Jang Jin-young (; June 14, 1972 – September 1, 2009) was a South Korean actress. Following Jang's time as a model and participation in the 1992 Miss Korea beauty contest, she began her acting career on television, in the drama Angel in My Heart (1997). She made her film debut in Ghost in Love (1999). Jang's acting career took off following her breakthrough performance, in Sorum (2001). She starred in a variety of film genres, among them romantic films such as Over the Rainbow (2002), Scent of Love (2003), Singles (2003), and Between Love and Hate (2006), biographical film Blue Swallow (2005), and drama series Lobbyist (2007).
Jang received critical praise and won a number of awards for her work. She became only the second winner of two Blue Dragon Film Awards for Best Actress, having won in 2001 for Sorum, and again in 2003 for Singles. As of 2008, Jang was one of the highest paid stars in the Korean film industry, earning in the region of per film.
On September 1, 2009, Jang died at the age of 37 after a year-long battle with stomach cancer.
Early life Jang Jin-young was born on June 14, 1972, in Imsil, North Jeolla Province, South Korea. She attended Jeonju Jungang Girls' High School.
As a third-year high school student, she began to be interested in fashion and decided to change her career plans. She had originally intended to go to music school to major in piano. She was enrolled in the Department of Costume Design at Sangmyung University.
Career
Early work Jang Jin-young began her career as a model, and represented the South Chungcheong Province at the 1992 Miss Korea beauty contest. After making the transition into acting with appearances in a number of TV dramas, she received her film debut with a supporting role in the 1999 fantasy Ghost in Love. In 2000, she appeared in Kim Jee-woon's The Foul King, one of the biggest domestic hits of that year, and Jang's tough image in the film drew attention from critics, with Derek Elley of Variety saying that she "makes an impression as the lightly romantic, not-so-fragile daughter".Derek Elley. "The Foul King review ". Variety. June 19, 2000. Retrieved August 5, 2007. Also that year, she had a role in the fire fighting film Siren.
Breakthrough and mainstream success
Jang's first starring role was in the 2001 psychological horror film Sorum, in which she was cast against type as Sun-yeong, a chain smoking abused wife. The part required her to look badly bruised and disheveled, and she found the regimen of three packets of cigarettes per day to be quite grueling, despite being a smoker herself. Both the film and Jang's performance received praise from critics, with Peter Y. Paik of The Film Journal commenting, "[Jang] Jin-young is utterly convincing in her portrayal of a battered wife, conveying both vulnerability and grit."Peter Y. Paik. "Sorum review ". The Film Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2007. Jang won Best New Actress at the Busan Film Critics Awards,"Film Awards Ceremonies in Korea ". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved June 20, 2007. Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards."Korean Film Newsletter #12 ". Koreanfilm.org, December 15, 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2007.
In 2002, Jang co-starred with Lee Jung-jae in Over the Rainbow, a romantic comedy film in which her character helps an old college friend to recover his lost memory, and she was praised in a review at Korean Film for giving a "lively performance".V. "x" Naldi. "Over the Rainbow review ". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved July 8, 2007. The following year, Jang appeared alongside Park Hae-il in the more dramatic Scent of Love. Her next film, also released in 2003, was the light-hearted comedy Singles, based on a novel by Japanese writer Kamata Toshio. Jang headed an ensemble cast as Na-nan, a down on her luck woman on the verge of turning thirty, who she described as being "very close to my actual real-life self" in terms of her personality."Reference Notes", booklet with YA Entertainment R1 DVD release of Singles, ASIN B000B7MDMU . Singles proved to be one of the big hits of that year,"Seoul Box-Office Results (2003) ". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved June 9, 2007. and also found favor with critics, with Jang in particular being lauded for her performance. Derek Elley of Variety wrote, "With her effervescent, ingenuous goofiness, Jang dominates the movie, and twins well with [Uhm Jung-hwa]".Derek Elley. "Singles review ". Variety, August 4, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2007. Jang again won Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, becoming only the second actress to win the award twice, and also received the Popularity Award.
For her next project, Jang was cast as the lead in Blue Swallow, a ₩9.7 billion biopic of aviation pioneer Park Kyung-won,Mi-Seok Koh. "Flying in Pursuit of Her Dreams ". The Dong-A Ilbo, December 29, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2007. which reunited her with Sorum director Yoon Jong-chan, and Singles co-star Kim Joo-hyuk. She worked on the film for some 15 months, during which time she was required to learn Japanese and overcome her fear of heights,"[KOREAN DVD REVIEWS] 청연 (Blue Swallow) ". Twitch Film, April 4, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2007. and later said, "At every moment, I was pushing my limits. My experiences as [Park Kyung-won] taught me a lot and made me work even harder to live my life to the fullest." Released towards the end of 2005, the film found itself the subject of strong criticism, with Park seen by many as having been a pro-Japanese figure during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea,Kim Tae-jong. "Blue Swallow Faces Turbulence ". AsianDB.com; originally published by The Korea Times, February 22, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2007. and it subsequently sold a disappointing 600,000 tickets at the Korean box office.Kyu Hyun Kim. "Blue Swallow review ". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved July 30, 2007. Nevertheless, Jang received several award nominations for her role in the film, and won Best Actress at the 2006 Critic's Choice Awards.Darcy Paquet. "Pair win top prizes at Korean awards ". Variety, December 26, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
In 2006, Jang appeared in the film Between Love and Hate, the directorial debut of actor and screenwriter Kim Hae-gon. She played the role of Yeon-ah, a carefree bargirl who embarks on a tumultuous love-hate relationship with slacker Young-woon (played by Kim Seung-woo), despite him being engaged to another woman. In order to give a realistic portrayal of a bargirl, Jang spent time touring underground bars and room salons, but had difficulty identifying with her character, saying, "I couldn't easily understand why she had to act that way... I was embarrassed at times to stand in front of the camera and act like that."Lee Min-a. "'Dating' explores limit of dysfunctional love ". Korea JoongAng Daily, September 4, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2007. Her performance won Best Leading Actress at the Korean Film Awards, and she also received nominations at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards."The 27th Blue Dragon Awards ". The Korea Society. Retrieved June 21, 2007."Paeksang Arts Awards 2007 ". Cinemasie. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
Jang made a return to television in 2007, when she was cast as one of the leads in the SBS drama series Lobbyist, a ₩12 billion production about lobbyists and political conspiracies. Filming began in New York City on April 24, and in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre it was reported that the production company had taken out insurance policies on Jang and her co-stars over fears of related incidents."장진영 '엔젤' 美촬영위해 10억 보험 ". The Daily Zoom (in Korean). Retrieved August 4, 2007.
In the media In 2006, Movie Week magazine compiled a list of Korea's 25 most beautiful faces, which named Jang as the sixth most beautiful woman. The results were gathered by polling 86 of the top domestic photographers.
Jang was one of the guests at the "Curtain Call" section of Star Summit Asia, a side event of the inaugural Asian Film Market to showcase established Asian stars for the international marketplace. Speaking at the press conference, she professed a love for action films, and expressed a desire to one day star in a Chinese action film.
Later life and death
During a regular health check on September 22, 2008, Jang was diagnosed with stomach cancer. This was considered a strange and tragic coincidence as she was well known for her role in Scent of Love as a woman dying of stomach cancer. She had been suffering from pains while eating, but had believed the cause to be a stomach ulcer. In a telephone interview aired on MBC's After News program on November 29, 2008, Jang told the public that she had been undergoing Western medical treatments coupled with traditional herbal remedies, and that her health was improving. Eventually, her condition continued to deteriorate and Jang was hospitalized in Seoul, where she died at approximately 4:04 p.m. on September 1, 2009.
Secret marriage After Jang's death, it was belatedly revealed that she had been secretly married. She had wed her husband, , while in the U.S. for cancer treatment, and registered the marriage to make it official in Korea just days before her death. Kim later published a book commemorating the 608 days of their relationship, titled My Last Gift To Her. The book features previously unreleased photos (including that of their Las Vegas wedding), as well as some letters and text messages they exchanged. When asked in an interview why he wrote the book, Kim answered: "Right now, my memories of Jin-young are distinct, but I'm human and someday my memories will grow dimmer. I don't want to lose my memories of being with her. Writing this was my way to deal with that. Someone who writes for a living told me that it helps and is a good method for organizing their emotions, and those words motivated me to write the book. Also, as I've already said in the prologue, Jin-young was an actress who had a great future ahead of her, and I thought it would help in having her remembered beautifully. Even when her time was limited, she didn't give up hope and lived diligently, and I wanted to let people know of Jin-young's passionate life."
Filmography Film YearTitleRole1999Ghost in LoveLee Young-eun2000The Foul KingJang Min-youngSirenYe-rin2001SorumSun-young2002Over the RainbowKang Young-hee2003Scent of LoveMin Hee-jaeSinglesNa-nan2005Blue ShallowPark Kyung-won2006Between Love and HateYeon-ah
Television series Year Title Role Notes 1997 Angel in My Heart Ahn So-yeonSupport role 1998 Soonpoong Clinic Jang Jin-youngHeart of LiesLee Hyun-jiBlushing with LoveKang Eun-hye 2007 Lobbyist Maria / Yoo So-youngMain role
Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Busan Film Critics Awards 2001Best New Actress Sorum Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actress Festival de Cine de Sitges Director's Cut Awards "Jang Jin-young" . Naver People Database. Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award 2002 Blue Dragon Film Awards 2003 Singles Popular Star Award Korean Film Awards Best Actress Baeksang Arts Awards 2006 Blue Swallow "42nd Baeksang Awards Nominations [+Winners] ". Twitch Film, April 14, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2007. Grand Bell Awards "43rd Grand Bell Awards Winners [The Clowns Bring Home 10] ". Twitch Film, July 22, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2007. Korean Film Awards Between Love and Hate ""The Host [괴물] Sweeps 5th Korean Film Awards" ". Twitch Film, November 20, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2007. Blue Dragon Film Awards Korean Association of Film Critics Awards Blue Swallow Baeksang Arts Awards 2007 Between Love and Hate Grimae Awards Lobbyist SBS Drama Awards Best Actress in a Miniseries Style Icon Awards 2009 Special Award Blue Dragon Film Awards Director's Cut Awards Memorial Award
References
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