Han So-hee

Rent Money and Gangnam Bars

Han So-hee arrived in Seoul with just 300,000 won in her pocket. She had no industry contacts and no prestigious training in performing arts. For months, she worked at bars in the Gangnam district to pay her bills while looking for a chance in commercial modeling.

In 2016, she appeared in the music video for the SHINee song Tell Me What To Do. That small commercial job opened the door to her first TV series a year later. In 2017, she debuted with a supporting role in Reunited Worlds, where she had barely any lines.

The industry noticed her for her cold gaze.

That distant, cool look was exactly what convinced casting directors for her next projects. In 2018, she took part in Money Flower, and in 2019, she joined the cast of The Abyss. Still, her name wasn't yet on the lists of actresses most sought after by South Korean producers.

The Villain Who Broke the Ratings

In 2020, she played the young mistress Yeo Da-kyung in the drama The World of the Married. The series reached a 28.4% viewership rating in its final episode and became the biggest cable TV hit in the country. Viewers hated her character with an intensity that spilled off the screen.

She received thousands of hateful comments on her social media from viewers who couldn't tell fiction from reality. But that massive backlash was the ultimate proof of her ability to carry a big-budget production. Luxury brands began sending contracts before the series had even finished airing.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2021, she decided to move away from femme fatale or sophisticated-girl roles. She starred in Nevertheless, where she explored a much more vulnerable and realistic side of toxic college relationships. The series performed very well on international digital platforms, although it had modest results on Korean broadcast television.

Blood and Mud on the Set

To prepare for her role in the action series My Name in 2021, she trained for months at a stunt academy. She gained ten pounds of muscle so the fight scenes would look convincing on camera. She performed the vast majority of her stunts without professional stunt doubles.

But the body endures until it doesn't.

During filming of Gyeongseong Creature in 2022, she suffered a facial injury near her eye that forced production to halt for several weeks. The project premiered in two parts between 2023 and 2024, blending historical drama with biological horror. The investment in visual effects for this series was one of the highest in Korean television history.

Her personal image generates almost as much buzz as her film work. Her tattoos (visible in old photos and removed by laser so she could work in television) are a recurring topic in the local press. She has never apologized for her past or her lifestyle before achieving global fame.

In 2024, the film Heavy Snow hit commercial theaters a year after screening at the Jeonju Film Festival.