1997–2005: Career beginnings and breakthrough Jun first became well known as a commercial model and as a TV actress. Although she made her film debut in the little-watched
White Valentine in 1999, it was not until later in the year when she was featured in a commercial for
Samsung My Jet
Printer that she became a popular sensation. The dancing and attitude expressed in the ad made her into an icon for Koreans in their late teens and early twenties. The following year, Jun made her first well-publicized film appearance in late 2000 with
Il Mare, a handsomely shot melodrama set on
Ganghwa Island. The film did respectably well at the box office (despite opening on the same day as blockbuster
Joint Security Area) and solidified her status as a star.' for the first time in a Korean film starring
Sandra Bullock and
Keanu Reeves. Jun's breakout film was comedy
My Sassy Girl, a tale of a gullible college student and his slightly unhinged girlfriend. Jun's "sassy, loud, and domineering character while also embodying traits of a pure-hearted girl" ran contrary to gender norms in Asia. The film became the highest grossing Korean comedy of all time in Korea and also spent two weeks at No. 1 in Hong Kong, launching Jun into pan-Asia stardom as one of the biggest
hallyu stars in the Chinese-language market. The huge success of
My Sassy Girl also solidified Jun's domestic popularity, and she was given the title of the "
Nation's First Love". Jun's growing popularity resulted in many companies requesting her endorsement. She also won the Best Actress award at the 2002
Grand Bell Awards. In 2003, Jun starred in the psychological thriller film
The Uninvited, which was rather well received by critics but failed to catch on with viewers. Throughout this time she was a constant presence in TV ads and on billboards in Korea and also in other Asian countries. She reunited with
Kwak Jae-yong, the director of
My Sassy Girl, in 2004, appearing as a policewoman in romantic comedy
Windstruck. However, viewers felt her role was too similar to
My Sassy Girl. Nonetheless,
Windstruck became the best-performing Korean film in Japan at the time, where
My Sassy Girl was not as well known. In a 2005 survey of influential movie producers, she was ranked among the top ten most bankable stars in Korea. Jun's next project
Daisy teamed her with
Jung Woo-sung (who frequently appeared together with her in
Giordano and 2%
Lotte Chilsung Water advertisements), and drew attention for its 100% location shooting in the Netherlands, and for using the Hong Kong director
Andrew Lau (
Infernal Affairs).
2006–2010: Hollywood debut In late 2006, it was announced that Jun would be making her long-predicted jump to Hollywood as the lead role in
Blood: The Last Vampire. She went through three months of hard training to play the sword-wielding martial arts heroine. she adopted the Westernized name Gianna Jun. Jun then launched her own luxury jeans brand in 2008, named Gianna by True Religion, her first celebrity line. She was reportedly involved in every stage of their production, from design to deciding on fit and wash and their decoration with accessories. For the film
A Man Who Was Superman, Jun cut off her signature long silky hair to play a cynical documentary producer who meets an odd, Hawaiian-shirt-clad modern-day hero who battles urban apathy and preaches the virtues of lending a hand. Of initially feeling pressured at the opportunity to work with acclaimed actor
Hwang Jung-min, she said, "Although luck was probably involved, I think it's destiny for an actor to 'meet' new work. On the first day I met him, I realized that I have much to learn from him, not only from his acting, but also as an individual." '' in 2009. In 2010, she acted opposite Chinese actress
Li Bingbing in the English-language film
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, based on
Lisa See's bestselling
novel of the same name, which was directed by
Wayne Wang (
The Joy Luck Club). The film, set in remote 19th-century China, features the lifelong friendship between two women, Lily and Snow Flower, and their imprisonment imposed by the strict cultural codes of conduct for women at that time. She was photographed by
Annie Leibovitz for the July issue of the American edition of
Vogue, the first Korean actress to be included in the iconic fashion magazine.
2012–2016: Career resurgence As part of the star-studded cast of
The Thieves, Jun was a
scene stealer in
Choi Dong-hoon's 2012
heist film about thieves from Korea and China who team up together to steal a diamond worth , which is locked in a special room at a casino in
Macau.
The Thieves became the
second top-selling Korean film of all time. She next played a translator married to a North Korean intelligence agent in the 2013 spy thriller
The Berlin File, and director
Ryoo Seung-wan praised Jun's action scenes and her
North Korean dialect. Jun's success on the big screen reaffirmed her status as one of the top actresses in Korea, as well as being one of the biggest box office draw in
chungmuro. 14 years after
Happy Together in 1999, Jun made her highly anticipated return to television in fantasy romance
My Love from the Star, opposite her
The Thieves co-star
Kim Soo-hyun. Jun plays a present-day top actress who falls in love with an alien who landed on earth 400 years ago during the
Joseon period, played by Kim. The series was a ratings success, sparking trends in fashion, make-up and restaurants. Jun won the
Daesang (or "Grand Prize"), the highest award for television, at the
2014 Baeksang Arts Awards and the
2014 SBS Drama Awards. The drama reestablished Jun as a leader of the
hallyu, and she was given the President's Award at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards. In 2015, she reunited with director Choi Dong-hoon for
Assassination, an espionage action film set during the
1930s colonial era in which she played a
sniper who assembles a squad of
independence fighters to kill a Japanese army commander and a pro-Japanese Korean business tycoon. The film was another box-office success for Choi and Jun;
Assassination was the highest-grossing Korean film of the year as well as the
seventh all-time highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history. Jun was awarded Best Actress at the
Grand Bell Awards and Max Movie Awards. In January 2016, Korean entertainment and media company
CJ E&M acquired her agency Culture Depot. The same year, Jun was ranked 8th on
Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40. It was her second consecutive year in the top 10, having been ranked 4th in 2015. In November 2016, Jun made her small-screen comeback in the
SBS fantasy romance drama
The Legend of the Blue Sea with
Lee Min-ho, reuniting with
My Love from the Star scriptwriter
Park Ji-eun. Jun ranked 9th on
Gallup Korea's list of the 10 best actors of 2016, becoming the only woman to be included.
2017–present: Hiatus and return to television In March 2020, Jun made a short appearance in the second season of the
Netflix period
zombie thriller
Kingdom. She was later confirmed to reprise her role and lead the series' sidequel
Kingdom: Ashin of the North, alongside her
Assassination co-star
Park Byung-eun. The Netflix special episode was released worldwide on 23 July 2021. In April 2020, Jun was confirmed to lead
tvN mystery thriller drama
Jirisan, written by
Kingdom screenwriter
Kim Eun-hee, opposite
Ju Ji-hoon. The series premiered on 23 October 2021. Jun's 2021 projects marked her small-screen comeback after nearly 5 years of hiatus. In May 2022, an official from
Culture Depot said that her agency's contract expires in June 2022. Later, in August Jun has signed with new agency, Ieum Hashtag. On 24 June 2025, it was announced that Jun had ended her exclusive contract with Ieum Hashtag. On 7 July, she launched her new agency "Peachy". ==Other activities==