Over the past couple of weeks the internet has been buzzing with searches for Kim Ah-Joong. Which makes her LKL’s fifth Celeb of the Month.
Kim Ah-joong (김아중) was born in 1982 in Seoul. She shot to fame with the film 200 Pound Beauty, where she stars as a talented but tubby singer who undergoes radical plastic surgery to improve her looks. Several A-list drama stars such as Ha Ji-won, Kim Ha-neul, Kim Hee-sun and Ko So-young turned down the role, thus giving Kim Ah-Joong the chance to shine.
Kim (whose given name is transliterated variously as Ah-Jung, Ah-Joong, Kim A-Joong) had already appeared in two earlier films – the well-received Rom-com When Romance Meets Destiny (Kim Hyeon-seok, 2005) and the melodramatic teen comedy Who’s got the tape? (Cho Jin-gyu, 2004) – before 200 Pound Beauty brought stardom. Critics were impressed by both her singing and her acting, and she was awarded Best Actress in the 2007 Grand Bell Awards for the role. Here she is singing Byul in a scene from the film:
More videos of her singing can be found here.
TV appearances have included the marathon (170 episode) drama Bizarre Bunch or Strange Woman, Strange Man (별난여자 별난남자, 2005) and the awkwardly translated Our attitude to prepare parting (이별에 대처하는 우리의 자세, 2005) These two dramas won her the KBS Best New Actress Award 2005. Other awards she has received include
- “Hot Face” 2007 (Elle Style)
- “Best Body” 2007 (Shape Magazine)
Like any other star, she boosts her income where possible with promotional work – including Pantene (a good excuse to get wet in a shower) and Star Jeans – and balances this with charity work: last year she put her name to a book on Emotional Communication, the proceeds of which went to a hospital for handicapped children.
So why have people been looking for pictures of her recently? Some nude photos of her have been doing the rounds of the internet. Cynics suggest that they were released to provide publicity for an upcoming made-for-TV movie, Present, which will screen in March. But a film starring Jung Woo-Sung and Kim Ah-Joong, and directed by Kim Ji-Woon, shouldn’t need such publicity.
Links
- Kim Ah-Joong official website
And so to the pictures.
