K-ent Deems Gong Hyo Jin the Most Reliable K-drama Goddess Who in 22-years Brings in Ratings, Buzz, or Critical Acclaim, Great Chemistry with Every Male Lead, and Has Never Had a Scandal

I don’t think I would argue with this assessment even if it’s possible to make alternative arguments. But by and large it really has been an epic run for K-actress Gong Hyo Jin in her 22-year long career on South Korean television. Her movie resume is actually longer but for I-audiences it’s really the world of K-dramas where one first encounters her as either a quirky, cool, aloof, or reserved character. She gets type cast in a few personalities but as someone who has watched every single one of her dramas it’s amazing to see her range and breadth. From Ruler of Your Own World to When the Camellia Blooms, she delivers time and again with either ratings, buzz, or critical acclaim and ofttimes with all three. My rawest Gong Hyo Jin drama is one of her first with Sang Doo, Let’s Go to School opposite Rain and my forever re-watchable gem remains It’s Okay, It’s Love with Jo In Sung. I’m sure plenty love just as much Best Love, The Master’s Sun, Incarnation of Jealousy and many more. That I was most disconnected from her most recent drama When the Camellia Blooms merely speaks to her character more than performance, at her age I think she should do stronger roles going forward.


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K-ent Deems Gong Hyo Jin the Most Reliable K-drama Goddess Who in 22-years Brings in Ratings, Buzz, or Critical Acclaim, Great Chemistry with Every Male Lead, and Has Never Had a Scandal — 44 Comments

  1. Pingback: K-ent Deems Gong Hyo Jin the Most Reliable K-drama Goddess Who in 22-years Brings in Ratings, Buzz, or Critical Acclaim, Great Chemistry with Every Male Lead, and Has Never Had a Scandal - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

    • I see what you did there.
      Since dating is a scandal to you that means ghj also got one, her relationship with ryu seung bum. Don’t you know anything about that?
      Your jealousy is apparent but sorry to disapppoint you, shk’s the only actress to appear in the national image survey conducted by a ministry. The others who come to mind when they think of korea are the current and former presidents, lmh, psy etc. Stay pressed ok

      • Forgot about her relationship with lee jin wook. They broke up three months after they admitted they were dating. That too was a scandal?

      • Careful Mandyqueen, Nad will sniff out any perceived slight against shk even if she’s not mentioned. But it’s okay, it gives her the opportunity to flaunt shk’s achievements in case anyone forgets.

        Anyway back to GHJ, who k-ent loves and finds reliable after two decades. She is named the romcom drama queen for a reason…

      • take a chill pill honey, this is a GHJ article. It would be better for you to learn to read the room before inserting your fav’s name into the discussion just for the sake of belittling the other party

      • @anon not everybody is that st***d to not notice the jab against shk and she too isn’t that forgettable to the point of needing me to do the flaunting. Easily proven by the mandy’s comment above.

        @rai perhaps mandy needs to learn how to praise someone without shading others first but sorry for inserting my fav’s name here. Wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for mandy.

      • Yas, i forget Lee Jin Wook and Gong Hyo Jin because seemingly others here define the official relationships meant dating scandal.

    • Please..not everybody is that stupid to not notice the slight against shk and she’s also not that forgettable to the point of needing me to do the flaunting. Easily proven by mandy’s comment above.

    • @Mqndyqueen

      She had, like more or less 9 years with Ryu Seung Bum. They were in the full news during their relationship, break up and going together thrn break upa again. They loved each other just like SHK with her past two official bfs and one ex hubby.

      Well for the record, the tax evasion scandal of SHK isnt her fault. Celebrities have their own tax accountant. It was her tax accountant that got a mistake about that. Tax payment is one complicated thing if a person has many assets like SHK.

      • Wow did you really call someone a classless bitch? Real classy. SHK fans defensive as hell.

      • @Ta aka Mandyqueen

        To fans of GHJ yeah this is her space but stop shading other actresses also. SHK Fans are not stupid enough to define the comment of @Mandyqueen. Why other here can give their opinion with class and without insinuating negative about others. Praise your bias celebrity without bashing other thats the only way to stop the retaliation. Classless bitch.

      • @Ta aka Mandyqueen

        Geeze to you too. No shading No retaliation. Praising only what you love means harmony also. That’s simple. Read first what @Mandyqueen commented, analzye then answer. That’s the best way. Use your brain.

        You are so dense!!!

  2. I love her in Pasta, The Master’s Sun and It’s Okay It’s Love. These are also in my favouritest drama list that I could stll rewatch anytime.

  3. Its Okay, That’s Love is one of my faves! Can’t argue with this assessment in terms of kdramas. She is so low key and lovely.

    • Strongly agree with you. GHJ knows how to pick scripts well. No rush in coming back on screen just to stay relevant. She is just taking her time, to look carefully and decide wise with her project a thing that I admire about her.

      • At first i was kinda questioning her decision to do camellia but look how well it turned out. Gotta trust all her project choices from now on.

  4. Out of her recent works, my fave is still Its Okay Its love. It never gets old. But seeing some of her male leads here made me think of Park Min Young, snabbing a drama with hot males of her gen as well, lol. How i wish she tries diff genre.

    • ?‍♀️PMY is never in GHJ’s league (she’s the true rom-com queen). Sans for WWWSK where all the comedic scenes were delivered by her costars, all PMY’s rom-coms were huge flops. Even her most recent melodrama was so bland. Bet her impending rom-com will be another washout that the younger IT boy will simply regret taking on ML role.

      • I think you went too far with this comment, discrediting another actress because of your fav is uncalled for, is pmy competing with her, they are in different league of there own I think people like you are saddist.., Don’t take life too serious.and please keep pmy out of your mouth.

    • She’s paired well with all her male leads, So Ji Sub even specifically said he did Master’s Sun so he could work with her.

      But both her and PMY are talented actresses even if they’re not my fav.

  5. This is going to be controversial but I’ve always considered her an actress that hit the jackpot when it came to choosing projects but still lacking in actual acting. She’s like an older Park Shin Hye but with more experience and better kissing skills. It was especially evident recently when you put her opposite Kang Ha Neul who’s such a stellar talent. I dunno, I like a lot of her dramas but she could do with improving her character and acting prowess.

    • @vee
      Thsnk you, my thoughts exactly. I watched her previous works and they were okay, but noted that those are great projects with great male leads. Her last one with Kang Ha Neul I couldn’t watch. She was so off with her acting. It’s like I am watching her watching herself act in from of the mirror. Conscious, unnatural, over confident even? Glad she’s good and knows how to pick her projects, but I’m probably one of the few isn’t looking forward to watching her again.

    • I think she lacks diversity. Looking at all the drama posters above I can’t remember any of her character’s name because they all have similar looks, expression, and nothing stand out about them.
      I also question her styling for her dramas. The styling seems to follow her personal style instead of the character’s. Like how can the style of a secretary is same with the style of a psychiatry. Glad she changed up a bit when she played an announcer.

  6. I may not be that much of a fan of her acting but so far I have liked the dramas that i watched starring her …namely Master’s Sun, It’s Okay That’s love and Producers.

  7. I like her OK and the drama of hers that I enjoyed the most was The Master’s Sun. For me, my most reliable Kdrama goddess would be Jang Nara. She’s made me laugh, cry, and I enjoy all her dramas, even the bad ones lol.

    • I agreed 100%. Jang nara is so low key… but her dramas are so engrossing. Her dramas that i love are comeback couple and one more happy ending

    • Ditto!
      Jang Nara is a phenomenal actress. Also she’s been working consistently, doing a drama every year since her comeback to Korea. Not all are hits but her performance never disappoint.

  8. That’s really an epic run, almost 20 years and every single drama she’s done in that time has been a ratings hit without exception, no matter what the genre is, even when they dealt with challenging subjects (mental health struggles in IOIL) or had a slightly unusual structure/setting (Producers), and she’s never given a bad performance.

  9. I used to love GHJ and all of her dramas were ‘must watch” for me – until Camellia that I couldn’t continue beyond probably around ep 3. It’s for the very simple reason that she’s kind of repeating her role in Thank You (which is a forever favorite of mine with her and Jang Hyuk) – BUT she couldn’t better that earlier performance. In Thankyou, her innocent and genuinely kind character is totally believable to naturally draw audience in. Then, it was acting in Camellia that I find it forced. All of my love for her dropped from that point onward.

    I guess it’s about your choice of projects and efforts to try something new and challenging. I’d want her to play something differently in dramas, like what she chose to do in movies – there were some bold moves and unconventional roles.

  10. I love her IOTL and WTCB. She is really good in romantic comedies. I love how she loved and flaunted her relationship with RSB. They were so in loved with each other during those times. I thought they would be ending as married couple but it didn’t and it broke my heart. In the film documentary 577 Project she shown her true side and I really find her so swaggy in that film.

    • True that.Eventhough I love her my sister made me realise that she has the same confused dumb female lead expression in most of her dramas.
      I really did like her dramas she had a fresh side with Its Okay,but now when I re-watch Pasta or Best Love I can see what my sis told.

      • She is either conservative with her drama choices or she’s being typecast. I’m thinking it’s more the latter because the image she has makes it difficult to imagine her in anything else, but I still feel she needs to venture out of her comfort zone and I believe she has the option to do that given her current status. In TV, unless you portray very different characters there’s bound to be some overlap in the roles and because of how frequently she appears, it is indeed noticeable if her acting is the same. But it’s a successful formula for now and she might not want to tinker with it.

  11. She has a solid career and knows how to choose her projects . So she is seen as a model for a lot of young actresses . But I also agree that she tend to play the same kind of characters . In this way i admire more Jang na ra as she is a more versatil actress and more low key .

    • Jang Nara is killing it as a badass exorcist in Sell Your Haunted House. It’s one of the best drama of 2021 for me for now. Very well written.

      • @sayaris agree with you . And she is a hardworking actress, doing all kind of dramas ,always delivering through her gaze a real sensibility that i don’t see enough with other actresses . So i think that she owns to be listed as A+++ actress .

  12. she’s indeed good, but for me, for me, the definition of a superb actress is if she had acted in a sageuk drama. so due to this reason, i have a high respect to those who has sageuk drama in her resume.. like kim tae hee. i wish these actresses that I’ll mention take sageuk drama to soldify their acting prowess: gong hyojin, park shinhye, park boyoung

  13. To be honest, she may be typecast in rom-com but I never liked her in such dramas. I never understood her popularity there, her acting is always slapstick and forced. But on a flight a couple of years ago I watched her movie Door Lock and she was just amazing. Her expressions were completely on point, subtle and yet compelling, not exaggerated at all. I actually think she has so much more potential in serious roles.

  14. Tried watching her in Master’s Sun where everyone was raving about her chemistry with So Ji Sub. Fell asleep after watching a few episodes. Just not digging ghost stories or her acting. I guess mini stories within a main story plotline is not my cup of tea. Same goes for Chocolate and HDL.

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