Han Ye-seul (; born Leslie Kim, September 18, 1981) is a South Korean actress. She made her acting debut in the

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' Nonstop 4'' (2003), and has since played leading roles in

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

s such as ''

Couple or Trouble ''Couple or Trouble'' (; lit. ''Fantasy Couple'') is a 2006 South Korean television series loosely based on the 1987 Hollywood film '' Overboard''. Starring Han Ye-seul and Oh Ji-ho, it aired on MBC from October 14 to December 3, 2006, on Sa ...

'' (2006), '' Tazza'' (2008), and '' Birth of a Beauty'' (2014), as well as the films '' Miss Gold Digger'' (2007) and '' Penny Pinchers'' (2011).

Early life

Leslie Kim was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She attended

Cerritos High School Cerritos High School, also called CHS, is a comprehensive, four-year public high school located in Cerritos, California, serving grades 9–12. It is part of the ABC Unified School District. As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an ...

and graduated from Cerritos College with an

associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

in Computer Graphics. She is fluent in both English and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

Career

Acting debut

She began her modeling career in South Korea after winning the SBS Supermodel Contest in 2001. Under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Han Ye-seul, she made her acting debut in the popular

'' Nonstop 4'' in 2003. Han quickly rose to fame, and she renounced her U.S. citizenship in 2004 and became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

South Korean citizen to continue establishing herself in Korean entertainment. Her performances in '' Forbidden Love'' (2004) and ''That Summer's Typhoon'' (2005) received poor reviews, with critics dismissing her as primarily a commercial model and not a real actress.

Breakthrough

Han proved her detractors wrong with ''

'' (also known as ''Fantasy Couple'', 2006), a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of '' Overboard'' written by the Hong sisters. Playing a spoiled heiress who becomes an amnesiac after a yacht accident, Han was praised for her comic timing and the series was a hit. She further embraced the

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a film subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary charact ...

genre with her first film '' Miss Gold Digger'' (2007). Despite the film's lackluster box office, Han's portrayal of an advertising executive who juggles four different men in order to catch the ideal husband won her several Best New Actress accolades from local award-giving bodies, including the prestigious

Grand Bell Awards The Grand Bell Awards (), also known as the Daejong Film Awards, is an awards ceremony presented annually by The Motion Pictures Association of Korea for excellence in film in South Korea. The Grand Bell Awards retains prestige as the oldest co ...

and

Blue Dragon Film Awards The Blue Dragon Film Awards () is an annual awards ceremony that is presented by ''Sports Chosun'' (a sister brand of the ''Chosun Ilbo'') for excellence in film in South Korea. The Blue Dragon Film Awards considers only blockbusters and popula ...

Han next starred in '' Tazza'' (2008), a TV adaptation of

Huh Young-man Huh Young-man (born June 26, 1947) is a South Korean manhwa artist. Early life Huh Young-man was born Huh Hyeong-man in present-day Yeosu, a far southern coastal city of what is now South Jeolla Province, South Korea in 1947. He was the third ch ...

manhwa Manhwa () is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by acce ...

of the same name about gamblers and card sharks. This was followed up with the Lee Kyung-hee-penned '' Will It Snow for Christmas?'', a melodrama about childhood sweethearts who reunite as adults in 2009.

''Spy Myung-wol'' controversy

In 2011, Han was cast as the titular character in ''

Spy Myung-wol ''Spy Myung-wol'' () is a 2011 South Korean television series starring Han Ye-seul, Eric Mun, and Lee Jin-wook. It aired on KBS2 from July 11 to September 6, 2011 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 18 episodes. Plot Han Myung-wol is a Nort ...

'', as a North Korean agent on a mission to kidnap a top South Korean

Hallyu The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K- ...

star, who ends up falling for him. The series gained notoriety when Han failed to show up for her scheduled filming on August 14–15 and instead flew to Los Angeles on August 16; it was the first instance of a leading actor abruptly leaving in the middle of a Korean drama shoot. Her then-agency

SidusHQ iHQ Inc., doing business as SidusHQ () is one of the leading talent management agencies in South Korea. It was founded in January 2001 by Teddy Hoon-tak Jung. The company is involved in talent management (artist content), and TV drama/music prod ...

cited conflicts with

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

Hwang In-hyuk over her hectic working conditions, and that exhaustion had compromised her judgment. Han's absence effectively halted production, and the KBS network lambasted her actions as "unilateral, irresponsible and will not be tolerated," while the drama's production company

Victory Contents Victory Contents () is a Korean drama production company based in Seoul. History ''source:'' *April 4, 2003 - Music Encyclopedia was established. *October 2003 - The company's name was changed to Victory Production Co. (later Victory Productio ...

(then known as Victory Productions) threatened legal action. After extensive press coverage, Han returned to Korea and continued filming ''Spy Myung-wol'' on August 18. Upon arrival at

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport is the main international airport serving Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is also one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. This airport opened for business on 29 March 2001, to replace the old ...

, she apologized but maintained that her demands had been legitimate, stating "I want to believe that I did the right thing." Han drew harsh criticism from TV industry professionals and viewers, but some fans defended her, saying the stressful Korean drama live-shoot system was at fault. Romantic comedy film '' Penny Pinchers'' was released two months after ''Spy Myung-wol'' finished airing. In it, Han shed her glamorous image to play an extremely frugal woman who considers love a frivolous expense and teaches an unemployed playboy the art of penny pinching.

Comeback

After the ''Spy Myung-wol'' fiasco, public backlash forced Han to go on a three-year hiatus from acting. In late 2014, she made a successful comeback in '' Birth of a Beauty'', where Han played a warm-hearted ajumma who overcomes her husband's infidelity by undergoing a head-to-toe makeover involving plastic surgery and weight loss. This was followed with leading roles in romantic comedies '' Madame Antoine: The Love Therapist'' (2016) where she plays a fake fortune teller, and '' 20th Century Boy and Girl'' (2017). In 2019, Han starred in SBS drama ''

Big Issue Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * '' Big!'', a Discover ...

'', playing a paparazzi journalist who chases after celebrity scandals. In June 2021, Han signed with new agency High Entertainment.

Personal life

On May 2, 2011, Han hit a man surnamed Do on the hip with the wing mirror of her

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

while driving into the parking lot of her home in an apartment building in

Samseong-dong Samseong-dong () is a neighborhood of Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. It is considered an affluent area of Gangnam District, along with Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong. The area has a large concentration of upscale shopping malls, popu ...

. Do sustained minor injuries and Han's lawyers offered him in compensation, but Do claimed that she had fled the scene. Her then-agency

denied this, saying she had apologized and checked if he was okay, but did not step out of her vehicle. After an investigation, police cleared Han of the

hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the criminal act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there ma ...

allegations. Han began dating

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

record producer

Teddy Park Teddy Park (born Park Hong-jun on September 14, 1978) is a Korean Americans, Korean–American Rapping, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park moved to the United States with his family as a young child. Wh ...

in May 2013. The two were reported to have broken up on October 24, 2016. In January 2015, the FSS included Han in a list of people who were found to have violated the foreign currency-related law by failing to report their asset acquisition, such as real estate overseas, to relevant authorities. This referred to a commercial building in

Koreatown, Los Angeles Koreatown (, Latn, ko, Koriataun) is a Neighborhoods of Los Angeles, neighborhood in central Los Angeles, California, centered near Eighth and Irolo streets. Koreans began immigrating in larger numbers in the 1960s and found housing in the Mi ...

that Han had bought in 2011, but her then-agency

KeyEast KeyEast (; stylized in all caps) is a management agency founded by actor Bae Yong-joon. History In May 2009, KeyEast acquired Japanese company () () and made it an affiliated company. After the acquition by SM Entertainment, it was renamed Stre ...

issued a statement that the omission had been a technical mistake, because Han had transferred the building's ownership to a company in which she was the major shareholder and was unaware that she should report it. On May 13, 2021, Han revealed through an update from her Instagram that she is currently dating theatrical actor Ryu Sung-jae, who is 10 years younger than her. On May 7, 2024, Han announced that she had registered her marriage with her boyfriend.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Hosting

Music video appearances

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Ye-seul 1981 births Living people South Korean television actresses South Korean film actresses South Korean female models Actresses from Los Angeles American emigrants to South Korea American people of South Korean descent American actresses of Korean descent Former United States citizens 20th-century South Korean actresses 21st-century South Korean actresses Best New Actress Blue Dragon Film Awards winners Best New Actress for Grand Bell Awards winners