1990–1997: Beginnings and breakthrough In 1990, Jeon made her debut in the entertainment industry as an advertisement model for
Johnson & Johnson. She made her acting debut in
television series Our Heaven in 1992. She then continued to play supporting roles in
Scent of Love (1994) and
General Hospital (1994) and
Love is Blue (1995), but struggled to receive any significant attention. In 1995, she gained some recognition after playing the heroine's younger sister in
KBS2's hit drama
Our Sunny Days of Youth, which recorded its highest viewership rating of 62.7 percent. The drama's director, Jeon San PD, made a remark stating that Jeon Do-yeon is a "tough and ambitious newcomer". The following years, she played major roles in multiple dramas such as
Project,
Way Station and
Until We Can Love in 1996, and
Star in My Heart in 1997.
1997–2006: Critical acclaim and success From 1997 after the success of
The Contact, Jeon emerged as a prominent actress in the Korean film industry and went on to establish a reputation as a "chameleon" who can take on a wide variety of roles, from her performance as a doctor in the hit melodrama
A Promise, which won her
Best Actress at the 35th
Baeksang Arts Awards, to that of a schoolgirl in the 1999 film
The Harmonium in My Memory, then a wife having an adulterous affair in the 1999 film
Happy End. In 1999 and 2000, she received Best Actress awards at numerous award ceremonies such as the 20th
Blue Dragon Film Awards and the 37th
Grand Bell Awards for her performance in
The Harmonium in My Memory. She also won Best Actress at the 35th
Baeksang Arts Awards for her role in
A Promise and several other local film awards for her role in
Happy End. After starring as the tough-talking Soo-jin in
Ryoo Seung-wan's
No Blood No Tears in 2002, Jeon spent time acting in the television series
Shoot for the Stars. The following year, she reunited with director Park Heung-sik in a
dual role for the time-bending melodrama film
My Mother, the Mermaid. In 2005, Jeon played a prostitute who contracts
AIDS in
Park Jin-pyo's hard-hitting melodrama
You Are My Sunshine. The film was a box-office hit, and her performance received critical acclaim and won her numerous acting awards. For the work, Jeon won the Grand Prize (Daesang) at 2005
SBS Drama Awards. Commenting on her successful year,
The Korea Herald noted, "It is rare for a movie and a drama with the same leading actor or actress to become major hits at the same time. And often, actors and actresses avoid such cases, due to the risk of confusing audiences, but Jeon managed to pull both roles off perfectly without causing any confusion in the audience."
2007–2014: Secret Sunshine and international acclaim at
Secret Sunshine press conference in 2007. In 2007, Jeon starred in
Lee Chang-dong's melodrama
Secret Sunshine, which propelled her to international recognition. Her fierce and fearless portrayal of a widowed mother who struggles to rearrange her life after the tragic deaths of her husband and son received universal critical acclaim. Although the film itself, which debuted at the
60th Cannes Film Festival, evoked widely differing assessments from international critics, Jeon's performance was universally praised, and she was chosen as the
Best Actress by the
Cannes jury, making her the first Korean ever to receive an acting award at Cannes. She also won
Best Performance by an Actress at the
1st Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Following the heel of the Cannes' win, Jeon went on to sweep domestic awards, winning Best Actress at multiple film award ceremonies such as the
28th Blue Dragon Film Awards. In recognition of her contribution to the development of the Korean film industry, she was honored with the
Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit by the
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Special Achievement Award at the
44th Grand Bell Awards. Post-Cannes, she starred in 2008 film
My Dear Enemy, playing an unemployed single woman who reacquaints herself with her ex-boyfriend. After starring in
My Dear Enemy, Jeon gave birth to a daughter and rested for a while. In October 2009, she was honored by the French government with the
Chevalier des Arts et Lettres medal for her contribution to the arts. The following year, she returned to star in
Im Sang-soo's 2010 controversial remake
The Housemaid. Jeon came back to Cannes once again as the film was chosen to compete for the
Palme d'Or at the
63rd Cannes Film Festival. . In 2011, Jeon played a female con artist who risks her life for ten days for a final deal with a cold-hearted debt collector in
Countdown.
Countdown premiered at the
36th Toronto International Film Festival. In 2013, after a two-year break, Jeon returned with
Bang Eun-jin's
Way Back Home, a film based on the true story of a housewife who was imprisoned for two years on the island of
Martinique after being wrongly arrested for
drug smuggling at Paris's
Orly Airport in 2004. . In 2014, she was announced as one of the nine panel members of the main competition jury at the
67th Cannes Film Festival, making her the first Korean actor or actress to receive the honor and the second Korean after director Lee Chang-dong in 2009.
2015–present: Further acclaim and return to the small screen In 2015, Jeon starred in
The Shameless, a thriller that explores the unexpected and carnal attraction that develops between a detective and the girlfriend of the murderer that he investigates. The film was selected for the
Un Certain Regard section at the
68th Cannes Film Festival and Jeon returned to Cannes for the fourth time in her career. For her performance in the film, Jeon won Best Actress at the
24th Buil Film Awards, the 15th
Director's Cut Awards, and the
52nd Baeksang Arts Awards respectively. The same year, she played a blind swordswoman in the
Goryeo-set revenge period drama
Memories of the Sword, her third collaboration with Park Heung-sik and her second with
Lee Byung-hun. This was followed by Jeon's second film with director
Lee Yoon-ki,
A Man and a Woman, a 2016 film about a forbidden romance that takes place in the snow-swept landscape of Finland. Jeon then made a return to the small screen after twelve years in the 2016
Korean remake of the American legal drama
The Good Wife. She was praised for displaying a wide range of emotions and agony of a housewife who is forced to become a lawyer again after her husband is mired in a scandal and put behind bars. red carpet. After a three-year break, Jeon reunited with
Sul Kyung-gu in drama film
Birthday, marking her second collaboration with Sol eighteen years after
I Wish I Had a Wife. The film, inspired by the
Sewol ferry disaster, deals with the struggles faced by a couple who lost their son in a tragic accident. The film had its international premiere at the 2019
Far East Film Festival in
Udine, Italy. At the festival, Jeon was honored with Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award. She once again won Best Actress at the
56th Baeksang Arts Awards, the 6th Korean Film Producers Association Awards and
28th Buil Film Awards for her performance in the film. 2019 In early 2020, Jeon starred in
Beasts Clawing at Straws, a mystery thriller based on Keisuke Sone's novel, alongside
Jung Woo-sung. The film was screened at the 49th
International Film Festival Rotterdam and won the Special Jury Award in the Tiger Competition. The film failed to turn a profit as local box office sales plummeted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. She made her small-screen comeback in
Hur Jin-ho's first television series project
Lost which premiered on
JTBC in September 2021. In 2022, she reunited with
Song Kang-ho and
Lee Byung-hun in
Han Jae-rim's disaster action film
Emergency Declaration. In 2023, Jeon acts opposite
Jung Kyung-ho in
tvN-broadcast
Netflix-distributed romantic comedy series
Crash Course in Romance directed by
Yoo Je-won, which marked her return to romance genre in 17 years. She played the role of a former national handball player who now runs a
banchan shop, raising her high school daughter alone. According to
Good Data Corporation, series
Crash Course in Romance ranked first with a topical share of 23.8% in Top 10 of TV Topicality Ranking in drama division category in four weeks in a row.
Jung Kyung-ho ranked first in the performer category for five consecutive weeks, while Jeon ranked 3rd. In the same year, Jeon stars in Netflix
crime action film
Kill Boksoon in the title role, as a professional assassin, opposite
Sul Kyung-gu,
Esom, and
Koo Kyo-hwan. Directed and written by Byun Sung-hyun, it is slated to release on
Netflix on March 31, 2023. ==Personal life==