Fabulous in her 50s
The World Of The Married star Kim Hee-ae wins hearts in South Korea and abroad.
THE World Of The Married, which ended its run last month, was a runaway success, overtaking tiger-mum drama Sky Castle (2018) to become the country’s most watched cable drama serial.
In particular, the star of the show, 53-year-old Kim Hee-ae, impressed many viewers at home and overseas with her portrayal of Ji Sun-woo, a doctor with a seemingly perfect life who discovers her husband’s infidelity.
To little surprise, Kim took home the honours for best actress in a television series at South Korea’s recent Baeksang Arts Awards.
The World Of The Married, an adaptation of BBC series Dr Foster (2015 to 2017), was not expected to be a hit, due to its mature 19+ rating.
According to Yonhap news agency, BBC Studios producer Charles Harrison also had high praise for Kim, saying: “I was amazed by her acting skills as she captured a particular emotion with such sensitivity, portraying the look of a woman realising that everything she believed was a complete lie.”
Here are five things to know about the star.
1. Hard-working actress
Kim, who made her acting debut at the age of 16 in 1983, has honed her skills with many roles.
At 19, she became the lead of soap opera A Woman’s Heart (1986) which aired every weekday from April to December that year, following a character who aged from her teens to a woman in her 60s.
Kim appeared in three to four dramas a year. She took a break from acting in 1996 after marrying entrepreneur Lee Chan-jin after just three months of dating. They have two sons, born in 1998 and 2000.
Since becoming a wife and mother, Kim has become more selective with her choice of roles. She acted in only one drama between 1995 and 2003, and took another acting break between 2007 and 2011.
2. Life-threatening professionalism
Kim almost drowned when she (spoiler alert) filmed a pivotal scene in The World Of The Married, where her character walks into the sea in an attempt to drown herself.
Kim and co-star Lee Moo-saeng both chose to act out the scene themselves without relying on stuntmen.
The waves that day were extraordinarily strong. The duo were swept away from the shore and had to be rescued by members of a surfing school, who posted photos of the incident on social media but later deleted the posts.
3. Her husband doesn’t watch her act
The World Of The Married is not Kim’s first steamy infidelity drama – she has played both the other woman and the scorned woman in dramas such as My Husband’s Woman (2007) and How Long I’ve Kissed (2012).
In Secret Love Affair (2014), she plays a married woman who falls in love with a younger man, played by Yoo Ah-in.
Kim and Yoo shared hot kissing scenes and had sexy photo shoots to promote the show – not unlike the scenes Kim shared with Park Hae-joon, who plays her husband in The World Of The Married.
In a 2015 interview with The Straits Times, Kim said: “It’s actually very rare for my family to watch any of my shows and I feel more comfortable that way.
“Especially with Secret Love Affair, where I had a rather controversial role. I think it’s better if my family, including my husband, doesn’t exactly keep track of every single thing that I have to do for my roles.”
4. Value for money
According to South Korean variety programme Rumour Has It, Kim is one of the more affordable top actresses to employ.
A media associate for the programme estimated that Kim was paid about 70 million to 80 million won (RM245,000 to RM282,000) an episode for The World Of The Married – less than her juniors in the industry.
Descendants Of The Sun (2016) star Song Hye-kyo was reportedly paid 100 million to
150 million (RM354,000 to RM532,000) won an episode, while Crash Landing On You (2019) Son Ye-jin received around 130 million won (RM460,000) an episode.
Not that Kim needs the extra cash. Her husband Lee is the former chief executive officer of web portal Dreamwiz and founder of Hancom, which developed a word-processing software that lets users type in Korean, with some calling him South Korea’s Bill Gates.
But trouble may be brewing. Recent news reports from South Korea say that Lee, a former CEO of set-top box manufacturer Fortis, has been sued by the company’s current CEO for allegedly misappropriating more than four billion won.
5. Legendary beauty
When a photo of Kim as a student was shown in 2014 on South Korean variety programme Healing Camp, viewers were struck by how pretty she was even as a student.
In the black-and-white photo, Kim, with her bangs grazing her eyebrows, has large, bright eyes and smiles sweetly at the camera.
Kim has held on to her looks and figure well into her 50s, reportedly maintaining her weight at a constant 49kg for 30 years.
Park, her screen spouse in The World Of The Married, is actually nine years younger than her.
Kim was also the brand ambassador for Japanese cosmetics brand SK-II for more than 10 years.
In an interview with Icon Singapore magazine in 2015 to promote the brand, she said: “Being an actress has motivated me to keep maintaining my looks to present my best self to audiences.
“It has encouraged me to exercise consistently, and to eat and live healthily. – The Straits Times/asia News Network