Chu Eun-ju (; born January 20, 1979), known by her stage name Choo Ja-hyun (), is a South Korean actress. Best known in Korea for the films Bloody Tie (2006) and Portrait of a Beauty (2008), Choo has also actively worked in China since 2007, notably in television drama The Temptation to Go Home (2011, remake of Temptation of Wife).
Early life Chu Eun-ju was born and raised in Daegu, the then-capital of North Gyeongsang Province. The only daughter of a cosmetologist and a white-collar worker, her parents divorced when she was 18 years old. She also revealed on a Chinese TV show that she had a little sister who died by drowning when they were younger. Choo graduated from Dankook University, with a bachelor's degree in Theater and Film.
Career South Korea Using the stage name Choo Ja-hyun, she began her entertainment career as a model at age 17. She made her acting debut in 1996, and went on to appear in several television series, among them Successful Story of a Bright Girl (2002), Sunrise House (2002), and Apgujeong House (2003).
Then after a decade in relative obscurity, Choo drew critical acclaim in 2006 for her portrayal of a ravaged drug addict in Bloody Tie, a film noir about the meth trade in 1990s Busan. She won acting recognition from the Grand Bell Awards, the Korean Film Awards, and the Director's Cut Awards, as well as nominations from the Blue Dragon Film Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards.
She was then cast in the erotic period drama Portrait of a Beauty, based on Lee Jung-myung's novel Painter of the Wind which reimagined Joseon artist Shin Yun-bok as a woman disguised as a man. Portrait of a Beauty became the 8th best-selling Korean film of 2008, and Choo again received supporting actress nominations for playing a gisaeng who entertains noblemen by performing dances and poetry readings.
This was followed by Missing (2009), a slasher film in which Choo's character is determined to find her younger sister, who's been abducted by a psychopath farmer who rapes and murders young women.
She starred in Loveholic in 2010, a character-driven romance drama directed by Kwon Chil-in. Choo played a self-destructive woman with a drinking problem and professional crises; she goes to stay at her friend's house until she sorts out her life, then has an affair with the latter's cuckolded husband.
Choo next appeared in The Famished, a 27-minute short film about stage actors who eat their own memories to satisfy their hunger; it was included in the omnibus Short! Short! Short! 2010: Fantastic Theater.
Taiwan and China Choo had begun building her pan-Asian profile when she appeared in the 2003 Taiwanese drama Scent of Love, which ranked number one in the ratings when it aired in Taiwan.
Despite almost a decade of acting experience in her homeland, Choo later said she decided to launch her career in China for practical reasons, "I did not have a choice (but to debut in China). Acting is my trade, and I have to act to make a living, but in Korea the work was not steady enough for a stable income." She was cast as Du Chun's leading lady in The Legend of the Banner Hero (also known as Clan Feuds), adapted from Taiwanese novelist Gu Long's wuxia novel of the same title. It was filmed in 2005, and aired in 2007. In late 2007, Choo was part of the main cast of another Gu Long adaptation, The Legend of Chu Liuxiang.
But it was her leading role as a betrayed wife in revenge melodrama The Temptation to Go Home (also known as Temptation of Going Home or Lure of Homecoming), a 2011 remake of Korea's Temptation of Wife (the original and remake both received high ratings), that catapulted Choo into stardom in Mainland China and made her one of the most sought-after Hallyu stars there. Fluent in Chinese and English, Choo has since relocated to Beijing and concentrated on her acting career in China, with occasional forays in Korean cinema. Her name is rendered in Chinese as Qiu Cixuan.
When Choo appeared in a semi-nude hanbok photo shoot for a Chinese magazine in 2011, she was criticized by Korean netizens for "damaging the national costume's image." Because of the controversy, she closed down her Twitter account and is instead active on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. Choo's old nude photos were also leaked to Chinese websites that year; her Chinese agency said the photos had been taken for personal reasons and threatened legal action against those circulating them.
She continued playing lead roles in Chinese television dramas of various genres (epic, fantasy, period drama, contemporary romance), such as Wipe Out the Bandits of Wulong Mountain (2012), Turbulence of the Mu Clan (2012), Hu Xian (2013), Legend of Southwest Dance and Music (2013), Xiu Xiu's Men (2014), and Gorgeous Workers (2014).
Personal life Choo announced on November 30, 2016 that she would be marrying Chinese actor and singer Yu Xiaoguang in 2017. Her management agency said that the families of the two recently met and discussed how to prepare for the wedding. The actress first revealed their romantic relationship through Chinese social media site Weibo in September 2015. They first met while appearing in a Chinese drama in 2012. They married on January 18, 2017.
On June 1, 2018, Chu Ja-hyun gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea.
Filmography Film Year English Title Original Title Role Notes 1996 The Adventures of Mrs. Park Hye-soo 2005 Short Time Yang Jung-ae Travel in Fog 2006 Bloody Tie Ji-young 2008 Portrait of a Beauty Seol-hwa 2009 Missing Hyun-jung 2010 Le Grand Chef 2: Kimchi Battle Seong-chan's mother (cameo) Loveholic Ji-heun 2011 Short! Short! Short! 2010: Fantastic Theater Lee Seo-yeon segment: "The Famished" () 2014 The Boundary 2024 While You Were Sleeping Yoon Deok-hee
Korean television Year English Title Korean Title Role Notes 1996 18, Feeling of Growing Up 1997 Miss & Mister 1998 The Eldest 1999 KAIST The Last War 2000 Legends of Love Because of You Ahn Soo-eun Cruise of Love 2001 Outing Jung Nan-young 2002 Successful Story of a Bright Girl Song Bo-bae Sunrise House Jung Mi-hee 2003 Apgujeong House Eldest daughter Sharp 1 Lee Ok-rim's narration 2004 Oh Feel Young Heo Song-ja 2005 Family Scandal Sun-ah 2010 A Man Called God Seo Mi-soo / Choi Kang-hee 2018 Misty 2019 Arthdal Chronicles 아스달 연대기 Asa Hon Season 1 Beautiful World 아름다운 세상 Kang In-ha 2020 My Unfamiliar Family (아는 건 별로 없지만) 가족입니다 Kim Eun-joo 2022Green Mothers' Club그린 마더스 클럽Byeon Chun-hee Little Women작은 아씨들 Jin Hwa-young Narco-Saints 수리남 Park Hye-jin Special appearance 2025Unmasked 트리거 Cho Hae-Won Head over Heels 견우와 선녀 Yeom Hwa
Chinese television Year English Title Chinese Title Role 2003 Scent of Love Jeon Ho-yeon/Yin Xiangzhi 2007 The Legend of the Banner Hero Shui Lingguang The Legend of Chu Liuxiang Shi Guanyin Let Love Rain Like Pearls Bei Xinru 2011 The Temptation to Go Home Gao Shanshan/Lin Pinru 2012 Wipe Out the Bandits of Wulong Mountain Chen Feng Jiao Turbulence of the Mu Clan A Leqiu Guan Biyun 2013 Hu Xian Nie Xiaoqian Legend of Southwest Dance and Music Ye Shaluo 2014 Wei Ruozhao Xiu Xiu's Men Gorgeous Workers Zhang Wei
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2004 KBS Drama Awards Best Supporting Actress Oh Feel Young 2006 7th Busan Film Critics Awards Bloody Tie 43rd Grand Bell Awards Best New Actress 27th Blue Dragon Film Awards 5th Korean Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Best New Actress 9th Director's Cut Awards 2007 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards 2009 46th Grand Bell Awards Best Supporting Actress Portrait of a Beauty 30th Blue Dragon Film Awards 17th Excellence Award, Actress in Film 2012 CCTV Chinese TV Star of the Year Awards International Cooperation Award 2013 2nd APAN Star Awards Achievement Award 8th Seoul International Drama Awards Best Actress Turbulence of the Mu Clan 2015 10th Seoul International Drama Awards Mango TV Popularity Award 2017 11th SBS Entertainment Awards Hot Star of the Year Same Bed, Different Dreams 2: You Are My Destiny 2021 7th APAN Star Awards Best Supporting Actress My Unfamiliar Family
References
External links
Choo Ja-hyun Fan Cafe at Daum