Rookie Actress Jung Ho Yeon Becomes Most Followed K-actress on Instagram Over Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung After Squid Game, Also Selected as New Global Ambassador for Louis Vuitton

The largesse of the success of Netflix drama Squid Game has benefitted every single cast members, as written about before everyone’s Instagram followers rose exponentially. But probably the biggest breakout from the supporting cast has to be model turned actress Jung Ho Yeon (known as Ho Yeon Jung in Hollywood) who played the North Korean defector. Her Insta increased the fastest and and in less than two weeks she’s become THE MOST followed K-actress on Instagram, surpassing Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung. Talk about meteoric rise. She’s also been selected as a new Global Ambassador for Louis Vuitton with the brand house fully acknowledging that she was tapped after the head designer watched her in Squid Game and loved her style. I am so happy to see a young talented female star get global recognition and that Squid Game didn’t just benefit the male stars but also the ladies who brought nuance and different complexity to the survival show.


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Rookie Actress Jung Ho Yeon Becomes Most Followed K-actress on Instagram Over Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung After Squid Game, Also Selected as New Global Ambassador for Louis Vuitton — 43 Comments

  1. Pingback: Rookie Actress Jung Ho Yeon Becomes Most Followed K-actress on Instagram Over Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung After Squid Game, Also Selected as New Global Ambassador for Louis Vuitton - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

  2. But IU has 22 million followers and Suzy has 16 million, which is more than JHY who has 15 million. So how do they rank her first???

    • I say this knowing that JHY was / is an idol too, but I think IU and Suzy are classified as singers whereas LKS and SHK are strictly actresses. That’s just my guess.

    • ….there is a high likelihood Jung Ho Yeon will have beaten those numbers before the end of the month (16 mil before the end of today, most likely).

      She’s in a hit show that’s very popular beyond the demographic that usually watches kdramas, her rise is more on par with the Bridgerton or Stranger Things mains than anyone else. Hell she’s got 6x the followers of the main girl from Bridgerton!

      • And when I say “end of the month” I actually mean “in another week”!

        It’s not hard to see why she’s become such a hot topic, she did amazingly at acting (also wtf she’s a first timer?!) and has great style —–> guaranteed female fans.

      • @royalwe It also seems like many that have been watching kdramas for a while are baffled by the hype but like stranger things the shows not a masterpiece just an addictive/fun watch.
        Agree her fast rise is on par with milly Bobby brown and rege Jean page.

      • Let’s be honest though. Although she was good in Squid Game, she is not Meryl Streep. People aren’t following her because she’s an incredible actress but because they enjoyed Squid Game and her role. If she acted just as well in a regular non-hit kdrama no one would care.

        She is also the only lead female character in a cast mainly of male characters. Its a lucky break if I ever saw one. She has to now maintain this hype.

      • @l_l – um, yeah? She’s gaining positive attention for a role in a smash hit drama with a well-received acting performance.

        People who have launched entire careers off less get hyped but the minute anyone praises a young actress for….acting, it’s like an invitation to be negative for some people.

  3. in a matter of a week 15 million? man that’s insane! squid game popularity is something else! I admit I’m very surprise with the popularity they achieved! congrats to the cast!

  4. Pingback: Rookie Actress Jung Ho Yeon Becomes Most Followed K-actress on Instagram Over Song Hye Kyo and Lee Sung Kyung After Squid Game, Also Selected as New Global Ambassador for Louis Vuitton - SanIsidro

  5. what an nonsense and bulshit they refused to include iu, suzy and yoona just because they are idol turned actress. they’re still an actress, and won awards for being an actress. then by right, the only pure actress should be song hyekyo, park shinhye and kim sohyun. model turned actress like her and lee sungkyung should belong to different category.

    • Why? Gong Hyojin, Cha Seungwon, Yoo Haejin, Bae Doona and Lee Jongsuk are considered pure actors even though they all debuted as models for several years before becoming actors and even walked for international fashion shows. Models and actors are the same category. Even Jun Jihyun and Kim Taehee didn’t originally debut as actors but nobody says they aren’t pure actors.

      • @himariposa then, what abt seo hyunjin, jang nara, Eugene, song yuri, rain etc? why we don’t we called them as idol turned actor? don’t tell me now they’re no longer singing coz this is merely double standards. just because iu suzy yoona is still active in singing, ppl don’t want to include them in the list. the thing is, no needs put a category. I know there are many idols who tried acting now, but those three are different coz they won award for acting.

    • I read on soompi and some people mentioned Jisoo too. But agree, they should put IU and Suzy as actresses. LSK got popular way before becoming an actress. She was a popular model tho.

    • Well deserved, she was the most interesting character. Eagerly anticipating what role she’ll pick next, she said she wants a romantic type role and why not, girl needs a lighter role haha.
      Also love her face, it’s so unique and has a fierceness to it. ? I can’t get enough of her runway videos aswell.

      • @Kailey b – you said exactly what I was thinking haha

        She’s just so interesting to watch onscreen, even from that first collision at the bookies where you barely see her face. People are begrudging her accolades because SG was well written and directed – neglecting that she actually delivered what was needed and did a great job!

      • Oh I agree that she deserves it. She’s a good rookie actress and has striking visuals. I don’t think she’s the most interesting character though. That would be Sang Woo and the old man for me.

    • Idol stans feeling triggered as usual, what’s new…they’re known as idols first, not actresses, and are technically still active as singers. That’s where their recognition and fanbase comes from and it’s still how they are seen after so many years. They aren’t a Yoon Eun Hye case where she straight-up formally retired from singing/idol life before even debuting as an actress.

      Also I’m an IU fan but at this pace, Jung Ho Yeon is HIGHLY likely to break past even her numbers very soon. Then maybe you lot will stop being salty and shitting on every new non-idol actress that gets a breakout.

      • @Royal
        Nobody’s shitting on them, calm down. Some are just pointing out the hypocrisy that model-turned-actors are labelled as actors but idol-turned-actors are not, that’s all. Acting is a profession. If you act for a living, you’re an actor, regardless if you make money working in other files as well.

      • @Len – what part of the word “primary” do you not understand? Model turned actors have never stayed ‘models’ after breaking into acting (mostly for income reasons) , where they do model it’s always as ‘Actor XYZ is now a commercial endorser’ etc. Not just some model for hire like they used to be. That is simply not the case for idols who make a lot more but like I said, some idol fans are mad triggered by their faves not being recognised as ‘Actor [idolname]’ or creating false comparisons to people who either retired from singing before even starting acting (Seo Hyun Jin) or who are still involved in music and known as idols+ by their idol stage names (Rain).

        Idols doing acting roles who got famous off being idols, got their acting roles based on their popularity as idols (some of the above named people have multiple roles but never so much done a single audition in their lives – can you name any non-idol actor who gets away with that?) and are still putting out music are known as…. idol actors, not sure why you guys want the ‘just actor’ tag so badly and get mad on being reminded they belong to different categories.

        And you guys have a habit of pulling this nonsense on threads about new actresses like Jung Ho Yeon here. Girl is a successful breakout but of course idol stans in her post will whine and derail about “y u no recognise my unni as AcTrEsS?!” Like I said, she’ll blow past all their numbers in another week and then hopefully we won’t have to hear this nonsense any more.

        (My earlier comment got posted 2x because I forgot about the one in the filter)

      • @Royal Goodness, I’m just explaining to you why some people find the labels hypocritical and see double standards for those who were models and idols BEFORE turning to acting, but you went on a long-ass rant. Who is really the triggered one here? Also, Yoona and Suzy still sing? Pretty sure they’re primarily actresses now, but will never be seen as one even 10 years from now because of the bias.

      • @Len – this post is about Jung Ho Yeon, not any Suzy or Yoona or anyone else. Or it was until @dawang came in with their tantrum about how dare we not think of idols/former idols as actresses….like, this post isn’t even about them wtf. A girl gets popular and kpop fan first reaction is pitching a fit on their post to try to derail it?

        Also if you’ve been on this website for a few months, it’s also a long standing pattern for idol-actress fans to shit on non-idol actresses, especially new ones the minute they start their rise, derail posts about them, generally act like victims etc. Jung Ho Yeon is not the first actress to whom this has happened but I’m frankly sick of kpop fans making everything about their idols. And notably this doesn’t seem to happen on posts about young actors, it’s only the women that get it. So excuse me for thinking these people should stay on netizenbuzz or allkpop if they’re so triggered by Korean actors getting popular for work in Korean dramas and movies.

    • And right on cue come the triggered idol fans forever salty their faves (who derived fame and acting opportunities from being idols first) are identified by their primary occupation even while they’re still active as idols/not retired from music. Throw tantrums about “pure” this and that all you want, they’re still idols first. It’s not even a case like Yoon Eun Hye who actually retired from the singer life before her acting debut (and btw Eugene, Rain and 1st gen idols who still use their stage names are still IDed as….idols). “Winning award for acting” means nothing considering what they seem to have won are either popularity/new actress awards or tv network (rigged) awards which, uh, are not really given for the quality of the acting. No acting Daesang anywhere to be seen either even though all of them have been acting for 10+ years.

      And within 12 hours of your tantrum about “respect my idol unnie!!!”, Jung Ho Yeon’s insta follower count has already blown past at least one of those girls haha.

  6. Last time I checked she had less than 1M followers now she has over 15M haha anyway I feel like she could’ve waited a bit more… I can see her as Miu Miu girl lol but her runway debut was at an LV show so that’s kinda symbolic in itself i guess

    • Miu Miu designs >>>> for me but they change spokesmodels often, at least with LV she’ll have potential for a long term association and more â‚©â‚©â‚©â‚©â‚©â‚©.

  7. She’ll be at 20 million soon. Counting models as pure actresses is fair since actresses are also models in a way. JHY, LSK, SHK, PSH and KSH then are the most followed Korean actresses. All with double digit followers.

  8. She really got lucky with that role, it fits her facial structure and expression perfectly. She even said the director told her that they’ve found SB in her, she doesn’t need to be too worried with her acting. She has an actor’s face, really expressive. The downsize of sudden fame is huge, unrealistic expectations from these millions of people. I hope she doesn’t get too pressured to do well in her next project and just enjoy the process.
    I think the headlines should just say she jumped from 400K to 15M followers in a matter of weeks , not label her as “most followed actress” since it’s contentious as there are the likes of IU, etc. who also act.

  9. this girl took full opportunity when she appeared in the jimmy fallon show
    she spoke fluent english
    and I bet she is going to get offers in the left very soon
    congratulations

  10. SHE WAS already a supermodel but her rate for cfs will be in millions now. Netflix got mocking by koalas aunty and her old farties here. Now u have to shutup n see its power haha.

  11. She really got lucky because of Squid Game because tbh the acting required for that character is bare minimum. Among those IT girls, even though her company media plays her too much, I’m more impressed by Han Sohee’s portrayal of the mistress in WoM. Hope Han Sohee’s drama on Netflix is a hit too because her role there is central and seems meaty as well.

  12. I’m laughing at everyone saltily pointing out that she got “lucky” and her exposure is due to being in a hit drama.

    Yes…stratospheric career rises are always a combo of talent, work, and most importantly, luck. Thank you for stating the obvious.

    • @peanut gallery – there’s enough salt and “what about my fave?!” here to salt an entire gallery filled with peanuts haha

      Jung Ho Yeon had all 3 elements in her side, some big names in k-ent have made it with less (particularly factor 1). Good on her tbh.

      • @Royal We – Indeed. Next thing you know, people are going to complain so-and-so only got famous because they had popular works. So-and-so wouldn’t be famous otherwise.

        No sh*t Sherlock. Some of the complaints here are just asinine.

        Obviously the girl struck the right chord with the audience to gain 15M followers organically. Some of these other stars buy their followers.

      • SIMPLE. It is not their idol/wannabe actresses with no talent, so they will find other opportunities to drag others down.

      • @salt and peanuts (haha) @Lai Pei Yee – exactly. Look at how defensive the “but my unni acts too so should be called an actor” brigade are getting, like….your unnie is irrelevant here lol. It’s still Jung Ho Yeon who’s going to blow past everyone’s follower count by the end of October (in the time between this post being made and my posting this comment she gained 2 million followers).

        This is what I like about Netflix Korean shows, they take a chance in terms of both content and casting (would never have thought of Lee Jung Jae for a character like Kihun tbh but it worked. Same with JHY being a first timer and known only as a model albeit already famous in that field.. but she really did well as Saebyuk)

  13. She fits to carry LV fashion with her model figure, hand-picked by the head designer. Other actresses or idols may be doing fine in their own fields, but just not to model LV clothes. lol.

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