This week it’s Han Ji-min’s turn in the spotlight. She’s just closed the book on MBC’s One Spring Night opposite Jung Hae-in, right on the heels of another successful drama, JTBC’s The Light in Your Eyes.
Born in 1982 in Seoul, South Korea, Han Ji-min had an early start to her career when she was still in high school. She first appeared in commercials, with not much intention of becoming an actor — that is, until she played one in the 2003 drama All In. Even since then, she’s been working steadily (and some might say tirelessly), and has often challenged herself with diverse roles and genres. Han Ji-min shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s great to see her career boom in the last few years.
Here are some dramaland moments from Han Ji-min, followed by her full filmography.
Hyde, Jekyll, and Me (2015)
Hyde, Jekyll, Me. Hyun Bin, Han Ji-min, Sung Joon, Lee Won-geun. That’s a lot of names and pretty faces for a drama that was pretty Grade B. In Hyde, Jekyll, and Me, Han Ji-min starred as a circus troupe heroine, opposite not one, but two Hyun Bins. While this sounds like a pretty decent problem to have, in the drama it turned out to be a major source of conflict, considering Hyun Bin had two personalities: the icy chaebol, and his warm and wonderful counterpart “Robin.” In the end the drama couldn’t really manage everything it wanted to do, and was a pretty big waste of talent… but can anyone say coat envy?
The Light in Your Eyes (2019)
I decided to cover The Light in Your Eyes here not because I’ve watched it, but because I want to watch it so very much. I guess it was because I interested and kept my ears peeled for people’s reactions that I accidentally learned (A.K.A. spoiled) the drama’s entire reveal. However, it actually opens up some interesting questions about whether a story still works when you know what it’s going to do, rather than waiting for it all to unfold. Han Ji-min and Nam Joo-hyuk were in the lead here, and it’s their story we hear throughout the drama. I have a soft spot for Nam Joo-hyuk’s dopey cuteness, and I’ve heard Han Ji-min was great here, but what I’m really looking forward to the most is the halmae character played by Kim Hye-ja.
One Spring Night (2019)
It’s no secret I’m absolutely taken with this drama, from the subtle script to the honest performances. Heck, I even like the dimness and shadows in most of the scenes, too. Han Ji-min joined this drama right after wrapping up The Light in Your Eyes, and the hairdo might be similar, but the tone of the dramas couldn’t be more different. In One Spring Night, Han Ji-min plays a librarian who finds herself at a crossroads in her relationship with her long-term boyfriend (Kim Joon-han) and the single father she meets (Jung Hae-in). It’s easy for me to shout from my couch that her boyfriend is a jerkface and Jung Hae-in’s character is magical, but I appreciate how this drama (and the team behind it) are always careful to have people act like people. They’re conflicted, torn, they make decisions out of ego as much as they do out of love, they seek their own happiness often before those around them — in short, they’re perfectly complicated humans, and it makes for such a rich story. This is one drama where I’m not so much tied to the end result (happily ever after couple) as much as I am tied to the whole journey our characters are on.
Han Ji-min’s full filmography: