Han Ye-seul

Early life

Leslie Kim was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She is fluent in both English and Korean.

Career

Acting debut

She began her modeling career in South Korea after winning the SBS Supermodel Contest in 2001. Under the stage name Han Ye-seul, she made her acting debut in the popular sitcom Nonstop 4 in 2003. Han quickly rose to fame, and she renounced her U.S. citizenship in 2004 and became a naturalized South Korean citizen to continue establishing herself in Korean entertainment. Her performances in Forbidden Love (2004) and That Summer's Typhoon (2005) received poor reviews, with critics dismissing her as primarily a commercial model and not a real actress.

Breakthrough

Han proved her detractors wrong with Couple or Trouble (also known as Fantasy Couple, 2006), a remake of Overboard written by the Hong sisters. Playing a spoiled heiress who becomes an amnesiac after a yacht accident, Han was praised for her comic timing and the series was a hit.

She further embraced the screwball comedy genre with her first film Miss Gold Digger (2007). Despite the film's lackluster box office, Han's portrayal of an advertising executive who juggles four different men in order to catch the ideal husband won her several Best New Actress accolades from local award-giving bodies, including the prestigious Grand Bell Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards.

Han next starred in Tazza (2008), a TV adaptation of Huh Young-man's manhwa of the same name about gamblers and card sharks. This was followed up with the Lee Kyung-hee-penned Will It Snow for Christmas?, a melodrama about childhood sweethearts who reunite as adults in 2009.

''Spy Myung-wol'' controversy

In 2011, Han was cast as the titular character in Spy Myung-wol, as a North Korean agent on a mission to kidnap a top South Korean Hallyu star, who ends up falling for him. The series gained notoriety when Han failed to show up for her scheduled filming on August 14–15 and instead flew to Los Angeles on August 16; it was the first instance of a leading actor abruptly leaving in the middle of a Korean drama shoot. Her then-agency SidusHQ cited conflicts with television director Hwang In-hyuk over her hectic working conditions, and that exhaustion had compromised her judgment. After extensive press coverage, Han returned to Korea and continued filming Spy Myung-wol on August 18. Upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, she apologized but maintained that her demands had been legitimate, stating "I want to believe that I did the right thing." Han drew harsh criticism from TV industry professionals and viewers, but some fans defended her, saying the stressful Korean drama live-shoot system was at fault.

Romantic comedy film Penny Pinchers was released two months after Spy Myung-wol finished airing. In it, Han shed her glamorous image to play an extremely frugal woman who considers love a frivolous expense and teaches an unemployed playboy the art of penny pinching.

Comeback

After the Spy Myung-wol fiasco, public backlash forced Han to go on a three-year hiatus from acting.

In late 2014, she made a successful comeback in Birth of a Beauty, where Han played a warm-hearted ajumma who overcomes her husband's infidelity by undergoing a head-to-toe makeover involving plastic surgery and weight loss. This was followed with leading roles in romantic comedies Madame Antoine: The Love Therapist (2016) where she plays a fake fortune teller, and 20th Century Boy and Girl (2017).

In 2019, Han starred in SBS drama Big Issue, playing a paparazzi journalist who chases after celebrity scandals.

In June 2021, Han signed with new agency High Entertainment.

Personal life

On May 2, 2011, Han hit a man surnamed Do on the hip with the wing mirror of her Porsche while driving into the parking lot of her home in an apartment building in Samseong-dong. Do sustained minor injuries and Han's lawyers offered him in compensation, but Do claimed that she had fled the scene. Her then-agency SidusHQ denied this, saying she had apologized and checked if he was okay, but did not step out of her vehicle. After an investigation, police cleared Han of the hit-and-run allegations.

Han began dating YG Entertainment record producer Teddy Park in May 2013. The two were reported to have broken up on October 24, 2016.

In January 2015, the FSS included Han in a list of people who were found to have violated the foreign currency-related law by failing to report their asset acquisition, such as real estate overseas, to relevant authorities. This referred to a commercial building in Koreatown, Los Angeles that Han had bought in 2011, but her then-agency KeyEast issued a statement that the omission had been a technical mistake, because Han had transferred the building's ownership to a company in which she was the major shareholder and was unaware that she should report it.

On May 13, 2021, Han revealed through an update from her Instagram that she is currently dating theatrical actor Ryu Sung-jae, who is 10 years younger than her. On May 7, 2024, Han announced that she had registered her marriage with her boyfriend.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Hosting

Music video appearances

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (2004-03-17). "한예슬 '미국 국적 포기하겠다'". Korea Daily.
2. "Han Ye-seul (한예슬)".
3. (13 January 2012). "Han Ye Seul to Rejoin Her Former Manager's Agency".
4. (30 March 2017). "Actors/Actresses Who Debuted from Sitcoms". [[Hancinema]].
5. "Actress Han Ye-Seul's New Sexy Looks". The Seoul Times.
6. link. (5 July 2004)
7. (12 April 2001). "<연합인터뷰> SBS 새 주말극 '그 여름의 태풍' 정다빈".
8. (5 September 2009). "When Stars Bank on Advertising Only".
9. (12 December 2007). "Herald Interview: Han Ye-seul, a bilingual beauty, eyes foreign entertainment markets".
10. (28 October 2006). "Han Ye Seul Wins Over Detractors as Amnesiac Heiress".
11. (18 December 2007). "Movie Review: ''Gold Digger'' buffs Han's charm, but misses".
12. (26 December 2007). "Christmas blues besiege three Korean actresses".
13. (29 June 2008). "Daejong Film Fest Showcases Trends".
14. (1 July 2008). "''The Chaser'' Top Winner at Grand Bell Awards".
15. (21 November 2008). "Blue Dragon Award Goes to Sports Drama".
16. (26 November 2008). "''Forever'' Wins Korea's Top Blue Dragon".
17. (8 July 2008). "Movie-Based Dramas to Fill TV Screens".
18. (27 November 2009). "SBS drama ''Will It Snow On Christmas?'' is all about love".
19. (1 December 2009). "New Drama to Bring Warmth This Christmas".
20. (5 July 2011). "Eric comes back with TV rom-com".
21. (7 July 2011). "Preview: KBS TV series ''Spy Myung-Wol''".
22. (10 July 2011). "Drama explores inter-Korean love story".
23. (16 August 2011). "Han Ye-seul Walks Away from Soap Opera Flop".
24. (17 August 2011). "AWOL Actress Willing to Return to Set".
25. (16 August 2011). "Actress Han under fire for abandoning role".
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31. (2 November 2011). "''Love and Cash'' Director Praises Han Ye Seul".
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33. (2 October 2013). "Han Ye Seoul gets on the stage as BEDNI creative director".
34. (30 October 2014). "Han Ye Seul Had a Tough Time Returning After Three Years".
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37. (18 January 2015). "Interview: Han Ye Seul Shares Boyfriend Teddy's Reaction to Her Acceptance Speech".
38. (26 October 2015). "Han Ye-seul, Sung Joon in new JTBC drama". [[The Korea Times]].
39. (10 July 2017). "Han Ye-seul and Kim Ji-seok to star in "Boy and Girl from the 20th Century"". [[Hancinema]].
40. (14 December 2018). "Han Ye-seul to star in SBS drama".
41. (9 March 2019). "Han Ye-seul Excited to Try Something Different in New TV Series".
42. link. (1 June 2021). OSEN]]
43. (6 May 2011). "Actress Charged in Hit-and-Run Accident".
44. (6 May 2011). "Han Ye-seul to be questioned for hit-and-run charge".
45. (20 May 2011). "Actress Han cleared of hit-and-run allegations".
46. (20 May 2011). "Actress Han Ye-seul cleared of hit-and-run charges".
47. (25 November 2013). "Han Ye-seul and Teddy in a relationship".
48. (26 November 2013). "Teddy, Han Ye-seul admit to dating".
49. (20 December 2016). "New couples emerge, others break up in 2016 celebrity dating scene". [[Yonhap]].
50. (13 January 2015). "FSS detects celebrities' illicit overseas asset deals".
51. (13 January 2015). "Chaebol scions, SM chief and actress in W130 bil. illegal FX deals".
52. link. (13 May 2021)
53. (2021-05-14). link
54. Moon, Ji-yeon. (7 May 2024). "[SC이슈] "나 이제 유부녀!"..한예슬, ♥10세 연하 남친 공개→혼인신고 직접 발표". [[Sports Chosun]].
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61. (2 April 2010). "Rain's ''Love Story'' music video to be released today".
62. "2008 Asia Model Awards Model Star Award (Korea) Joo Ji Hun & Han Ye Seul". AMFOC.
63. link. (25 April 2007). Star News]]
64. link. (24 April 2008). OSEN]]
65. (23 December 2008). "Filmmakers Honored at Golden Cinematography Awards". [[KBS World]].
66. link. (27 July 2008)
67. (20 January 2015). "Kim, Han take awards at Hwajeong".
68. (30 December 2006). "MBC 연기대상 '3관왕' 한예슬 "쟁반짜장 쏠게요"".
69. (30 December 2004). "이경규, 'MBC 방송연예대상' -"천재지변 피해자에 송구, 코미디팬에 감사"".
70. (1 September 2009). "문근영 대상, '조강지처클럽' 10개 부문 수상...SBS 연기대상(종합)".
71. (1 January 2015). "Four couples win best couple prize in SBS Drama Awards".
72. (1 January 2015). "2014 SBS연기대상은 전지현…"김수현 너 덕분"".