When actress Yun Jin Kim, played castaway Sun Hwa Kwon on the popular TV show "Lost," it was probably the first time most American viewers ever listened to a televised conversation in Korean.
Sun was having those conversations with her onscreen husband Jin Soo Kwon, played by Daniel Dae Kim. Their back-story ran along the lines of a kdrama plot. Sun's father was a powerful wealthy man. Jin was poor. Sun's parents set her up with someone else. But she wound up falling for Jin who went to work for her father. Their story was not likely to have a romantic kdrama ending. It was more like a melodrama. Their character's marriage was so bad it could only improve when their plane crashed in the Pacific and left them on a mysterious island.
Yun Jin Kim appeared in 114 episodes of the television show. Her portrayal of Sun made her was one of viewers' favorite characters and they faithfully followed her story for almost seven years.
Although the actress immigrated to America with her parents when she was 10, she also had a career in Korea, appearing in film and TV projects.
After attending performing arts high school, the actress earned a degree in drama from Boston University, studying dance and martial arts on the side. She had several small roles but after starring in "Splendid Holiday," kdrama shot in New York, she decided to return to Korea. She then played the role of Gina in the drama "Wedding Dress."
She had a breakthrough in the film, "Shiri," the biggest grossing Korean film until 1999 and followed that role by appearing in "The Legend of Gingko."
Kim went on to play in a Japanese film and another Korean film before taking the role of Sun in "Lost."
No one could predict how long that show would run or how fanatical its fans would become. The show's location would also serve as a backdrop for an important event in Kim's life. In 2010, after shooting her final scenes in the drama, she married her former manager Jeong Hyeok Park on the island of Oahu.
So, what do you do after kdramas and appearing on "Lost" for seven years? The actress was recently cast in a new series, "Mistresses," a remake of the BBC series of the same name. In this series she will play Karen, a therapist, who has an affair with her patient.
