Sweet and lovable rom-com queen turned fierce operating room outcast, actress Kim Ji-won is redefining her career once again. Completely shedding her previous image, she is proving her star power through bold acting choices nowadays.
Kim Ji-won has made a successful comeback after two years through the SBS Friday-Saturday drama ‘Doctor X: The Age of White Mafia’ (written by Pyeon Seung-geun, directed by Lee Jung-rim). From its very first broadcast, it recorded an 11.4% viewership rating (Nielsen Korea standard), and with a three-episode consecutive upward trend, it quickly broke past the 15% mark. It is a record worthy of a viewership ratings queen.
Given that this is her comeback project two years after the drama ‘Queen of Tears’, which surpassed peak viewership ratings of 24%, Kim Ji-won must have felt considerable pressure. However, despite historical accuracy controversies, her driving force remained powerful. Amid favorable reviews that she is breaking records for both viewership ratings and life-defining characters, we looked back at the iconic roles that created Kim Ji-won up to her transformation into Gye Soo-jung in ‘Doctor X’.
Debuting in commercials in 2010, Kim Ji-won gained fame as the ‘OranC Girl’. Since 2011, she began acting and steadily built her filmography. The work that truly showed the rediscovery of Kim Ji-won, who has taken on leading roles in various dramas, was writer Kim Eun-sook’s ‘The Heirs’, broadcast in 2013. Playing a high school student alongside actors Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Kim Woo-bin, and Kang Ha-neul, she achieved great success with viewership ratings exceeding 25%.
In particular, Kim Ji-won drew attention by breaking away from her previous image and showing a new side of herself as the arrogant heiress Yoo Ra-hel in the show. Unlike her lovely and cheerful image, her cold heiress character who unhesitatingly spewed sharp remarks revealed a fresh side of Kim Ji-won. Along with the drama’s success, Kim Ji-won began to receive major spotlight.
The second work that made her the current ‘viewership ratings queen’ and ‘rom-com queen’ was also written by Kim Eun-sook. Returning to work with writer Kim Eun-sook in the 2016 broadcast ‘Descendants of the Sun’, Kim Ji-won rose to superstardom alongside the drama’s massive hit. At the time of its broadcast, ‘Descendants of the Sun’ recorded a peak viewership rating of 38.8% and garnered hot topics every episode, bringing immense attention not only to Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki, but also to Jin Goo and Kim Ji-won.
Kim Ji-won took on a new challenge yet again. Playing Yoon Myung-ju, a military surgeon dispatched overseas, she displayed a disciplined military demeanor and completed a sweet-and-salty romance narrative with Jin Goo, who played senior special forces sergeant Seo Dae-young. Sporting a sharp bob cut and using the rigid military tone of speech, Kim Ji-won captured viewers with her fresh charms.
After creating a career-defining character in ‘Descendants of the Sun’, Kim Ji-won renewed her iconic status once more in the 2017 drama ‘Fight for My Way’, starring alongside actor Park Seo-joon. It is the project that bestowed the ‘rom-com queen’ title upon her, delicately depicting the process of childhood friends turning into lovers, alongside the worries and growth of youth.
Kim Ji-won played Choi Ae-ra, a department store information desk employee harboring dreams of becoming an announcer. She delicately portrayed not only the cheerful, honest, laid-back, and lovely atmosphere of the character but also her inner depths, completing a lovely romance with Park Seo-joon. In particular, the ‘aegyo master scene’ performed by Kim Ji-won in the drama is still widely talked about by viewers today.
Broadcast in 2022 and launching actor Son Suk-ku into superstardom, the drama ‘My Liberation Notes’ holds special significance for Kim Ji-won. Rather than her usual lively and upbeat rom-com queen persona, this character was grounded in everyday reality. Kim Ji-won created a memorable chemistry with Son Suk-ku, turning him into a major trend actor.
In ‘My Liberation Notes’, the character Yeom Mi-jeong played by Kim Ji-won is the youngest of three siblings, quiet and blending into the background among people around her. Kim Ji-won earned deep empathy by realistically portraying a character with an intense yearning for liberation from a stifling life, growing into an actress capable of perfectly mastering human dramas rather than just romantic comedies.
Starring alongside actor Kim Soo-hyun, ‘Queen of Tears’ made Kim Ji-won reclaim her title as the ‘rom-com queen’. Completely erasing the ordinary Yeom Mi-jeong from ‘My Liberation Notes’, she transformed flawlessly into Hong Hae-in, a chaebol heiress and department store CEO. Flaunting glamorous styling and elevated visuals fitting a department store chief, she portrayed a cold and resolute heiress in a way that remained endearing.
Kim Ji-won’s acting spectrum also broadened. Hong Hae-in is a character facing a three-year marriage crisis with former ordinary office worker Baek Hyun-woo (played by Kim Soo-hyun) and diagnosed with a three-month terminal brain tumor. Kim Ji-won showcased diverse emotional ranges, from the pain of a terminal illness to the cold, resolute attitude of a chaebol heiress and a sweet, poignant romance with Kim Soo-hyun. Her stable acting and solid chemistry with Kim Soo-hyun brought a heavy presence to the screen.
Following the success of ‘Queen of Tears’, Kim Ji-won stepped into yet another new role. Breaking a two-year hiatus, she made a comeback as Gye Soo-jung, a genius surgeon equipped with exceptional surgical skills. Through ‘Doctor X’, which garnered high anticipation as her comeback project, she instantly added a brand-new iconic character to her filmography. Despite medical accuracy controversies, the drama continues to see rising viewership ratings and explosive reactions.
Having previously portrayed a chaebol heiress in sweet romances, Kim Ji-won shed the glamour this time for a short bob and fierce charisma. Gye Soo-jung is depicted as a genius surgeon with delicate and fast hands, yet she focuses solely on the patient right in front of her, speaking and acting without hesitation. Completely absorbed in saving patients while sometimes appearing quirky, she holds the unwavering confidence that she “never fails.” Trapped in past pains and unable to either cry or laugh, Gye Soo-jung’s complex character is heightened by Kim Ji-won’s trademark precise diction and stable acting skills, driving ongoing curiosity.
