Biography

Kim was born November 7, 1973 in Seoul, South Korea. She is South Korean by birth and an American by nationality. She has starred in a number of South Korean films including Shiri in 1999, the film regarded as the first blockbuster of the then newly formed South Korean film industry.

Kim is a multiple degree and diploma holder in performing arts specifically in dancing and acting. She is also trained in martial arts.

Early Life

When Kim was 7, her family immigrated to the US. They set up their home on Staten Island in New York. Ever since high school, she has pursued her interest in acting. After finishing at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, she went to the London Academy of Performing Arts before getting her BFA degree in drama from Boston University.

Career

Post-graduation, she became an actress full time. She started doing several low-key TV shows, off Broadway theaters. Her first role in serious acting was in a South Korean TV show Splendid Holiday in 1996 based in New York. Then another one called Foreboding in 1997.

In the interest of her career, she moved back to South Korea. There she landed the lead role in a TV drama called Wedding Dress. But her biggest breakthrough came in the form of her debut movie, Shiri in 1999.

Shiri broke all kinds of records in South Korea and made her an overnight success. For the next four years she did a number of Korean movies and TV shows like Yesterday, Ardor, The Legend of Gingko, Rush, Iron Palm and Love in 3 Colors.

The biggest break of her career came in 2004, when she was cast as one of the main characters, Sun-Hwa Kwon, in ABC network’s adventure drama Lost. She appeared in Lost continuously for six seasons, the show’s entire run.

Lost earned her a lot of accolades and with it, more offers. Kim continued her work in South Korean films alongside Lost. She acted in films like Diary of June, Mother, Seven Days, Harmony, Heartbeat, The Neighbor and Ode to My Father.

Kim even reprised her role as Sun-Hwa in the video game version of Lost. She also lent her voice to the character Tiffany Kim in 2012 video game Sleeping Dogs.

After Lost ended in 2010, she did not do any TV shows until she was cast as one of the leads in an ABC drama named Mistresses in 2013. She has been doing a pretty good job there as Dr. Karen Kim.

Personal Life

Kim got married in 2010 to her former manager Jeong Hyeok Park. She lives in Hawaii with her husband. She was listed at number 98 in the 2006 Maxim list of Hot 100. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall and her weight is around 50kg.

Awards and Accolades

The most prestigious of all the awards she has won include the Screen Actors’ Guild award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for Lost. She also won Grand Bell Award and the Korean film critic award for best newcomer for her role in Shiri. Her role in Milae won her the Blue Dragon award for best actress in 2002.