The most exciting thing about Jeon’s latest role is that it sits in stark contrast to her most recent part as the retired handball player and single mum in Crash Course in Romance. After all, there’s a reason Korean critics call Jeon a chameleon.

Here’s what you need to know about the veteran star …

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1. Jeon Do-yeon is a versatile actress

Jeon’s body of work spans an impressive three decades. She made her on screen debut in 1992 TV series Our Paradise, but it was her dramatic roles in the films The Contact (1997) and A Promise (1998) that turned her into a local star.

In 1999, she starred in A Harmonium in My Memory and Happy End. Her performance earned her acclaim as one of the leading actresses of her generation, Variety reported in 2007.

Jeon established herself as a chameleon, having the ability to “flawlessly” pull off any role with ease, Yonhap News Agency pointed out: an unfaithful wife, a prostitute with Aids, a mother and a daughter, a warrior and lawyer – the list goes on.

2. She won Cannes best actress in 2007

Jeon has won multiple accolades during her career, including Blue Dragon, Grand Bell and Baeksang Arts awards. But it was her Cannes best actress gong for the 2007 Lee Chang-dong film Secret Sunshine that thrust her into the international spotlight – not least because she was the first Korean actress ever to win the award.

Nevertheless, at a press conference back in Korea after her win, Jeon humbly declared that the award had not suddenly made her “a world star”, per Reuters. But she had noticed her family seemed more impressed than usual, with her mother waiting for her at the airport upon arrival. “She never meets me at the airport,” she told reporters.

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3. The director hand-picked Jeon for Kill Boksoon

The film’s director Byun Sung-hyun, who is a self-proclaimed fan of the actress, said he offered Jeon the part because she didn’t have any action roles in her portfolio up to that point, according to the The Korea Times.

Intrigued and willing to take on a new challenge, Jeon accepted the part, but said she became apprehensive when she received the script. “I got scared because the action and fight scenes were more intense than I expected,” she said, per Korea Times.

Jeon also reunites with her co-lead Seol Kyung-gu for the third time in Kill Boksoon. She previously acted with him in I Wish I had a Wife (2001) and Birthday (2019).

4. She’s married and has a daughter

She has one daughter and told The Korea Herald that being a mother was a “humbling and challenging experience”.

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5. She’s good friends with Squid Game’s Gong Yoo

Both seem to be close friends, however. Later that year, Jeon sent Gong a Churo King snack cart on the set of Goblin to show her support.