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Celebrities

4 K-drama actresses with overnight success stories, from Squid Game’s Jung Ho-yeon to My Name’s Han So-hee and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’s Seo Ye-ji

STORYHanh Vu
Jung Ho-yeon, Seo Ye-ji, Lee Ji-ah and Han So-hee all rose to fame overnight with successful K-drama roles. Photos: Netflix, TVN, @e.jiah/Instagram
Jung Ho-yeon, Seo Ye-ji, Lee Ji-ah and Han So-hee all rose to fame overnight with successful K-drama roles. Photos: Netflix, TVN, @e.jiah/Instagram
What's hot in Korea

  • Squid Game’s Jung Ho-yeon is the most-followed South Korean actress on Instagram, while Seo Ye-ji was the hottest celebrity of 2020
  • Han So-hee skyrocketed to fame after starring in The World of the Married and modelling for several fashion brands such as Banila

Reaching the pinnacle of showbiz success can take years for many celebrities, but it seems that some actors can emerge out of obscurity and rise to global stardom after only one successful breakout role.

From Squid Game’s Jung Ho-yeon to It’s Okay to Not Be Okay’s Seo Ye-ji, here’s a list of K-drama stars who became famous overnight.

Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game)

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Jung Ho-yeon saw her popularity skyrocket after her debut role in Squid Game. Photo: @hoooooyeony/Instagram
Jung Ho-yeon saw her popularity skyrocket after her debut role in Squid Game. Photo: @hoooooyeony/Instagram
Survival drama series Squid Game became Netflix’s most watched series with 111 million viewers, winning both fan approval and critical acclaim. And model-turned-actress Jung Ho-yeon – who portrayed Kang Sae-byeok (Player 067), a North Korean defector-turned-pickpocket – joined the league of international celebrities.
Jung Ho-yeon has become the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram. Photo: @hoooooyeony/Instagram
Jung Ho-yeon has become the most-followed Korean actress on Instagram. Photo: @hoooooyeony/Instagram

Interestingly, the 27-year-old actress’ performance in Squid Game actually marked her debut in the acting world, and her success was almost instantaneous. Within a month of Squid Game’s release, her Instagram followers rose by more than 13 million in under three weeks, making her the most-followed South Korean actress, according to Business Insider. Jung currently has 21.4 million Instagram followers.

Seo Ye-ji (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay)

Seo Ye-ji started in TVN and Netflix series It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Photo: @seoyeji_ig/Instagram
Seo Ye-ji started in TVN and Netflix series It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Photo: @seoyeji_ig/Instagram
Seo Ye-ji has played several lead roles in TV series such as Save Me (2017) and Lawless Lawyer (2018). Nevertheless, Seo’s breakout role was the character Ko Moon-young in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, a romantic TV series airing on TVN and Netflix that went viral and garnered national and international praise for its storyline, visuals and mental health theme.
Seo Ye-ji in a still from It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Photo: Netflix.
Seo Ye-ji in a still from It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Photo: Netflix.