together as lyricist and composer, respectively, to create a song.[17][18][19] The song they composed,Maybe, Maybe, was recorded byAlex Chu and Horan ofClazziquai.[20] Later that year, herarthouse film withPark Ji-yoon was released. Part-mystery, part-coming-of-age film,Grape Candy explored the nostalgia and tension at the reunion of two old high school friends who share a painful past.[21]
In 2008, Park appeared in a Coreana cosmetics commercial dressed in aNazi uniform. Amid protests from Jewish and international groups, the company apologized for their ill-conceived concept and pulled out the commercial after two days.[26]
Park was one of the 40,000 volunteers who helped clean up after the2007 MT Hebei Spirit oil spill inTaean County,South Chungcheong Province, the worst oil spill in Korean history. She came as part of the volunteer group Information Network Village (of which she was spokesperson), which aims to reduce the digital gap between rural and urban areas.[27]
To promote the 2009 Green Film Festival in Seoul, she appeared in theshort filmTake Action, Now or Never!, directed byKim Tae-yong. In the short, Park advocates riding bicycles to reducegreenhouse gas emissions.[28][29] She was the 2012 honorary ambassador for theNGO Korea Green Foundation.[30]
For her 2010master's degreethesis forYonsei University, "Studies on Depression and Suicidal Urges Among Actors," Park interviewed 260 actors with incomes ranging from ₩10 million-per-episode to less than ₩1 million a month. According to her findings, 40 percent were suffering fromdepression, and 20 percent had actually purchased pills or toxic agents and "devices" forsuicide. Park said in the paper that the extreme stress to stay young and attractive and to remain in the limelight, or the job instability for lesser-known actors, drove them to mental anguish; and despite the perception of glamour and public adoration, actors were "some of the most lonesome and troubled" people.[31]
Park married her boyfriend, a lawyer, on May 11, 2014, at theHotel Shilla.[32][33] She gave birth to her first child in December 2014.[34] She gave birth to her second child on June 16, 2018.[35]
^Lee, Jung-hyun (August 24, 2021)."박진희-예지원, KBS 대하사극 '태종 이방원' 합류" [Park Jin-hee and Ye Ji-won join the KBS historical drama 'Taejong Lee Bang-won'].Yonhap News. (in Korean).Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. RetrievedAugust 24, 2021 – viaNaver.
^Cho Hyun-jung (October 18, 2022)."박진희X홍석천, 바다구하기 나서..SBS ESG예능 '천사도'로 15년만에 재회" [Park Jin-hee X Hong Seok-cheon, after saving the sea.. Reunited after 15 years with SBS ESG entertainment 'Angel'] (in Korean). Sports Seoul.Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. RetrievedOctober 18, 2022 – viaNaver.
^Choi Ji-yoon (December 15, 2021)."여섯번째 대멸종' 가해자는 인간…박진희 내레이션" [The perpetrator of the 'sixth mass extinction' is human... Park Jin-hee Narrated] (in Korean).Newsis.Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. RetrievedDecember 15, 2021 – viaNaver.
^Jang Woo-young (July 30, 2021)."[단독] 박진희x정경미♥윤형빈, 채널A '오! 마이 라이프' MC 호흡…8월 첫 방송" [[Exclusive] Jinhee Park x Kyungmi Jeong♥Hyungbin Yoon, Channel A 'Oh! My Life' MC breathing... first broadcast in august].OSEN (in Korean).Naver.Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. RetrievedJuly 30, 2021.
^Yoon Seul-bin (November 5, 2021)."문화재청, 자연유산 첫 홍보대사로 배우 박진희 위촉" [Cultural Heritage Administration appoints actress Park Jin-hee as the first natural heritage ambassador] (in Korean). News1.Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. RetrievedNovember 5, 2021 – viaNaver.
^Han, Hyeon-jeong (January 1, 2023)."강하늘·도경수·박진희·하지원, 무더기 최우수상[KBS 2022 연기대상]" [Kang Ha-neul·Do Kyung-soo·Park Jin-hee·Ha Ji-won, Top Excellence Award [KBS 2022 Drama Awards]] (in Korean). Maeil Business.Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. RetrievedJanuary 1, 2023 – viaNaver.
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