Song Hye-kyo (Korean: 송혜교, born February 26, 1982) is a South Korean model and actress. She gained popularity through television dramas such as Autumn in My Heart (2000), All In (2003), and Full House (2004).
Career
Song debuted in the entertainment industry in 1996 when she won the Grand Prize in SunKyung Smart (a school uniform company) when she was finishing her third year in junior high school. It was not long until she starred in her first drama, Merry Morning. Since then, she would continue to star in a string of various dramas and sitcoms but it wasn't until the KBS drama Autumn in My Heart in 2000 with Song Seung-hun and Won Bin that she rose to fame throughout Asia.
In 2003, her popularity continued to climb when she played a leading role alongside Lee Byung-hun in the gambling drama All In. The following year, she co-starred with singer Rain in the hit romantic comedy series Full House.
After the pan-Asian success of Full House, she made her big-screen debut in My Girl and I (a Korean adaptation of Crying Out Love in the Center of the World), which was panned by audiences and critics alike. Vocal about her dissatisfaction with typecasting in the roles she was being offered, Song went on a 2-year hiatus.
She returned to acting in 2007, as the titular kisaeng in the film adaptation of Hwang Jin Yi. Because they found Song's image "too cute", Jun Ji-hyun and Soo Ae were the producers' original choices for the role, but Song went on a vigorous diet and surprised them with her will and desire to be Hwang Jini. A year later, she made her American debut in the Hollywood indie Make Yourself at Home (formerly titled Fetish), a psychological thriller about a girl who was born to a shaman mother and tries to flee her fate by becoming an immigrant bride in the U.S. Despite Song’s attempts to challenge herself, both films underwhelmed at the box office.
She made her TV comeback in late 2008 with The World That They Live In, a series set at a broadcast station in which Song and Hyun Bin play drama PDs who work together and fall in love.
In 2010, she starred in Camellia, an omnibus pic made up of three feature films directed by three Asian directors. Each episode is set in the past, present and future of the city of Busan, Korea. In the film's final segment Love for Sale, Song and Kang Dong-won play former lovers who forget their memories about each other which later leads them to a fatal destiny.
Considered one of Korea's most beautiful women, in early 2011 Song released the photobook Song Hye-kyo's Moment which was shot by top photographers in Atlanta, New York, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Paris, the Netherlands and Brazil.
She plays a documentary producer who finds the strength to forgive the 17-year-old boy who killed her fiance but instead of redemption finds only greater tragedy in A Reason to Live (Korean title: Today), which after several delays was released in October 2011. Song was a huge fan of the director and had actively sought her out, and though she had difficulty getting into character, Song said she fell in love with the script and felt her acting had matured. She considers the film "a turning point" in her life.
She will next appear in a supporting role in The Grandmasters, Chinese director Wong Kar-wai's biopic about Bruce Lee's kung fu master Ip Man. Song learned Cantonese and martial arts for the film.
Two years after it was cancelled, Song's movie with Chinese director John Woo Love and Let Love (previously titled 1949) will begin filming in Shanghai and Taiwan in early 2012. She plays a wealthy, driven woman who lives through the end of World War II and the Chinese Civil War. Woo's longtime friend and producer Terence Chang has been managing Song's overseas activities since 2008.
Endorsements
Song is one of the most in-demand product endorsers in Korea and has done many TV commercials and print ads over the years. She has been a spokesperson for popular brands such as Laneige, Levi's (Lady style), Etude, Whitea, Aritaum, Innisfree, Nintendo DS (Animal Crossing), Roem, McDonalds (Ice Cream), FHM and Vivien Bra.
To promote a new line for cosmetics brand Laneige, Song made her official singing debut in a collaboration with Superstar K2 runner-up John Park. The single Switch: Be White was released in March 2012, along with a music video which featured Song and Park recording the track. Proceeds from the sale of the tune will benefit the “Be Waterful” campaign, a joint project between Laneige and Save the Children, an international aid group.
Personal life
When Song was born, she was sick and her parents and doctor thought she would not survive. Miraculously she did and her parents only registered her birth on February 26, 1982 (instead of her actual birthdate). She has no siblings. Her hobbies are ice skating, swimming, and playing the piano. She was described by her high school teacher as having a "cheerful character, she mixed well with her friends and was always in a bright mood."
In 2003, Song began dating actor Lee Byung-hun while both were filming All In. Their relationship and subsequent break-up in 2004 generated much media attention and gossip. The experience taught her to draw a clear line between private and public life, saying in a 2008 Dong-A Ilbo interview, "The viewers suddenly learned, while in the midst of watching a drama I was acting in, that I was somebody’s girlfriend. In the end, this was an obstacle and only served to create a sense of dislike among viewers."
Song kept in touch with The World That They Live In co-star Hyun Bin after the drama ended, but it was their separation while Hyun was filming Friend, Our Legend in Busan that made them realize they were in love. They announced their dating status in June 2009. But unlike her previous relationship with Lee, Song and Hyun were rarely seen in public together and refused to discuss their relationship with the press. In March 2011 mere hours after Hyun's military enlistment, his and Song's agencies confirmed speculation that the couple had broken up. According to the joint press release, "Both have been very busy shooting films and dramas both in and out of Korea, which inevitably caused them to grow apart." With rumors of their separation circulating since late 2010, the agencies said the two split up in early 2011 but wanted to keep it secret for the time being "because neither of them wanted the public attention to be directed on their split instead of their professional work. Hyun also did not want a personal issue to interfere with his last days with his fans before starting his military service."
Asked about the aftereffects of her two romantic relationships that caught the public's attention, Song said in October 2011, "I think the time when I felt uncomfortable about living under a microscope has gone. I'm no longer afraid of such things. What I did was typical of any woman my age. In fact, I haven't had any time to feel lonely."
In February 2012, Song filed a defamation suit against 41 Internet users. The case is currently under investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Awards
• 2011 Women in Film Korea Awards: Acting Award (A Reason to Live)
• 2007 Korean Film Awards: Best New Actress (Hwang Jin Yi)
• 2004 KBS Drama Awards: Best Actress, Top Excellence (Full House)
• 2004 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award (Full House)
• 2004 KBS Drama Awards: Best Couple with Rain (Full House)
• 2003 SBS Drama Awards: Best Actress, Top Excellence (All In)
• 2003 SBS Drama Awards: Top 10 Stars (All In)
• 2002 China Entertainment TV Awards: Top 10 Asian Entertainers
• 2001 SBS Drama Awards: Top 10 Stars (Guardian Angel)
• 2001 Paeksang Arts Awards: Popularity Award (TV category)
• 2001 Golden Disk Awards: Popular Music Video Award (Kim Bum Soo's Once Upon a Day)
• 2001 Gold Song Awards (Hong Kong): Top Korean Star
• 2000 KBS Drama Awards: Photogenic Award (Autumn in My Heart)
• 2000 KBS Drama Awards: Popularity Award (Autumn in My Heart)
• 1998 SBS Drama Awards: Best New Actor/Actress (Soonpoong Clinic)
• 1996 SunKyung Smart Model Contest: First Prize
Sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Hye-kyo
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