Sharon Choi (born Choi Sung-jae; 1994 or 1995) is a South Korean interpreter and film director. She received widespread recognition and praise as Bong Joon-ho's Korean–English interpreter during the 2019–2020 film awards season.

Early life and education

Choi was born in 1994 or 1995 in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, South Korea. She moved to the United States at a young age and returned to Korea when she was ten years old. Choi attended the

Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies (abbreviated as HAFS; Hangeul: 용인한국외국어대학교부설고등학교; Hanja: 龍仁韓國外國語大學校附設高等學校) is a private boarding school located in the northern part of Yongin, Sou ...

Yongin Yongin () is a city in the Seoul Capital Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the count ...

and the School of Cinematic Arts at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

Career

During the press tour for the 2018 film '' Burning'', Choi interpreted for director Lee Chang-dong. She met Bong Joon-ho in April 2019 when she was asked to interpret for one of his phone interviews, and accompanied him at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where his film ''

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

'' won the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

. Choi continued as Bong's interpreter throughout the 2019–2020 film awards season, including at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, the 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards, and the 92nd Academy Awards. In May 2021, she interpreted for Bong as he presented the award for Best Director at the 93rd Academy Awards. The success of ''Parasite'' resulted in widespread visibility for Choi, and she received praise from industry figures and audiences for her nuanced interpretations of Bong's speeches and interviews. Zack Sharf of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' described Choi as "the undisputed MVP of Oscar season", and ''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

'' credited her with generating excitement for ''Parasite'' among American audiences in the run-up to the Academy Awards. Some people in South Korea practiced English by watching videos of Choi's interpretations. She gained an internet fanbase and was frequently praised on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and in the comments sections of Bong's interviews. In July 2020, she received the YoungSan Diplomat Award from the nonprofit Seoul Forum for International Affairs for "her role in enhancing South Korea's national image". In addition to her work as an interpreter, Choi is a film director and producer. She directed ''Self Portrait'', a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

that was screened at

CAAMFest CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every March in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asia ...

in 2019. She co-produced the 2020 short film ''Mother of Three'', directed by Han Jun-hee. In February 2020, ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009. Awards ''TheWrap'' has won awards for its journalism, incl ...

'' reported that Choi was working on a screenplay about the awards season. She later refuted the reports in a '' Variety'' essay and instead announced that she was writing a screenplay for a film set in Korea. Bong himself has publicly expressed interest in Choi's scripts. In 2021, Choi hosted the
StrangeLand
' audio podcast alongside

Ben Adair Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, � ...

, about the 2003

Miracle Mile Murders The Miracle Mile Murders, also known as the Miracle Mile Massacre or the Koreatown Slayings, was a 2003 mass-murder in Koreatown, Los Angeles. The crime was notorious for its savagery and its apparent lack of motive, and it went cold until March ...

in Koreatown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Sharon 1990s births Interpreters Living people People from Seoul South Korean film directors South Korean film producers South Korean screenwriters South Korean women film directors USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni South Korean women film producers Women screenwriters