Han Hyo Joo, the beautiful but also scandalous actress of Korean cinema.
Possessing a fascinating beauty, it is not surprising that Han Hyo Joo has had a long-term relationship with the entertainment industry and has been praised by professionals since a very early age. It is thanks to these factors that the beautiful actress quickly entered South Korea’s A-list stars with an extremely high salary, but Han Hyo Joo was not loved by many netizens as she was frequently embroiled in false rumors. Soon, she will appear in the horror film “Happiness”. On this occasion, let’s take a look at her private life as well as career!
“Happiness” consists of 12 episodes, depicting the psychological war and class distinction that occur when a strange epidemic appears.
Han Hyo Joo’s career ups and downs
As far as I know, Han Hyo Joo was born on February 22, 1987 in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Korea in a family that had nothing to do with arts. She soon drew attention when participating in the Teenage Beauty Contest hosted by Binggrae Food Group in 2003. Perhaps, she wanted to enter the entertainment industry from then on.
There was no one in her family who was an artist: her mother worked in education and her father was an air force officer. Therefore, she moved to Seoul alone during high school to pursue acting and study at the Department of Theater, Dongguk University despite fierce objections from her family. Also here, she began to receive offers to act in school-age sitcoms. The actress’s first film is the sitcom “Nonstop 5” in collaboration with Goo Hye Sun.
However, it was not until 2006 that Han Hyo Joo caught viewers’ attention after starring in the drama “Spring Waltz”. This is the first time she has taken the lead role and also the last work in the four-season love series of famous director Yoon Seok Ho. After “Spring Waltz”, the beauty was officially considered a new “treasure” by the entertainment industry.
Following the success of the drama, Han Hyo Joo continued to appear in hit TV series such as “Iljimae” (2008), “Like Land And Sky” (2007). She also won the Best Actress in the Drama category at the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards for her historical blockbuster “Dong Yi”. Thanks to that, Han Hyo Joo became many advertising brands’ favorite face, and her name made headlines throughout Asia.
Not only stopping at the television segment, Han Hyo Joo left a special impression in the film industry with her roles in “Masquerade”, “Cold Eyes”, “The Beauty Inside”… Especially, with her impressive performance in “Cold Eyes”, the beauty of the Han family defeated many seniors to win the Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards when she had just reached the age of 26. In 2012, Han Hyo Joo appeared in “Masquerade” which attracted more than 12 million theatergoers in Korea and became one of the highest-grossing Korean movies of all time.
But at the right time when her career was like “duck in water”, Han Hyo Joo was “troubled” by her brother’s scandal, which caused her reputation to be seriously deteriorated and her films to be boycotted. The actress remained silent over these rumors for 3 years.
Until 2016, “W – Two Worlds” helped Han Hyo Joo revive her image thanks to her fantastic acting as well as the explosive chemistry between her and Lee Jong Suk. Please look forward to her latest collaboration with actor Park Hyung-sik in the horror film “Happiness”!
Be labeled as “scandal-queen”
While her career has had its ups and downs but is still quite successful in general, Han Hyo Joo’s personal life has been engulfed in various scandals, the majority of which are not her fault. First, the actress’s manager used “16 “private” photos of the actress and her boyfriend” to ask for money from her and her family in November 2013. Despite the fact that no photos were taken and the manager was charged with slander, the incident damaged Han Hyo Joo’s reputation at the time.
In the midst of her career that was thriving, in 2014, Han Hyo Joo got into the biggest scandal of her career. At that time, news of her brother bullying another soldier while performing his military service, caused the soldier to commit suicide. This case has been widely spread in newspapers and social networks. Although Han Hyo Joo was not directly involved in the incident, the actress and her family were also strongly boycotted by the public for assuming she was hiding the truth. It is reported that Han Hyo Joo’s family members spent $6000 to cover up the incident, causing Han Hyo Joo to have a bad reputation.
Not long after, senior Lee Byung Hun’s adultery scandal broke out. Although unrelated to the incident, Han Hyo Joo was in the same company as this actor so she was affected as well. Many radio stations and brands turned their backs on her.
By May of this year, the beauty was suspected of being one of the artists who used illegal drugs at the Burning Sun club. She was criticized for frequently partying and attending events at this scandalous bar. Soon after, BH Entertainment issued an official statement denying the incident and suing those who spread malicious rumors.
Not ending there, in early 2020, her name was suddenly on the list of artists participating in the Shincheonji sect (the list is called Jirasi). However, the actress’s side denied all fabricated information and announced that they would sue those who slandered and insulted her.
Most recently, Sports Kyunghyang reported that Han Hyo Joo and a series of Korean A-list stars such as Kim Tae Hee, Lee Byung Hun, Kwon Sang Woo were being investigated for property tax evasion. According to the revealed information, the actress purchased the building worth 2.7 billion won (2.2 million USD) in the name of a family corporation to reduce taxes.
And those are some highlights of the personal life and not-so-smooth career of “the beauty with the most beautiful smile in Korea.” Anyway, few can deny the actress’s outstanding acting ability, which is another important factor that helps her to succeed in the competitive entertainment industry.
