Top 5 Actresses of 2022

'Women power' stood out more than any other year in 2022.

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High-quality female narrative works poured out. Beyond the pretty and cute female protagonist, they showed 'reality', and even a protagonist with autism spectrum appeared, achieving a character success that has never been seen before. Sports Chosun picked five actresses who played their roles without limits.

▶ From question mark to exclamation mark, Park Eun-bin

The main character who made the world shout 'Wild Goose, Tomato, Swiss, Indian, Shooting Star, Woo Young-woo' beyond Korea, is Park Eun-bin from the ENA drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" (written by Moon Ji-won and directed by Yoo In-sik). It started with 0% in ratings on ENA, but the result was a complete twist. It was broadcast worldwide through Netflix with more than 17% in ratings, stayed in the global top 10 for 21 weeks, and recorded 42.47 million hours of global viewing time (as of 28 days after the release).

Park Eun-bin made all of this possible. Starting as a child actress, she mainly played the child roles of top actors, and showed soft acting with pure appearance, but after "Stove League" she made a perfect variation with "Do You Like Brahms" and "The King's Affection" and now she has persuaded viewers that she is dependable. In particular, she adds four trophies to her name, from home and abroad, and for "The King's Affection", she challenged a new character of a king disguised as a man, winning the trophy of the International Emmy Award for the first time in a Korean drama. She also topped the list with 'Talent of the Year' compiled by Gallup Korea, beating out prominent actors and seniors, solidifying her throne as the hottest actress of the year beyond male and female actors. Interest in the next work is also hot. Park Eun-bin will take on another challenge with her new film "Castaway Diva", on which director Oh Choong-hwan and writer Park Hye-ryeon worked together again.

▶ Kim Hye-soo tackles drama

Kim Hye-soo's influence is considerable not only on the big screen but also on the home screen. Standing as No. 2 Actress of the Year by Gallup Korea, Kim Hye-soo perfectly persuaded viewers even in historical drama clothes, contrary to her modern appearance. The evaluation that 'it would have been impossible without Kim Hye-soo' didn't happen by accident. Kim Hye-soo's one-top lead role, tvN's "Under the Queen's Umbrella" (written by Park Ba-ra and directed by Kim Hyeong-sik), caught the viewers' attention by giving them a convincing presence alone, despite misunderstandings about historical errors, criticism from some viewers, and lack of probability. On top of that, "Under the Queen's Umbrella" continued to dominate the match against "Reborn Rich", which has a viewer rating of more than 25%, drawing attention and ratings at the same time. During the filming period of nearly a year, the physical and mental strength of the actors weakened, but it was Kim Hye-soo who took the center stage. Kim Hye-soo's dignity, who showed a perfect national mother figure in the drama, shone.

▶ Tang Wei finally captivates the Korean audience

Finally, Tang Wei, a Chinese star, perfectly captivated the audience this year, 11 years after knocking on the door of Korean films with her husband and director Kim Tae-yong's "Late Autumn - 2010", returning with director Park Chan-wook's "Decision to Leave". Tang Wei won the Best Actress Award at the 43rd Blue Dragon Film Awards held on the 25th of last month with "Decision to Leave". In "Decision to Leave", Tang Wei embarrasses detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il), who suspects her, but unconcernedly enjoys the situation, captivating everyone with her unique atmosphere. In particular, the deep vortex revealed in her solid eyes made the viewers' hearts tremble. With "Decision to Leave", she finally lifted the trophy of the Blue Dragon Film Award, the nation's best film award, and even in China, netizens responded to Tang Wei's award results. As a result, attention is also being paid to the deep acting that Tang Wei, who has become a muse of Asia beyond the Chinese region, will show.

▶ From Rookie Award to Best Actress, Kim Go-eun completes her 10-year narrative

This year's actress of the year has to be Kim Go-eun. She showed performance across genres from "Yumi's Cells" (written by Song Jae-jeong and directed by Lee Sang-yeob-I) to "Little Women" (written by Jeong Seo-kyeong, directed by Kim Hee-won-II), and showed a perfect transformation to the point of obtaining the unique modifier 'genre destroyer'. With "Yumi's Cells", Kim Yumi approached the viewers in a more realistic way than anyone else, and with "Little Women", she infused a twist with realistic acting in a fantasy-like story. All of these were completed with Kim Go-eun's facial expressions and gestures. Just 10 years after winning the 33rd Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Actress through "A Muse", Kim Go-eun completed the '10-year narrative' by winning the Best Leading Actress Award for "Yumi's Cells" at the 1st Blue Dragon Series Awards. This was also meaningful for Kim Go-eun. Kim Go-eun also expressed overwhelming emotion, saying, "I feel like Blue Dragon is giving me recognition". On top of that, Kim Go-eun is continuing her meaningful move with the movie "Hero" (directed by JK Youn). In "Hero", which contains Ahn Jung-geun's biography, Kim Go-eun does not stop challenging by both singing and acting.

▶ From Girls' Generation comeback to Actress Lim Yoona

It was a perfectly meaningful year as both a singer and an actress. Lim Yoona, who served as the guest MC of the first Blue Dragon Series Awards held in July, opened a spectacular second half with MBC's "Big Mouth" (written by Kim Ha-ram and directed by Oh Choong-hwan). In August, she came back as a member of Girls' Generation, and continued her performance on stage, in the home room, and on the screen with the release of the movie "Confidential Assignment 2: International". It is the life of celebrities that they have to spend busy days even if they show only one activity a year, but Lim Yoona filled the year with her performance that tripled. In particular, Girls' Generation showed their first full-length activities in about five years to mark their 15th anniversary, and in "Big Mouth", she appeared as a wife trying to get rid of her husband's false accusation and performed a desperate performance. For this reason, Lim Yoona is said to have surpassed all the characters she has shown. In particular, "Big Mouth" achieved a feat of 13.7%, the highest ratings among MBC dramas aired this year. In addition, Lim Yoona showed her presence by attracting nearly 7 million viewers through "Confidential Assignment 2: International" and winning the Popular Star Award after being nominated for the 43rd Blue Dragon Film Award for Best Actress.