Celebrity News
Jung Hye-young for Marie Claire
by | February 20, 2011 | 44 Comments

Gorgeous actress Jung Hye-young (Playful Kiss, Return of Iljimae) shows that being 38 and the mother of three doesn’t mean you can’t work it on the pages of a magazine, and then some. What’s your secret, and can you share with the rest of the class?

The shoot is decidedly bridal, but regardless, the styling is lovely, and Jung looks as doll-like as she always does. She’s been on a great run with her last two dramas, showing her broad range playing two very different moms to Kim Hyun-joong and Jung Il-woo, despite being only 13-14 years older than both actors. In Playful Kiss she played the quirky, energetic matchmaking mom, who liked to dress her son in girls’ clothing for fun. She was meddlesome and tiring for the hero, but we always loved her crazy antics because they were in service of getting the couple together.

And that came after her heartbreaking role as Iljimae’s mom in Return of Iljimae, who spent her whole life separated from the son she loved so much. Her relationship with Kim Min-jong‘s character just killed me. Such classic love/duty/honor conflict, and so beautifully acted by both. I certainly hope to see her in more roles like this one, that showcase her emotional range and strengths as an actress.

Via Marie Claire Korea

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44 Comments from the Beanut Gallery
  1. UJ

    she is one hot mama!

    • 1.1 zoe

      Oh yeah she is! Remember her kids in Playful Kiss, Baek- Seung jo and eun jo, they wer hot too lol

    • 1.2 pretty

      she is very pretty too….

  2. strawberryfieldsforever

    the first portrait shot is just wow! so purty!

  3. GozzipGurl

    Gorgeous lady!!! btw, she’s pregnant on her 4th child right now…

  4. Laica

    She is so amazingly beautiful. I love her in both PK and ROI.

  5. Lilith

    I hate all the shine from the photoshop, because she just doesn’t need it. Her skin is already fucking marvelous and she herself is a piece of art.

  6. rich

    Very pretty! And no one would believe that she’s 38 and a mom of 3.

  7. Z

    Ridiculously pretty! I better look like that 8 years and two and a half kids from now!

    • 7.1 My2Girls

      Congratulations!

      • 7.1.1 Z

        Thanks!!

  8. Kender

    Sean is such a lucky man to be married to her. What a gorgeous, wonderful woman.

  9. Deeliteful

    OMG I remember her from Pheonix, she was a DEMON in that drama (irritating 2nd lead is to nice). I was scarred for a long time after that, but she was very quirky in Playful kiss.

    Great actress AND great body…must be nice

    • 9.1 Jane

      lol. Hold up. She was the psycho in the wheelchair? Maybe it’s because I saw Phoenix ages ago but I didn’t even recognize it was the same person in PK. Lol…. yes, she played a scary character. lol

      • 9.1.1 paula253

        Thanks, Deeliteful! one of the best villains *ever* in Phoenix!

  10. 10 SpongeBob

    Amazing 38-year old as compared to CJW!! ^^

  11. 11 rubie

    Thanks girlfriday for JHY updates and lovely photos. She’s truly the reason ‘Firebird’ came alive which otherwise a really depressing series. Love her in the Lawyers, too.

  12. 12 kimsoohanmoo

    wow. i wanna look like that when i’m 38

  13. 13 djes

    She’s gorgeous with beautiful heart. And I really envy her family, great husband like Sean and 3 adorable kids…and she’s good actress too.

    I guess we can’t find her flaw?

    • 13.1 lessaofpern

      Ditto!!!!

  14. 14 jeankaycee

    she’s so beautiful!!!!

    she puts ladies half of her age to shame!
    she looks so marvelous!

    and i love her as an actress!
    so talented!
    i love her being mom of iljimae but i love her even more as mama baek!

    hope to see more of her!

  15. 15 Alvina

    pretty pretty! Her storyline with Kim MinJong was one of my favorite things about The Return. I love both him and her as actors so it was refreshing…

    I hope I “look” like this at 38 though (sans the shiney ps)

  16. 16 snow

    such a beautiful and classy lady (and wonderful mom too, it seems). she also reminds me of park shi yeon in some of these pics.

  17. 17 anais

    I first saw her in By Your Side (당신 옆이 좋아) with Ha Hee Ra. Then, didn’t see her until Return of Iljimae and was shocked at how little she had changed and that she still was able to pull off playing an aging mother. She aged probably 20 years in that drama and was believable all throughout.

    I love her!

  18. 18 ditdut

    She reminds of Song Jihyo in some of these pictures. Jung is sooooo pretty. I will never forget her Baek Mae ;___;

  19. 19 keke

    aw she’s pregnant again!

  20. 20 Rexy

    38?! More like, 28. I’m totally in awe.

  21. 21 ockoala

    I’m rewatching PK and my husband actually is watching along. He remarks “what is the point of this story again?”, but he can’t stop talking about how beautiful and classy and wonderful “the mom” is.

    He has a crush on Jung Hye Young, and who could blame him. She’s stunning.

  22. 22 MJP

    In reading the back-story provided by GF (previous article), I didn’t know that she was so young, way to young to have played KHJ’s mom in PK. I thought she looked young when watching PK, my first Kdrama.

    She looks absolutely stunning in these photos. She really makes the clothing stand out! The photographer did a great job.

    I wonder who the designer(s) are of the clothing she is wearing?

  23. 23 Christy

    She s definitely beautiful, but also photoshopped that it hurts…

  24. 24 Ladymoonstone143

    Pretty…pretty. I wish I will look like that at 38…lol

  25. 25 hapacalgirl

    Can you believe this woman is a mother of 3 and soon to be four. Also depending on when this was shot, she may also pregnant in this shoot since it was revealed last month that her and Sean (of hip hop duo Jinusean) are expecting their 4th child.

    • 25.1 ck1Oz

      Sigh.

      Nothing to comment but sigh….she’s gorgeous,kind,caring,donates to charity…

      SIGH!!

  26. 26 x0mi07

    she’s soooo pretty!^^

    but… “She was meddlesome and tiring for the hero”?! who’s the hero in playful kiss?=P hyun joong? naaaahh…. can’t be… he’s the bad guy!>=D

  27. 27 gingganggolli

    …deliciously beautiful! hahahaha

    • 27.1 Katey B

      She’s a yummy mummy for sure!

  28. 28 QD

    DANG!!! I have to do some serious weight loss as well as plastic surgery !!! I’m a woman and even I find her stunning!!!

  29. 29 Jomo

    My heart was shattered in a million pieces all through R of I because of her.
    No spoilers, but that ONE scene, you know, the one where he doesn’t until it’s too late, made me sob in front of my computer for 20 minutes. My family was rather worried about me during that time…

    Why writers, why?

    So nice to see her beautiful and happy with 3 sons. Prolly why she played the R o I part with such truth, too.

  30. 30 Phyllis

    She was also wonderful in “East of Eden;” so much so that I was hoping she would be the one who ended up with the main character (SSH). They had this awesome, noble, and trusting relationship.

  31. 31 Kay

    Did she have her 4th child already?? Cause I swear she was still pregnant like a month ago, if so, that is an amazing post-baby body!!

    She’s gorgeous, as usual and has the most picture perfect husband and family….they’re so amazing!

  32. 32 diana

    hi,

    I love to get my daily dose of dramabeans.com
    and i noticed above the blogher updates there’s a picture with the title ‘Goolge pays me $173 per hour’, i’ve heard of the program before but can it be trusted?

    sorry this comment is unrelated, it’s just that i saw the picture there and wanted to ask,i never expected to see it in dramabeans.com

  33. 33 samgetang

    She is one of the redeeming factors of PK :-)

    She looks more than ten years younger than her real age but with the elegance and heart to go with it, too. Stunning to the core!

  34. 34 Bita

    The first picture is adorable, I hardly recognized her.

  35. 35 jaehye

    cant believe she.s 38 and has 4 children!!
    sooo yummy pretty!!

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