Han Hyo Joo

Biography

Han Hyo-Joo (born February 22, 1987) is a South Korean film and television actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as Heaven & Earth (2007), Iljimae (2008), Brilliant Legacy (2009), and Dong Yi (2010) for which she won the coveted Best Actress award at the 47th Baeksang Arts Awards, W (2016) and Happiness (2021), as well as the films Masquerade (2012), which is one of the highest grossing Korean films of all-time, Cold Eyes (2013), for which she won Best Actress at the 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards, Love 911 (2012), The Beauty Inside (2015), and The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure (2022).

Han Hyo-Joo was born in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Her mother was an elementary school teacher before becoming an inspector for public schools, and her father was an Air Force officer. As a child, she was good at sports, particularly track and field.

In her sophomore year of high school, she moved to Seoul and attended Bulgok High School, despite the objections of her strict and conservative father. She then entered Dongguk University, where she joined the theater and film department.