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Jung HoYeon has been the talk of the town since Squid Game came out on Netflix. She impressed all of the viewers with her fierce beauty and acting chops in the role of Kang Sae-byeok. It can be hard to believe that this was her acting debut because she delivered such a fantastic performance as a North Korean defector on the show. However, she has actually been making waves in the entertainment industry long before she snagged this part on the hit series.
For one thing, you might not have known that she was already a successful model before dipping her toes into acting. Mind you, HoYeon has actually walked the runway for many high-fashion brands and graced the covers of numerous magazines in the past. Her former signature look might take you by surprise as well, but this might not be the case if you keep up with the fashion industry. She is also good friends with K-pop artist Kim Jennie of BLACKPINK fame!
It goes without saying that there is so much more to HoYeon than her gorgeous face. Keep reading to learn more about this South Korean superstar, who is set to grow even more popular in the near future.
Her Childhood and Family Background
Let us go back to the very beginning. Better known by her first name, HoYeon was born in the Myeonmok-dong suburb of Seoul on June 23rd, 1994. She is the middle child of the family. She has a pair of sisters, although there is not much information about her family available on the internet. The model has posted about them on her social media pages in the past.
She once participated in an interview with her grandmother and mother. HoYeon shared that her grandmother has a habit of collecting fashion magazines that have her on the cover. This includes magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. In a separate interview, she called her mom the person she admires the most to raise three kids. It was also sweet when Hoyeon said she wishes she had been around to witness her parents’ wedding day.
Educational Background
After graduating from high school, she went to the College of Performance Arts at Dongduk Women’s University. She earned a degree in modeling from the institution. Her major must have made a lot of sense to her as she already had experience in the industry even before she started university.
Kicking Off Her Modeling Career
In 2009, HoYeon started to attend modeling classes when she was only 15 years old. The year after this, she launched her career as a freelance model and appeared on the stage at Seoul Fashion Week. In 2011, she tried out for the second cycle of Korea’s Next Top Model, a reality TV show on OnStyle. She made it to the top 30 but chose to quit after reaching this stage of the competition.
Two years later, she returned to compete during the fourth season of the same show. Even though she got the ax in the second episode, she returned in the fifth one and eventually finished as a runner-up. After this, she starred in the music video of “Move” by Kim Yeon-woo. When it comes to her work in print, she graced the spreads of Korean editions of Elle, W, and Vogue.
Launching Her International Modeling Career
After some time without an agency, she signed with The Society Management and left South Korea to pursue an international career in 2016. She went on to sign to Nomad Management and Elite Model Management as well. Before HoYeon moved to New York, she unintentionally colored her hair a bright red color. This turned out to be a happy accident, however, as she became known for this look.
She was booked to walk exclusively for Alexander Wang, but the deal was canceled. Luckily, she got to debut on the international runway at the Opening Ceremony S/S show at the 2017 New York Fashion Week. HoYeon was off to a great start and went on to appear in shows for other high-fashion brands such as Max Mara, Fendi, Alberta Ferretti, and Marc Jacobs.
Aside from her runway work, she also appeared in Love, W, and Harper’s Bazaar. Gap and Sephora hired her for ad campaigns as well. In 2016, she joined Paris Fashion Week and made her runway debut there as an exclusive for the S/S 2017 Louis Vuitton show.
In September 2018, HoYeon was added to the top 50 models list by Models.Com. She also bagged the Asian Star Award at the Asian Model Awards in 2019.
Flaming Red Hair as Her Signature Look
When she was starting out on the international modeling circuit, she was instantly identifiable for her flaming red hair. As a matter of fact, designers would refer to her as the “red-haired Asian.” HoYeon explained that she felt like going through a personal transformation as she launched her international career. It was a spontaneous decision, but it made her stand out from the crowd in a good way.
However, she found it hard to maintain the hair color. It entailed dying her hair twice a month, which was not good for her scalp. HoYeon stuck with it for two years but decided to slowly transition to darker shades. She said that this coincided with the decline of her modeling career, but it does not sound like she minds it too much. After all, she admitted that it gave her the chance to focus on her hobbies.
Her Public Image
In 2015, Monica Kim of Vogue said that HoYeon was “one of Seoul’s top modeling talents.” Six years after this, Vulture’s K-Ci Williams called her “the world’s current ‘It’ girl.” Squid Game made her popularity grow exponentially in the blink of an eye. As a matter of fact, she became the South Korean actress with the highest number of followers, with more than 20 million followers. People were surprised that she surpassed the likes of Song Hye-Kyo and Lee Sung-Kyung as quickly as she did.
Working With High-End Fashion Houses
Over the years, she has walked for the following brands:
- Acne Studios
- Bottega Veneta
- Brandon Maxwell
- Burberry
- Chanel
- Emilio Pucci
- Gabriela Hearst
- Giambattista Valli
- Gucci
- Jacquemus
- Jason Wu
- Jean-Paul Gaultier
- Jeremy Scott
- Lanvin
- Miu Miu
- Moschino
- Oscar de la Renta
- Prabal Gurung
- Roberto Cavalli
- Schiaparelli
- Tory Burch
Aside from her work on the runway, she has also appeared in ads or the following:
- Bottega Veneta
- Chanel
- Hermes
- Louis Vuitton
She has also appeared on the covers of these magazines:
- Vogue Korea
- Vogue Japan
- Harper’s Bazaar Korea
- CR Fashion Book
Apart from the aforementioned achievements, HoYeon has also worked with fashion houses in a different capacity. For one thing, the stunning young woman appeared in a promo video for the capsule collection collaboration between American musician Pharrell and Chanel in March 2019.
In October 2021, she was dubbed the Global House Ambassador for fashion, watches, and jewelry by Louis Vuitton. In the same month, Adidas Originals partnered with the model for the Adicolor campaign. Squid Game must have helped with the last two opportunities, and we are sure that she will have even more work lined up in the future.
HoYeon and Jennie
Naturally, people are intrigued to find out that two of the biggest stars in South Korea right now are the best of friends. Jennie is best known for her work as a part of BLACKPINK, although she has also released a solo single. How did these two lovely ladies meet?
In an interview with Teen Vogue, HoYeon explained that she met Jennie at Paris Fashion Week. The K-pop star attended a Chanel show in which the model walked. Jennie’s stylist introduced the two of them to each other, but their friendship was cemented further when they hung out after HoYeon watched a BLACKPINK concert. From then on, they would meet up when they were both in Korea.
According to HoYeon, they get along well because they are close in age and have similar careers. On top of that, she explained that Jennie has been supportive of her new career as an actress. In fact, the main rapper of BLACKPINK even sent over a coffee truck to the set of Squid Game! The model also believes that the show became popular partly because Jennie shared a story about it before it came out.
In A Long-Term Relationship
According to Herald Pop, HoYeon and actor Lee Dong-hwi have been in a public relationship since 2016. However, they had actually been dating for a year before they shared the news. At the time, his show Reply 1988 was still on the air, but he “didn’t want to lie about his personal relationships.” The two of them keep their relationship on the down-low.
She shared that he is proud of her. HoYeon called him a good friend and overall a wonderful person. It helps that he is an actor himself, so he understands what she is going through. He is best known for starring in hit movies such as Confidential Assignment, New Trial, and The Handmaiden.
Her Love of Film
HoYeon is always on the move, thanks to the nature of her modeling career. In her free time, she consumed a lot of movies, especially when she was all by herself at hotels and airplanes. According to the model, some of her favorite movies are Kill Bill, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Fargo. She even said that she had seen these movies multiple times! Despite this, she has confessed that she prefers art-house to gory thrillers.
Even though she is not especially fond of horror, certain projects stood out to her. Of course, these are the artsiest films you will find in the genre. She has mentioned liking The Dead Don’t Die, a zombie satire, and Midsommar, Ari Aster’s Swedish cult hit.
She is a big fan of actors and actresses who embody the characters that they play once the cameras are rolling. Among others, she likes performers such as Adam Driver, Donna Bae, Frances McDormand, and Lupita Nyong’o. Her interest in the art form hailed from a desire to understand both herself and other people better.
How She Got Her Start As An Actress
It is amazing to think of how far HoYeon has already come. In 2017, she was interviewed by Interview magazine. Even then, she already said that she would like to learn how to act. She even said, “Movies, music, and love inspire me.”
You can tell that HoYeon has a good on her shoulders because she acknowledged that modeling has a short life span. The amount of work she was doing was already declining, so she decided to take the plunge. She would return to her home country in the holidays and take acting lessons for a total of three months’ worth by the end of it. Aside from this, she worked on improving her English to speed up the process of learning how to act.
At the start of 2020, HoYeon signed a contract with a local talent agency called Saram Entertainment. A month after this, she was handed three scenes from the script of a show called Squid Game. This actually served as her first acting audition ever. HoYeon tried out for the part through a video call as she had been in New York for work at the time. Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the director, later asked her to audition once more in South Korea. During that meeting, she received the part right away.
She did not expect that she would get the part, nor did she anticipate just how popular the Netflix show would become. HoYeon admitted that she was just pleased that she was cast and could perform in front of the camera. Not counting her reality TV show stint in her teens, this was the first time that she has appeared on the screen. We cannot wait to see what she does next.
Intense Preparation for Squid Game
Kang Sae-byeok, her character in the TV show, is a North Korean defector. HoYeon took it upon herself to portray the part as well as she could. She did this by learning the Hamgyŏng dialect from actual North Koreans. Aside from this, she watched documentaries about defectors and learned martial arts.
She also used her personal feelings of loneliness and wrote a daily journal from the perspective of Sae-byeok. These were the things that she did to better understand the character and figure out how to play her. It is not hard to see that HoYeon is truly dedicated to her job. Luckily, her hard work paid off as her character was an instant fan favorite. Critics went as far as to say that the model was the breakout star of Squid Game.
Acting and modeling are similar but different. HoYeon explained that she had to avoid walking as if she were on a runway actively. It was challenging for her to move in a more natural way. However, she did acknowledge that her modeling experience helped her understand how the camera sees her. Essentially, there are certain skills that were transferable to her new career as an actress.
What She Thinks of the Show
Even though she was surprised to see the show become a global sensation, she could see why it captivated viewers. HoYeon said that the show revolves around the idea of human nature, which is naturally relatable. Her theory is that what makes it so appealing is that the story was communicated through childhood games. She also said that she was amazed by the irony of the real-world lives and in-game personas of the characters.
When it comes to her role, HoYeon said that what she liked the most about Sae-byeok was her willingness to do everything for her family. This motivation gave her a sense of purpose in life. The model admitted that she felt closer to Sae-byeok after a little while. She found happiness in this and felt as if her efforts were worth it.
She has also credited the other cast members for walking her through the show since it was her debut role. HoYeon mentioned that Yoo Sung-joo and Kim Joo-ryoung stayed close to the monitor while she was shooting her solo scene. This was their way of supporting her, knowing that she was under a lot of pressure. The model even called this one of her favorite memories on the set.
After the Success of Squid Game
HoYeon might be interested in trying her hand at romance and fantasy, but she does not plan to give up fashion yet. She explained that she enjoys the work she does and the experiences that come with it. Only time will tell what the future has in store for HoYeon. No matter what she ends up doing, there is no doubt that she will see even more success!
