Yunjin Kim

Early life

Kim was born in Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea. She emigrated to the United States with her family in 1983–1984. They lived in Staten Island, New York. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical My Fair Lady.

Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, graduating in 1989. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA), and later earned her BFA degree in drama at Boston University. She is also a trained dancer and martial arts fighter.

Career

After graduation, Kim played several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the off-Broadway stage. In 1996, Kim decided to return to Korea, where she starred in Splendid Holiday (1997). She was then cast in the TV drama Wedding Dress. Her breakthrough debut came in the 1999 film Shiri, South Korea's first blockbuster film. Shiri became the highest-grossing film in South Korean history at the time. In November 2000, she continued her association with Kang Je-gyu in The Legend of Gingko.

After acting in a Japanese film and a feature set in Los Angeles, Kim appeared in the sci-fi feature Yesterday. Then in 2002, Kim took the lead role in the feature film debut of documentarist Byun Young-ju, Ardor.

In 2004, Kim started appearing in the U.S. television series Lost, which ran for six seasons.

In 2006 she was featured on the cover of Stuff, as well as an inside spread. In 2006, Maxim named Kim number 98 on its annual Hot 100 List.

In 2013, she had a leading role in the ABC drama series Mistresses.

In 2018, Kim returned to South Korean television by headlining the series Ms. Ma, Nemesis.

In 2022, she starred as Seon Woo-jin in the South Korean remake of Money Heist, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.

In 2023, she acted as Principal Jina Lim in English-Korean Netflix TV Series, XO, Kitty.

Personal life

Kim married her former manager Park Jeong-hyeok in March 2010 on the island of Oahu, after shooting her final scenes for Lost.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Listicles

Notes

References

References

1. link
2. Park. Hae-na. link. (April 26, 2019)
3. (July 17, 2013). "Actress Kim in Lost as Sun".
4. William Keck. (January 15, 2006). "Actress Kim gets 'Lost' in generous gifts, jewels". USA Today.
5. Jae-Ha Kim. (April 13, 2005). "Asian stars are rising – Latest TV breakthroughs look like the real deal". New York Daily News.
6. Todd Gilchrist. (August 29, 2006). "Interview: Yunjin Kim".
7. "Leguardia Notable Alumni list". alumniandfriends.org.
8. (November 7, 1973). "Yunjin Kim Pictures, Blog, Interviews, News, Trivia, Yunjin Kim Biography". Buddytv.com.
9. "Yunjim Kim Credits". tvguide.com.
10. "2006 Hot 100 List".
11. ''Matt Webb Mitovich'' [http://www.tvline.com/2012/03/yunjin-kim-cast-on-abc-mistresses/ Lost's Yunjin Kim Finds Role on ABC's Mistresses] {{Webarchive. link. (March 18, 2012 , [[TVLine]], March 16, 2012)
12. (March 17, 2018). "Yunjin Kim hopes 'Ms. Ma, Goddess of Revenge' becomes her best South Korean TV series". [[Yonhap News Agency]].
13. (March 30, 2010). "Lost's Yunjin Kim gets married in Hawaii". CNN.
14. link. [[Herald Pop]]. Lee Mi-ji. (April 22, 2022)
15. link. Jo Ji-young. (January 2, 2024)
16. link. Kim Na-young. (March 31, 2021)
17. link. Newsen. Lee Min-ji. (April 29, 2022)
18. link. [[Osen (newspaper). OSEN]]. Kim. Soo-hyung. (January 1, 2019)
19. link. Star Today. Yang. So-young. (September 4, 2023)
20. 조선일보. (2021-01-18). "[공식] 영화진흥위원회, 韓배우 200인 선정..'Korean Actors 200' 해외 홍보 나선다".
21. "KOREAN ACTORS 200".
22. "1984~2008 한국영화 배우 흥행 파워 50".
23. link. (January 2, 2020)