Since her debut in 1996, Ha Ji Won has been silently working hard.
Actress Ha Ji Won, whose real name is Jeon Hae Rim, took her stage name Ha Ji Won from the name of her manager’s first love at the time of her debut.
She explained, “When I first heard the name Ha Ji Won, I liked it because it sounded pretty and confident,” She decided her stage name without much thought, but she has established herself as a leading actor that anyone in Korea knows.
Ha Ji Won debuted in the entertainment industry in 1996, when she was in her third year of high school, in KBS’s youth drama “New Generation Report – Adults Don’t Know”. Ha Ji Won later took on minor roles in several works. She played Jang Se Jin in KBS 2TV’s youth drama “School 2” in 1999, showing a rebellious performance and starting to gain fame.
2000 was one of Ha Ji Won’s busiest years. She met the audience through three films, including “Truth Game”, “Ditto” and “Scissors”. She won the 21st Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for “Ditto” and the Best Supporting Actress Award for “Truth Game” at the 1st Busan Film Critics Association Awards. Receiving the Grand Bell Awards for Best New Actress and the 24th Golden Cinematography Awards for Best New Actress, Ha Ji Won emerged as a promising star of the next generation. In addition, the movies “Scissors” and “Phone” released in 2002 were successively successful and earned her the nickname “Horror Queen”.
In 2000, thanks to her performance in MBC’s drama “Secret”, she won the MBC Drama Awards’ Female Newcomer Award and the 37th Baeksang Arts Awards’ Best New Actress Award in the TV category.
Later, Ha Ji Won starred as the lead in the 2002 movie “Sex is Zero”, showing off her perfect body and bold acting. Ha Ji Won, who rose to stardom as a box office guarantee, appeared in MBC’s drama “Damo” in 2003 and fully established herself as Korea’s representative actress.
Thanks to “Damo”, Ha Ji Won bagged multiple awards including Best Couple Award, Female Popularity Award, and Female Best Actress Award at the MBC Drama Awards at the end of the year.
The following year, Ha Ji Won played a female lead who is torn between two men, Jung Jae Min (Jo In Sung) and Kang In Wook (So Ji Sub) in SBS’ “Something Happened in Bali” and was praised for her excellent and emotional acting. As a result, she won the Best Actress Award in TV at the 40th Baeksang Arts Awards and the Best Actress Award at the SBS Drama Awards.
Since then, Ha Ji Won has built up her filmography by appearing in various works such as “Hwang Jin Yi”, “Secret Garden”, “The King 2hearts”, “Empress Ki”, etc.
Ha Ji Won, who perfectly expressed the classic yet femme fatale Hwang Jin Yi in “Hwang Jin Yi”, captured attention with her gorgeous visuals as well as performances such as dancing and playing geomungo, befitting her role as a gisaeng. She won the Daesang for this role at the KBS Drama Awards.
In 2009, Ha Ji Won’s career peaked. In the movie “Haeundae”, she played a native of Haeundae, Busan and a strong woman. She challenged a new transformation by showing off a strong Busan dialect. “Haeundae” was a huge success, helping Ha Ji Won break the 10 million mark in box office for the fifth time in her career.
In addition, thanks to the movie “Closer to Heaven” where Ha Ji Won played the wife of a man who can’t do anything but lie in bed all day due to Lou Gehrig’s disease, she won the 30th Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Actress and the 46th Baeksang Arts Awards’ Best Actress in a Movie. Ha Ji Won’s movies were hits at the box office and her dramas also earned high ratings. It is not hard to understand how she took her place as a top actress.
Source: Daum.
