South Korean actress (born 1975)
This article is about a South Korean actress born 1975. For the South Korean actress born 1997, see
Ji Woo
.
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 notably
Beautiful Days
(2001),
Winter Sonata
(2002),
Stairway to Heaven
(2003),
Air City
(2007),
Star's Lover
(2008),
The Suspicious Housekeeper
(2013) and
Temptation
(2014), as well as the romantic comedy series
Twenty Again
(2015) and
Woman with a Suitcase
(2016)
.
Career
[
edit
]
1994?1998: Beginnings
[
edit
]
Choi Mi-hyang was first discovered when she won a talent audition organized by
MBC
in 1994, then made her acting debut in the drama series
War and Love
in 1995. Afterwards, she adopted the
stage name
Choi Ji-woo.
She was cast in her first major role in
1996 film
The 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 both
TV dramas
and films, including
The Hole
(the Original version of Hollywood thriller
Hush
), as well as the
romantic comedies
First Kiss
with
Ahn Jae-wook
and
The Romantic President
with
Ahn Sung-ki
. It was her portrayals on TV of tragic heroines with a pure and innocent image?notably in
Truth
opposite
Ryu Si-won
and
Beautiful Days
opposite
Lee Byung-hun
?that boosted her rising popularity.
In 2002, she reunited onscreen with
Bae Yong-joon
(she previously had a supporting role in his 1996 drama
First Love
) that she would star in her most famous, iconic role. Directed by
Yoon 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 the
Korean Wave
.
[3]
As a result, Choi gained wide pan-Asian recognition, especially a huge following in Japan where she acquired the nickname
Ji-woo Hime
("Princess Ji-woo").
[4]
In 2009 she and Bae reprised their roles as voice actors for
Winter 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
's
E News
compiled a list of the top
Hallyu
stars in Japan based on their approximate gross incomes for the first half of 2011, and Choi was number five with approximately
US$2 million
).
After the success of her 2003 melodrama
Stairway to Heaven
with
Kwon Sang-woo
,
[8]
Choi again attempted to break into film. She played a terminally ill heroine in
Now and Forever
,
[9]
[10]
and a more risque character in sex comedy
Everybody Has Secrets
("The Original Version of Irish film
About 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 the
Chinese drama
101st Proposal
with Sun Xing, and the
Japanese drama
RONDO
opposite
Yutaka Takenouchi
.
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
She returned to Korean television in 2007 in
Air City
alongside
Lee Jung-jae
; her role was the Chief Operating Officer of
Incheon Airport
.
[18]
2009?2012: Breakthrough
[
edit
]
In 2009, she starred opposite
Yoo Ji-tae
in the drama
Star'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 by
Go Hyun-jung
's \55 million for the 2010 drama
Daemul
).
[21]
[22]
That same year, she set up her own management agency called C,JW Company with her brother as
CEO
.
[23]
[24]
She also joined the ensemble cast of semi-
improvisational
mockumentary
Actresses
, arguably her most significant film yet.
[25]
[26]
During the press conference for the 2011 series,
Can't Lose
, co-starring
Yoon 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 show
2 Days & 1 Night
.
[27]
[28]
In 2012, Choi was cast in the Chinese drama
City Lovers
, in which she portrayed the CEO at an event management company opposite
Qin Hao
, a newly employed businessman at her firm.
[29]
[30]
[31]
Later that year, she became the host of
Choi Ji-woo's Delicious Korea
on food lifestyle cable channel
O'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 drama
Kaseifu no Mita
. In
The 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]
2014?present: Career resurgence
[
edit
]
In February 2014, Choi signed with the talent agency
YG Entertainment
.
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41]
She then reunited with previous costar Kwon Sang-woo in
Temptation
; she played a rich woman who makes a dangerous offer to a married man.
[42]
Choi joined the fourth season of travel-reality show
Grandpas Over Flowers
in 2015, where she and
Lee Seo-jin
backpacked through Greece with veteran actors
Lee Soon-jae
,
Shin Goo
,
Park Geun-hyung
and
Baek Il-seob
.
[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
This was followed by the cable series
Twenty 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 the
ensemble cast
romance film
Like for Likes
.
[49]
[50]
The same year, she starred in the legal romance drama
Woman with a Suitcase
.
[51]
In 2017, Choi was cast in the family melodrama
The Most Beautiful Goodbye
, a remake of the drama
The Most Beautiful Goodbye in the World
by
Noh Hee-kyung
.
[52]
In 2019, Choi made a cameo appearance as herself in episode 13 of the tvN drama,
Crash Landing on You
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Choi majored in aerobic dance at
Busan
Women's College. She later enrolled in
Hanyang 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]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television series
[
edit
]
Web series
[
edit
]
Variety show
[
edit
]
Music video
[
edit
]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo talks being replaced"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
"Producer Yun Seok-ho, the creator of Yonsama and the
hallyu
frenzy"
Archived
2007-03-01 at the
Wayback Machine
. KBS Global. 17 January 2005.
- ^
"Is it all over already? Gloomy signs overshadow rosy statistics of
Hallyu
"
.
The Korea Herald
via
Hancinema
. 11 July 2005.
- ^
"Pure Love: Tear-Jerking Love Stories Enthrall Japanese Women"
. Web Japan. 14 October 2004.
- ^
"Bae, Choi to Voice Winter Sonata Cartoon"
.
The Korea Times
. 30 May 2008.
- ^
"A reunion in 7 years: Yonsama and Jiwoohime"
. 10Asia. 29 September 2009.
- ^
"Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo reunite for
Winter Sonata
anime"
. 10Asia. 2 February 2010.
- ^
"
"Winter Sonata", The Most Popular Korean Drama In Japan"
. Broasia via Hancinema. 2 July 2007.
- ^
"
Love Letter
Starring Choi Ji-woo and Cho Han-sung to Open Next Year"
. KBS Global. 5 August 2005. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2013.
- ^
"
Yeonriji
("Now and Forever") Depends Heavily on
Ji-woo Hime
"
.
The Korea Times
via
Hancinema
. 13 April 2006.
- ^
"Sexy
Secret
Has Little to Tell"
.
The Korea Times
. 29 July 2004.
- ^
"Sex and Laughter in a
Game of Love
"
.
The Dong-a Ilbo
. 29 July 2004.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo Remains Huge Box-Office Draw in Japan"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 5 April 2006.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to Co-Star with Takenouchi Yutaka"
. KBS Global. 4 July 2005. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2013
. Retrieved
17 March
2013
.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji-woo Stars in Joint Korean-Japanese TV Drama"
. KBS Global. 20 December 2005. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2013.
- ^
"TV Drama
Rondo
Starring Choi Ji-woo Suffers Low Viewer Ratings"
. KBS Global. 24 February 2006. Archived from
the original
on 13 April 2013
. Retrieved
17 March
2013
.
- ^
"TV drama starring Choi Ji-woo records 20.6% viewership in Japan"
. KBS World. 16 January 2006.
- ^
Chung, Ah-young (3 January 2007).
"Hallyu Heroine Returns With New Drama"
.
The Korea Times
via
Hancinema
.
- ^
"Celebrity's Sweetheart Knocks on Viewers Hearts"
.
The Korea Times
. 2 December 2008.
- ^
"Mega drama duo signals hot winter"
.
The Korea Herald
. 1 December 2008.
- ^
"Koh Hyun-jung, highest paid Korean actress"
.
The Korea Times
. 12 April 2011.
- ^
"Ko Hyun-jung Sets New Soap Opera Earnings Record"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 12 April 2011.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-02-15
. Retrieved
2011-04-01
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"Actresses Choosing To Be Managed By Family"
.
KBS World
. 10 December 2010.
- ^
"
Actresses
is a miracle achieved, says Koh (Part 1)"
. 10Asia. 23 November 2009.
- ^
"
Actresses
is a miracle achieved, says Koh (Part 2)"
. 10Asia. 23 November 2009.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo
Can't Lose
in romantic comedy"
.
The Korea Times
. 23 August 2011.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo Thrilled About Shaking Off Old Image"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 25 August 2011.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to return to Chinese TV series in 9 years, teaming up with Qin Hao"
. 10Asia. 27 June 2012.
- ^
"Choi Ji Woo Stars in Her First Chinese Drama in Nine Years"
. enewsWorld. 27 June 2012. Archived from
the original
on 29 July 2012
. Retrieved
27 June
2012
.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo returns to Chinese drama"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo Will Introduce Korean Food as TV Host"
. 10Asia. 30 October 2012.
- ^
"Choi Ji Woo to Look Far and Wide for Delicious Korean Foods in a Documentary"
. enewsWorld. 3 November 2012. Archived from
the original
on January 28, 2013.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to Play Housekeeper in an Upcoming Drama"
. 10Asia. 31 July 2013. Archived from
the original
on 2014-03-30.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to Play Housemaid in a New Drama"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 10 August 2013.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to play modern-day Mary Poppins"
.
The Korea Herald
. 16 September 2013.
- ^
"
Suspicious
role challenged Choi"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 5 December 2013.
- ^
"Choi Ji Woo Signs with YG Entertainment"
. enewsWorld. 26 February 2014. Archived from
the original
on 7 March 2014
. Retrieved
26 February
2014
.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji-woo joins YG Entertainment"
.
The Korea Herald
. 27 February 2014.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji-woo Joins YG Entertainment"
. 10Asia. 26 February 2014. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2014.
- ^
"Hallyu icon joins YG Family"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 27 February 2014.
- ^
"Look who's back together: Kwon Sang-woo, Choi Ji-woo re-united in SBS drama
Temptation
"
.
The Korea Times
. 11 July 2014.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo joins
grandpas
on tvN show"
.
K-pop Herald
. 16 February 2015.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo is real gem in
Grandpas over Flowers
"
.
The Korea Herald
. 24 March 2015.
- ^
"Hallyu star joins
Grandpas Over Flowers
"
.
The Korea Times
. 25 March 2015.
- ^
"Korea's 4 favorite
Grandpas
return"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 27 March 2015.
- ^
"Choi Ji Woo Confirmed for New tvN Drama"
. enewsWorld. 9 July 2015. Archived from
the original
on 23 December 2015
. Retrieved
9 July
2015
.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo to play a college student Actress"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. July 10, 2015.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo returns to film"
.
Korea JoongAng Daily
. 1 June 2015.
- ^
"
'Like for Likes' shows love on social media"
.
The Korea Times
. 12 January 2016.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo returns in legal-romance drama"
.
Yonhap News Agency
. 22 June 2016.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji-woo cast in remake series written by star writer"
.
Kpop Herald
. 19 October 2017.
- ^
"
'두番째 스무살' 崔志宇, 大學 中退…"다시 돌아간다면 동아리-MT 參席하고파"
"
.
dong
(in Korean). 26 August 2015
. Retrieved
26 August
2015
.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo announces 'surprise' wedding"
.
The Korea Herald
. 29 May 2018.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo awaits her first child's birth in May"
.
MSN
. 23 December 2019.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji Woo gives birth to her first daughter!"
.
Allkpop
. 16 May 2020.
- ^
Choi Hee-jae (September 10, 2021).
"[單獨] 崔志宇, 정범식 監督 '소름'으로 4年 만에 復歸"
[[Exclusive] Ji-woo Choi, director Jeong Beom-shik's 'Goosebumps' returns after 4 years].
Xports News
(in Korean)
. Retrieved
September 10,
2021
– via
Naver
.
- ^
Hwang Hye-jeong (June 14, 2022).
"
'第26回 BIFAN' 開幕作 '멘'·폐막작 '뉴 노멀'…"論爭的, 辱 먹을 覺悟하고 있어"
"
['The 26th BIFAN' opening work 'Men', closing work 'New Normal'... "Controversial, ready to be insulted"].
Sports Seoul
(in Korean).
Naver
. Retrieved
June 14,
2022
.
- ^
Kang Da-yun (February 4, 2022).
"최지우, '별똥별' 特別出演 確定…李聖經·김영대와 呼吸 [公式]"
[Choi Ji-woo confirmed for special appearance in 'Shooting Star'... Breathing with Lee Sung-kyung and Kim Young-dae [Official]] (in Korean). My Daily
. Retrieved
February 4,
2022
– via
Naver
.
- ^
Shin So-won (September 14, 2021).
"최지우X車仁杓X이장우X이수혁, '時고르 輕洋食' 藝能 出演"
[Ji-Woo Choi X In-Pyo Cha X Jang-Woo Lee X Soo-Hyeok Lee to appear on variety show 'Siggor Gyeongsik'].
Ten Asia
(in Korean)
. Retrieved
September 14,
2021
– via
Naver
.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo Takes Lead in ALI's New Music Video"
. 10Asia. 31 January 2013. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2014.
- ^
"Top Stars Win Andre Kim Awards"
.
The Korea Times
. 1 May 2007.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo Named Korea's Greatest Acting Beauty"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 7 August 2006.
- ^
"Star Hall of Fame Celebrates Choi Ji-woo"
.
The Chosun Ilbo
. 20 August 2009.
- ^
"Dramas, Stars to Compete at Seoul Intl Drama Awards"
.
The Korea Times
. 25 August 2009.
- ^
"Actress Choi Ji-woo to receive President's honor"
. 10Asia. 24 September 2009.
- ^
"Asia Model Awards"
Archived
2012-02-16 at the
Wayback Machine
.
KBS World
. 18 January 2012.
- ^
"Choi Ji-woo, Kara win
Asia Star
at 2012 Asia Model Awards"
Archived
2012-05-20 at the
Wayback Machine
.
The Korea Herald
. 19 January 2012.
- ^
"Choi Ji Woo receives Seoul City Social Welfare Award"
. StarN News. 7 September 2012. Archived from
the original
on 1 August 2013
. Retrieved
1 August
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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1960s
| |
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1970s
| |
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1980s
| |
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1990s
| |
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2000s
| |
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2010s
| |
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2020s
| |
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|
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2000?2019
|
- Bae Doona
,
Song Hye-kyo
(2000)
- Han Go-eun
,
Lee Seung-yeon
,
Lee Yo-won
(2001)
- Choi Ji-woo
,
Eugene
(2002)
- Han Go-eun
,
Son Tae-young
(2003)
- Im Soo-jung
,
Song Hye-kyo
(2004)
- Han Chae-young
,
Lee Tae-ran
(2005)
- Choi Jung-won
,
Sung Yu-ri
(2006)
- Han Hyo-joo
(2007)
- Chang Mi-hee
,
Sung Yu-ri
(2008)
- Kim So-yeon
,
Yoon Eun-hye
(2009)
- Moon Geun-young
(2010)
|
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2020?present
| |
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Related article
| |
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