Kim Hye-ja

Kim Hye-ja (; born October 25, 1941) is a South Korean actress and humanitarian. Best known to South Korean audiences as the archetypal mother figure in popular television series such as Country Diaries (1980–2002), What Is Love?, My Mother's Sea (1993), and Roses and Beansprouts (1999). Kim drew international critical acclaim in the noir thriller Mother (2009), The Light in Your Eyes (2019), Our Blues (2022) and Heavenly Ever After (2025).

Early life Kim was born on October 25, 1941, in Keijō, Korea, Empire of Japan (present-day Gyeonggi Province, Seoul, South Korea).

Kim was studying Living Art at Ewha Womans University when she dropped out of college to pursue a career in acting.

Career

Kim made her acting debut in 1963, and went on to star in more than 90 television dramas, including I Sell Happiness (1978), Sand Castle (1988), Winter Mist (1989), What Is Love? (1991), My Mother's Sea (1993), You and I (1997), and Roses and Beansprouts (1999). Country Diaries, in which she appeared for 22 years, is particularly notable for making Kim into a household name and cementing her image among South Korean audiences as an iconic, unconditionally loving and self-sacrificing mother.

As Kim grew older, she expressed her disappointment in being relegated to supporting roles. Then in 2008, screenwriter Kim Soo-hyun cast Kim in the leading role of a woman who declares a one-year break from her family after spending decades as a housewife looking after her three children, a husband and a widowed father-in-law in Mom's Dead Upset. Kim's character broke free from stereotypical South Korean TV mothers in her desire for independence, and initial misgivings that viewers would find her unsympathetic turned out to be unfounded, with the series recording a peak viewership rating of 42.7%.

But 2009 marked another turning point in Kim's career, when she was cast in her first film a decade after Mayonnaise (1999). Acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho had long been an enthusiastic admirer of Kim's, and he said he'd wanted to make a film centered around the veteran actress, then it occurred to him that being the national symbol of motherhood might be as much a burden for Kim as it was an honor. In Mother, Kim surprised Korean audiences with her intense performance as a middle-aged single mother who obsessively loves her mentally handicapped son and sets out to prove his innocence when he's accused of murder. Bong said he would have given up the project if Kim had not accepted his offer, "Without Kim Hye-ja, Mother wouldn't exist." Kim returned the compliment, saying Bong helped her "reactivate all the cells that have been dormant in (her) body." The film received critical acclaim from domestic audiences and international film festivals, and Kim won numerous acting awards. She was the first ever Korean actress to be named Best Actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

From 2011 to 2012, Kim headlined Living Among the Rich, one of the inaugural programs of newly launched cable channel jTBC. It was Kim's first sitcom in her 48-year career, and it followed her character as she and her family move into a rundown building in the wealthy area of southern Seoul and struggle to keep pace with their well-off neighbors.

She returned to the theater in 2013 to 2014 with Oscar, Letters to God, a Korean stage adaptation of the French novel Oscar and the Lady in Pink. In the one-woman show, Kim played 11 roles, including Oscar, a 10-year-old boy dying of leukemia, and the nurse (named Jang-mi or Granny Rose) that he confides in.

In late 2014, she played a rich and fussy widow in How to Steal a Dog, based on the same-titled novel by Barbara O'Connor.

Other activities Ambassadorship Kim has been a goodwill ambassador for the nonprofit Christian relief organization World Vision Korea since 1991. She has visited refugee camps in war-torn and poverty-stricken regions in more than 20 countries around the globe, including Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Bangladesh and Sierra Leone, and sponsors 103 children from underdeveloped countries. In 2004, she wrote and published a book based on her experiences titled Don't Beat Someone, Even with Flowers, and donated all proceeds from its sales to underprivileged children in North Korea.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Late Autumn Hye-rim 1999 Mayonnaise Mom 2009 Mother Mother 2014 How to Steal a Dog Old lady 2017 The Way Soon-ae 2026 Still Shining Sun-okReleasing at BIFF

Television series Year Title Role 1969 Frog Husband 1971 Chief Inspector 1975 Bride Diary 1977 I Regret It 1978 I Sell Happiness Even If the Wind Blows 1979 Mom, I Like Dad 1980 Country Diaries (until 2002) Chairman Kim's wife Gan-yang-rok Terminal 1981 Let Us Love 1982 Yesterday and Tomorrow 1983 Infant 1984 Missing 1985 500 Years of Joseon:"The Wind Orchid" Queen Munjeong 1986 First Love 1988 Sand Castle Jang Hyun-joo 1989 The 2nd Republic Kim Ok-sook Winter Mist Seo Myung-ae Your Toast Jin Sang-shim A Happy Woman 1990 What Do Women Want? Jung-hee Still Forty-nine 1991 What Is Love? Yeo Soon-ja 1992 Two Women Oh Hye-jung 1993 My Mother's Sea Young-hee 1994 A Human Land Kim Shil-dan 1995 Woman Song Min-sook 1996 Salted Mackerel Kim Gong-shim 1997 Your Mother's Story You and I Kim Eun-soon 1999 Roses and Beansprouts Lee Pil-nyeo 2002 Since We Met Jo Nam-deuk 2004 The Autumn of Major General Hong Heo Young-sook 2005 Smile of Spring Day Park Nae-soon 2006 Princess Hours Queen Dowager Park 2008 Mom's Dead Upset Kim Han-ja 2011 Living Among the Rich Kim Hye-ja 2015 Unkind Ladies Kang Soon-ok 2016 Dear My Friends Jo Hee-ja 2019 The Light in Your Eyes Kim Hye-ja 2021 Country Diaries 2021 Chairman Kim's wife 2022 Our Blues Kang Ok-dong 2025 Heavenly Ever After Lee Hae-sook

Theater Year Title Role 1987 Before the Rooster Crows Over Judah 1991 19 and 80 Maude 1997 King David The Marriage of Figaro Our Broadway Mama 2001 Shirley Valentine Shirley Valentine 2007 Doubt Sister Aloysius 2013–2014 Oscar, Letters to God Oscar/Jang-mi/Parents/Peggy Blue etc.

Books Year Title Publisher ISBN 1994 Kim Hye-ja's Small Voice People 2004 Don't Beat Someone, Even with Flowers Ancient Futures 2011 Small World (Watching the World Unfold Before Becoming an Adult) Darim

Awards and nominations + Year presented, name of the award ceremony, award category, nominated work and the result of the nomination Year Award Category Nominated work Result 1966 2nd Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Actress (TV) 1976 12th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress (TV) Bride Diary 1978 14th Baeksang Arts Awards You 1979 15th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) for TVI Sell Happiness Best Actress (TV) 1982 21st Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Late Autumn 1983 2nd Manila International Film Festival 1988 24th Dong-A Theatre Awards 19 and 80 MBC Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang)Sand Castle 1989 16th Korea Broadcasting Awards Best Actress Winter Mist 25th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) for TVWinter Mist, Sand Castle Best Actress (TV) 1992 MBC Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang)What Is Love? 1996 4th Korea Advertisers Association Consumer's Choice Good Model Award 1999 36th Grand Bell Awards Best Actress Mayonnaise 1st Social Welfare Day Presidential Commendation MBC Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang)Roses and Beansprouts 1st Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Awards Recipient 2002 MBC Hall of Fame 2003 14th Wiam Jang Ji-yeon Prize 2nd Star 선행 대상 1st Feminist Award in Pop Culture and Arts 2008 KBS Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang)Mom's Dead Upset Top Excellence Award, Actress 2009 45th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) for TV Best Actress (TV) 2nd Style Icon AwardsBeautiful Sharing Award 18th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival Best Actress in a Foreign FilmMother 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards Best Actress 30th Blue Dragon Film AwardsBest Leading Actress 10th Busan Film Critics Awards Best Actress 29th Korean Association of Film Critics Awards 18th Buil Film Awards 46th Grand Bell Awards 12th Director's Cut Awards 10th Women in Film Korea Awards Cine 21 Awards 2010Asian Film Critics Association Awards 1st KOFRA Film Awards 7th Max Movie Awards IndieWire Critics Poll Village Voice Film Poll Dublin Film Critics' Circle 4th Asian Film Awards Best Actress 46th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actress (Film) 36th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress 14th Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Actress World Vision International Special Award 2011 17th Chlotrudis Awards Best Actress Mother 1st Beautiful Artists Awards Recipient 30th Sejong Culture Award Recipient, Social Volunteering category 2014 9th Interpark Best Actress in a Play Oscar, Letters to God 2015 24th Buil Film Awards Best Supporting Actress How to Steal a Dog 52nd Grand Bell Awards KBS Drama Awards Top Excellence Award, Actress Unkind Ladies Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama PD Award (chosen by PDs from KBS, SBS & MBC) 4th CARI K Drama Awards Best Supporting Actress 2016 tvN10 Awards Best Actress Dear My Friends 2019 55th Baeksang Arts Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) for TVThe Light in Your Eyes Best Actress (TV) 24th Asian Television Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role

State honors +List of State Honour(s)StateAward CeremonyYearHonorSouth KoreaKorean Popular Culture and Arts Awards2019 Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit

Listicle + Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement Publisher Year List Placement KBS 2023 The 50 people who made KBS shine Korean Film Council 2021 Korean Actors 200