Choi Jin-sil (; December 24, 1968 – October 2, 2008) was a South Korean actress. She was considered one of the greatest actresses in South Korea, nicknamed "The Nation's Actress" for playing leading roles in some of the highest-rated Korean dramas of all time such as Jealousy (1992), Season of Storms (1993), Star in My Heart (1997), You and I (1997) and My Rosy Life (2005). Her film work includes North Korea's Southern Army (1990), My Love, My Bride (1990), Susanne Brink's Arirang (1991) and The Letter (1997). Widely regarded as the most popular actress of her time, she led the entertainment industry in terms of commercial success across film, television, and advertising. She played leading roles in 18 films and 20 television dramas, appeared in hundreds of advertisements, and won several awards. She was 39 when she died by suicide by hanging on October 2, 2008, at her home in Seoul after being the victim of distressing rumours.
Early years Choi was born as the first child to her parents Choi Guk-hyeon and Jung Ok-suk on December 24, 1968, in Eunpyeong District, Seoul, South Korea. Her mother separated from her father in 1985 and divorced him in 1998. She had a younger brother, Choi Jin-young, who was an actor and singer, and two elder half-brothers, brought in by her father from a previous relationship. Her mother only knew of the other children after marrying her father.
When she was two years old, her father, a taxi driver, contracted tuberculous pleurisy and was unable to work, selling the taxi he owned. At the age of four, she lived with her extended family—father, mother, younger brother, three aunts, three uncles, and a grandmother—in a rundown three-room shack in the mountain village of Gupabal. Her poverty-stricken mother took Choi and her younger brother up a hill to commit suicide, but the attempt failed and they returned home crying. When she was ten, her father went to work as a laborer in the Middle East, and her family moved to Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong District. She attended Dongmyeong Girls' Middle School while actress Kang Soo-yeon attended Dongmyeong Girls' High School, and both schools are located within the same fence. Choi admired Kang, who started her career as a child actress in the 1970s. She used to secretly watch the actress outside her class and even sat in her seat when no one else was in the room. She showed aptitude for physical education and was especially talented in art, winning various competitions, and her teacher encouraged her to go to art school.
Her family was so poor that her mother once managed the household by running a pojangmacha (a small street stall selling foods) when her father ran away from home. She gave up going to art school and it was only through her blind (habitual) "going to school," and the support of friends and teachers that she was able to graduate from high school. A biology teacher even paid Choi's tuition out of his own salary. She dreamed of becoming a star to escape poverty. She said in talk shows her nickname during her school days was "Choisujebi" because she used to eat sujebi (a dumpling soup) instead of ordinary meals due to the home environment. Although she later became the highest taxpayer among celebrities, she was known for frugality, even receiving Presidential Commendations for her savings activity.
She and her younger brother worked on their acting skills together and they passed the KBS Talent Recruitment Test in 1986. However, their mother did not want her to enter the entertainment industry, and she was unable to pay for her training at the broadcaster, so her dreams of becoming an actress were put on hold.
Career
1988–1990: Beginnings and breakthrough In 1987, Choi graduated from Seonil Girls' High School. She could not afford to enter art school, so she got a job at a hotel in Seoul, right after graduation. However, she could not give up on her acting dreams and quit the hotel in 1988 and went on a two-month hunger strike. After a while, their mother surrenders and her brother helps her. Her brother, who was a senior in high school, had been working as an advertising model since his first year. He personally took her portfolio pictures and visited modeling agencies with her. Eventually, she was cast for a minor role in a commercial and began in Korea's entertainment circles as an advertising film model. She began to gain celebrity status in an advertising campaign for Samsung Electronics in which she acted as a newly wedded housewife. Her appearance caused great reactions not only among the public, but also in the advertising and entertainment industries. The "Choi Jin-sil Syndrome" was called a cultural phenomenon and casting offers poured in.
In 1988, she became a TV actress starring in the MBC historical drama, and steadily appeared in supporting roles on television for a year. Her first film was Nambugun: North Korean Partisan in South Korea (1990), and her performance in the film as a partisan nurse won her the Best New Actress awards at the 11th Blue Dragon Film Awards and Chunsa Film Art Awards. In the same year, she played the leading role in the hit movie My Love, My Bride (1990) and won Best New Actress at the 29th Grand Bell Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, establishing her as an advertising model-turned film actress. Both films are the second highest-grossing Korean films of 1990 and 1991, respectively.
1990–2002: Mainstream success She drew attention for her spunky role in the youth drama (1990) where she co-starred with Chae Shi-ra in the second installment. After appearing as a guest on MBC's Quiz Academy, a quiz show for college students, she stood out for her hilarious personality, and her career continued to rise when she appeared in (1990), a popular youth drama about the lives of college students. In Our Paradise, she played the role of a fake student, Seung-mi, and gave a three-dimensional performance. Since it was planned for Seung-mi to leave the drama from the beginning due to Choi's conflicting schedules with other works, the character died from a terminal illness halfway through the show and viewers who wanted to see more of Choi's acting were disappointed. Through this drama, she gained sympathy and popularity, becoming an idol of the youth and new generation and started making her mark at MBC.
In 1991, she played the role of high school student Da-hye in the teen film about the 1980s generation that liberalized school uniforms, followed by the role of Susanne Brink (real name: Shin Yu-sook), a religious studies student at Uppsala University in Sweden, in Susanne Brink's Arirang, a film about the international adoption of South Korean children. The film was shot on location in Sweden. Choi's intimate portrayal of an adopted child impressed many audiences and earned her critical acclaim, including nominations for Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Baeksang Arts Awards. While living in Sweden during filming, Choi experienced the country's gender-equal family culture and took the opportunity to grow as an actress by acting in Swedish and trying out a role she hadn't done before. Her films succeeded in the box office, catapulting Choi to the top within two years of her debut. She was described as 'Chungmuro's money-making machine'; 'the Choi Jin-sil Syndrome, the duck that lays golden eggs'.
She expanded her solidified image of a youth star into more diverse and challenging roles as in the film where she played the role of a struggling student activist who eventually commits suicide. In November 1991, Choi became the second celebrity to appear in the MBC documentary The Human Era after national actor Ahn Sung-ki. The broadcast became a huge success with 45% viewership, and Choi gained national favor with the public, across all generations, with her previously unseen image of a friendly commoner through The Human Era: The Truth About Choi Jin-sil. The title is a wordplay on her name, Jin-sil (진실 lit. "truth").
After several experiences in TV dramas as a supporting actress, Choi debuted on a leading role in the MBC drama Jealousy (1992), which recorded the highest viewership rating of 56.1% and became the first Korean production to be broadcast outside the country. In 1993, China's Harbin TV imported and broadcast the series, making it a bridgehead for the export of Korean dramas to the Asian market, especially the Chinese mainland, which was dominated by Japanese dramas. The term "trendy drama" was first used to describe Jealousy. Cultural critic Ha Jae-geun said, "The drama [Jealousy] was not just considered a popular drama, but is a symbol of an era. It was the beginning of the trendy drama." Trendy dramas refer to movies or TV dramas that delve into the tastes of the younger people by featuring popular stars as the main characters and depicting city life, cutting-edge fashion, and new generation mindsets. The drama was a breath of fresh air, breaking away from the standard tropes of most dramas of the past. It approached the public from a new perspective, portraying the unique yet realistic lifestyles of young people in their 20s and 30s, and marked the beginning of Korean romantic comedies. Choi naturally portrayed the bright, cheerful, yet sharp Ha-kyung, becoming a symbol of the new generation of working women. For her beauty, acting ability, and relatable portrayal of the lead character, Choi was nicknamed, "The Nation's Sweetheart" and became a beloved national actress. She starred in a string of successful dramas and films in the following years, such as the film (1992) with Choi Min-soo, the MBC melodrama Season of Storms (1993) and the comedy film How to Top My Wife (1994).
In 1994, Choi starred in the film , which dealt with gender violence and opened a new chapter in the history of Korean feminist films. Choi sought to transform her acting by appearing in socially weighty works and even invested her appearance fee on the film's production costs, as a response to the mounting crisis in Korean cinema concerning underfunded projects. Choi's participation as the lead actress and producer was said to be due to her close relationship with the producers and director, as well as her strong attachment to the role of the main character, Kang Min-ju, who is a villain protagonist. "In order to save Korean cinema, not only producers and directors but also actors need to step up to the plate," Choi said at the time, adding, "I want to show a new image in good films regardless of appearance fees." She won Best Film Actress at the 30th Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance. She also co-starred with Lee Byung-hun in the SBS drama Scent of Love which recorded high viewership ratings. She won consecutive Top Excellence Awards at the SBS Drama Awards for the two years that she spent at the broadcasting network.
In January 1995, she won the Grand Prize in the CF category at the 1st Korea Model Festival for her work as a commercial model since her debut in the advertising industry. She was later reunited with Lee Byung-hun in the 1995 romantic comedy film Who Drives Me Crazy and the SBS action drama Asphalt Man, which was one of the major productions of its time. In the second half of the year, she enrolled in the Department of Performing Arts (Theater and Film) at Chung-Ang University, School of Arts, to study acting professionally. Choi had a desire to learn acting systematically, starting with breathing and vocalization. In November, she received the Best Actress award at the 33rd Grand Bell Awards for the box office hit How to Top My Wife. At the time, she was filming Asphalt Man on location in the U.S., so her mother accepted the award on her behalf.