» Kang Soo-yeon
(강수연)
Date of birth : Aug 18, 1966
Profession : Actress,
Biography
From the mid-eighties until the end of the nineties, Kang Su-yeon (b. August 18, 1966) ranked as the best internationally known film star from Korea. After making her debut as a child actor in the 1970s, Kang continued to appear in a variety of low-profile films until her breakthrough with Im Kwon-taek's Surrogate Mother (1986). Her spirited performance in this film led the jury at the 1987 Venice International Film Festival to honor her with a Best Actress award, the first (and only) time a Korean actor had won such an award at one of the "big three" major international festivals. Two years later she would add to her prestige by also winning Best Actress at the Moscow International Film Festival for Im's Buddhist-themed feature Come, Come, Come Upward ("Aje Aje Para Aje").
At the same time, Kang won over younger fans with her appearance in Lee Kyu-hyung's hit film Mimi and Chul-soo's Adolescent Sketch, in which she played opposite Park Joong-hoon. Over the coming years she would appear in a mixture of popular features and works by the leading directors of the so-called Korean New Wave. Her best known films from the 1990s were Jang Sun-woo's acclaimed Road to the Racetrack; box office hit That Woman, That Man by Kim Ui-seok; Lee Myung-se's intense look at adultery Their Last Love Affair (1996); and Im Sang-soo's debut film Girls Night Out (1998).
In all, Kang has acted in over 30 films. From 2001-2002, she also starred in an hugely popular 150-episode TV drama on SBS TV called Ladies in the Palace ("Yeo-in Cheon-ha"), which gave her new visibility among mainstream viewers.