Youn Yuh-jung

Youn Yuh-jung is a prominent South Korean actress whose career spans several decades across television, film, and unscripted entertainment. Often referred to as the "Godmother of Chungmu-ro," she initially achieved domestic fame during the early 1970s before taking a extended break from screen acting. After resuming her profession in South Korea, she built a prolific body of work and later attained international acclaim for her performance in the feature film Minari.

After completing high school in 1966, Youn enrolled at Hanyang University to study Korean language and literature. That same year, she successfully passed open acting auditions hosted by TBC, prompting her to leave her college studies to pursue performance work full-time. She made her official television acting debut in 1967 on the drama series Mister Gom.

Youn's breakthrough came in 1971 with notable performances depicting dark, complex characters. She starred in director Kim Ki-young's feature film Woman of Fire, a major commercial and critical success that earned her the Best Actress award at the Sitges Film Festival. She followed this success by portraying a famous royal concubine in the historical television drama Jang Hui-bin. Over the following years, she frequently collaborated with Kim on experimental projects such as The Insect Woman and later Be a Wicked Woman, while also gaining popularity in modern television roles like Stepmother.

In late 1973, at the height of her initial success, Youn moved to the United States alongside her fiancé, singer Jo Young-nam. The couple married in 1974 and resided in St. Petersburg, Florida, for ten years, during which Youn worked at a local supermarket to help support her family and raise their two sons. After the marriage collapsed, she returned to South Korea in 1984 and officially divorced Jo in 1987. Despite facing social stigma as a middle-aged divorcée, she successfully restarted her acting career by accepting non-traditional and complex roles.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Youn established a reputation for her versatile dramatic choices. She gained critical acclaim for her work in films such as A Good Lawyer's Wife, Actresses, The Housemaid, The Taste of Money, Boomerang Family, Salut d'Amour, Canola, and The Bacchus Lady. On television, she portrayed memorable matriarchs in prominent series including Men of the Bath House, Be Strong, Geum-soon!, Daughters-in-Law, My Husband Got a Family, and Dear My Friends. She also expanded into unscripted television, starring in reality programs like Sisters Over Flowers, Youn's Kitchen, and Unexpected Journey.

In 2020, Youn made her Hollywood debut playing the grandmother Soon-ja in the American drama Minari. Her performance earned over forty regional critics' honors alongside the Academy Award, SAG Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first South Korean performer to win an Oscar. Following this global success, Film at Lincoln Center held a retrospective of her career in 2021, Time magazine listed her among the 100 most influential people in the world, and she received South Korea's Order of Cultural Merit.

Youn subsequently transitioned into international television and film projects, including the series Pachinko, the feature film The Wedding Banquet, and the Netflix production Beef, which yielded a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. After ending her contract with Hook Entertainment in December 2022, she signed with Creative Artists Agency in January 2023. Beyond her professional accomplishments, her family includes two younger sisters, one of whom served as an executive at LG Group.