Actress Han Ga In is off the market, as it’s been revealed that she has become labelmates with Lee Byung Hun and Han Hyo Joo by signing with BH Entertainment.
On December 20th, representatives of the agency confirmed, “We’ve entered into an exclusive contract with Han Ga In.” The agency currently houses talents like Go Soo, Han Chae Young, Bae Soo Bin, and more.
The representative continued, “Han Ga In has both the beauty and acting talent to be loved in Korea and internationally. We’re going to be working our hardest to make sure that her color shines as bright as ever all over the world.”
Han Ga In’s had a successful year with the double home runs of both a drama and a movie. She recently made a trip to Tokyo for the promotion of ‘The Moon That Embraces the Sun‘ and contracted for a Chinese CF.
Here's a new international poster for G.I. Joe: Retaliation. In case it looks familiar, that's because it looks very similar to a previous poster that was released earlier this year. The Jon Chu-directed film stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, Adrianne Palicki, Byung-hun Lee, Elodie Yung and Ray Park.
Regardless of the negative things that have been reported on the film because of its very long delay, it still looks like it could be a really cool movie. It will finally be released in theaters on March 29th, 2013.
It has become a tradition for photographer Cho Sei-hon to hold an exhibition just before Christmas featuring pictures of celebrities posing with babies who have been put up for adoption.
Now in its 10th year, the show aims to promote awareness of the issue, and this year it features celebrity couples including Kim Seung-woo and Kim Nam-joo, Sean and Jung Hye-young, and Yoo Joon-sang and Hong Eun-hee.
Photos of the families who adopt the babies are also added to the display. Prior to the opening of the exhibition on Thursday at Insa Art Gallery in Seoul, Cho said he hopes to soon see the day when there is no longer any need for it.
"It's better for this kind of exhibition to disappear as soon as possible. In a way, it's sad and also embarrassing that this has been held every year," he said, lamenting the high number of children given up for adoption in Korea each year.
Clockwise from top left, photographer Cho Sei-hon; A mother and son living in North Carolina, the U.S. show a photo of the boy with actress Ko So-young, taken before he was adopted by the family in 2005; celebrity couple Sean and Jung Hye-young pose with a baby put up for adoption. /Courtesy of Cho Sei-hon
Cho began taking an interest in the issue in 2003 when a social worker at the Social Welfare Society sent him an email asking him whether he could "take pictures of these babies celebrating their 100-day birthdays, as they usually get adopted when they are three or four months old."
Cho said he felt as though it was his destiny to reach out and help. "I felt that this was something I had to do -- that I had been waiting for -- and that it had finally arrived on my doorstep," he recalled.
Initially thinking it would be a one-time affair, he happily snapped photos of 22 babies waiting to find new parents, and 30 children with disabilities who would mostly end up living in state-sponsored welfare facilities as few were willing to adopt them. However, Cho said he was unable to walk away after the first year when he saw how much joy it gave the kids to see their photos. He has since recruited many celebrities to help them find new homes by posing in photos together, including Rain, Lee Byung-hun, Kim Hye-soo, Ko So-young, Big Bang, Yoon Eun-hye and Yoo Seung-ho.
In 2006, three years after Cho began his crusade, the government designated May 11 as Adoption Day. Cho said he feels proud of having helped improve public sentiment about adoption, which was formerly considered a taboo subject and source of acute embarrassment in polite social circles.
"I will take more pictures of unmarried single mothers from next year in the hope that more women are brave enough to [deal with the negative stigma and] keep caring for their kids themselves rather than put them up for adoption overseas," he said.
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun was selected as the best actor of 2012 in an annual poll released Wednesday.
Lee received the most support with 37.6 percent of the 1,700 people aged 13 and older who were polled in a Gallup Korea survey conducted last month, the Seoul-based pollster said.
Lee also won the best actor honor at the 49th Daejong (Grand Bell) Film Awards for his title role in the Korean costume drama "Gwanghae: the Man Who Became King" that has sold 12 million tickets to become the third most-viewed Korean film of all time.
He rose to stardom in other Asian countries for his roles in local TV series "Beautiful Days" (2001), "All In" (2003) and "Iris" (2009). The 42-year-old also starred in the 2009 Hollywood blockbuster "G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra."
"Lee received the most support from all age groups, except for teenage females," Gallup Korea said in a press release. "Support rates were especially high among men in their 20s with 53.3 percent and women in their 30s with 49 percent."
The box-office hit about King Gwanghae, the 15th ruler of Korea's last kingdom, the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), swept 15 awards, including best picture and best actor, in the South Korean "Oscars" for this year.
Song Joong-ki was No. 2 in the poll with 15 percent of the vote for his role in the Korean melodrama "A Werewolf Boy" that has drawn 7 million viewers. Actress Kim Hye-soo of the box-office draw "The Thieves" and actor Jang Dong-gun of the Chinese film "Dangerous Liaison" took the third and fourth posts, garnering 7.6 percent and 7.4 percent support.
Andy and Lana Wachowski, who are famous for making The Matrix series, recently came to Korea to promote Cloud Atlas, a sci-fi fantasy film adapted from a story of the same name by David Mitchell. They came along with director Tom Tykwer, Jim Sturgess, and Bae Doona, a Korean actress who has played multiple roles including Sonmi-451, a clone originally built to be a server in a restaurant.
Bae is one of an increasing number of Korean actors starring in Hollywood films and American TV dramas. Lee Byung-hun starred in the sci-fi action G.I. Joe series (2009, 2013), Jang Dong-gun took the main role in The Warrior's Way (2010), and Jun Ji-hyun played a vampire-killing vampire in Blood: The Last Vampire (2009). Kim Yun-jin starred in popular American TV drama Lost. It is the first time for Bae, whose film credits include Take Care of My Cat, The Host, and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, to appear in a Hollywood film.
Tom Tykwer (from left) and Lana Wachowski, Bae Doona, Jim Sturgess, and Andy Wachowski pose for a picture before a press meeting to promote the Hollywood film Cloud Atlas at Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in eastern Seoul on December 13 (photo: Yonhap News).
Lana Wachowski said in a press conference that Seoul is featured in the movie as its background and said Bae played a character who could metaphorically express that part. Lana said Bae has played a wide range of roles in her films in the past.
The Wachowskis' relationship with Korean actors dates back to 2008 when they cast Rain, or Jung Ji-hoon, for Speed Racer (2008). They also recommended Rain for Ninja Assassin (2009).
Andy said Korean actors are as diversified and complex as actors in Korean films and said he would cast more Korean actors.
Now Lee Byung-hun, 42, is at the forefront of Korean actors entering Hollywood. Lee is filming Red 2 in London along with actors like Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren. Although Lee is taking a small role in the action sequel, his repeated appearances in American films are a sign of his continuing success in Hollywood.
For Korean actors taking roles in Hollywood films one after another, film critic Jeon Chan-il, said, "It is partly because Korea is being more recognized around the world."
In particular, Jeon described Lee as "well prepared for Hollywood" and said Lee's success is mostly attributed to the fact that "Lee overcame language barrier."
Unlike other Korean actors who appeared in Hollywood films just once but failed to be cast again, Jeon said, "Lee is able to speak English with reasonable fluency. He is well prepared and attractive."
"Lee was able to earn trust from Hollywood. He tried and succeeded, unlike other Korean actors who only had a single shot."
Lee's Hollywood career started with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, in which he played Storm Shadow, a silent but ruthless ninja. Lee said in a recent press meeting in Hong Kong that his role would be expanded in the sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Paramount was reportedly surprised by Lee's star power in Asia.
Channing Tatum (from left), Sienna Miller, and Lee Byung-hun pose for a photo to promote G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra at Shilla Hotel in central Seoul in July 2009 (photo: Yonhap News).
"It is true that when the first G.I. Joe movie was released, so many people showed support that Paramount officials, directors and actors were surprised," Lee said.
"When filming for the sequel, staff asked if I was an Elvis Presley in Asia... Since then, people started treating me differently. But I felt that I shouldn't get used to such fame because I was still a newcomer in Hollywood."
Storm Shadow is not a typical villain but is still one. Many Asian actors such as Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li entered Hollywood playing villains and so is Lee.
When asked if he is worried about playing stereotypical Asian characters, Lee said, "I was also concerned very much. But it is a start and you can't expect everything to be perfect yet." The G.I. Joe sequel will be released in March 2013.
Jon M. Chu, the director of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, said in the conference that Lee showed the potential of Asian actors. Chu said he hoped that with Lee's success in Hollywood, there would be more Korean actors entering Hollywood. If there are more Asian actors who are acknowledged in Hollywood and become successful, there would be more chances for young Asian actors.
Lee Byung-hun of "Masquerade" has landed at the No. 1 spot in Gallup Korea`s survey entitled "The Movie Star of 2012."
According to Gallup Korea`s survey results out on Wednesday, Lee earned the support of the 37.6 percent of 1,700 people, who were asked about the best actor of the year.
The movie star starred in his first historical pic "Masquerade," which drew in 12 million audience viewers and ranked at the No. 3 spot in the all-time box office record of South Korea.
He also proved his ticket power by receiving the Best Male Actor award at the 49th Daejong Awards held in Seoul, October.
In the meantime, the runner-up was actor Song Joong-ki of fantasy romance "A Werewolf Boy," which attracted 15 percent of the votes.
Song Joong-ki was chosen as the best TV star by another survey by Gallup Korea released on December 24.
"The Thieves" heroine Kim Hye-soo and "Dangerous Liaisons" star Jang Dong-gun each nabbed the No. 3 and No. 4 title with 7.6 and 7.4 percent of the votes, respectively.
Ha Jung-woo of "Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time" and "577 Project", rounded off the top five of the survey with 6.4 percent of the votes.
The 'G.I. Joe' star wins the Achievement Award from the Korean Film Actor’s Association.
SEOUL -- This year has been an eventful one for “South Korea’s Brad Pitt” Lee Byung-hun, who wraps up 2012 with an Achievement Award from the Korean Film Actor’s Association.
The organization, which was founded to promote the rights of actors and currently operates under the auspices of the Korean culture ministry, announced Thursday that it will be honoring Lee as well as veteran Ahn Sung-ki. In July, the two became the first local stars to leave their handprints in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Lee continued to be the man of the hour when his costume drama Masquerade became one of the most watched homespun films with over 12 million admissions. Lee, who played the dual role of a king and jester, won the Best Actor Award at the Korean equivalent of the Oscars, the Grand Bell Awards. The film picked up 13 prizes in other categories at the event.
He was also chosen Actor of the Year in a recent poll by Gallup Korea, which surveyed 1,700 Koreans aged 13 and over.
The 42-year-old actor made his Hollywood debut in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and reprises his role as Storm Shadow in the upcoming sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. He also appears in the cast of Dean Parisot’s RED 2, which is slated to open next summer.
Meanwhile, the Korean Film Actor’s Association will hand Achievement Awards to director Kim Ki-duk and the cast of his Venice Golden Lion-winning film Pieta, actor Lee Jung-jin and actress Jo Min-su.
The award ceremony is due to take place in Seoul on Friday.
Director Kim Ki-duk and actor Lee Byung-hun will be one of the few candidates to take home high achievement awards at this year’s Korea Film Actors Association ceremony.
The event to take place today at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, central Seoul, will recognize the feats of some of the best performing actors and personnel over the last year. Along with Kim and Lee, actors Cho Min-soo and Lee Jung-jin from Kim’s gory masterpiece “Pieta” will be up for awards.
The film’s success abroad - winning best film at the 2012 Venice Film Festival - will be acknowledged at the awards ceremony.
Ahn Sung-ki will also be handed an award for becoming one of the first Koreans, along with Lee Byung-hun, to leave their handprints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in June.
Various entertainers, committee members and industry heavyweights will be in attendance.
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