By Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae

Woman of Fire (1971)

Youn made her film debut in this movie at age 24. In her acceptance speech on April 25 at the Academy Awards, she thanked the film's director, the late Kim Ki-young.

The film shows how housekeeper Myeong-ja (Youn) changes as she tries to sabotage her wealthy employer and his family. Her portrayal of a woman descending into madness and defying traditional and stereotypical feminine roles earned Youn Best New Actress from the Grand Bell Awards and Best Actress from the Blue Dragon Awards. 

Insect Woman (1972)

In Youn's second film, a thriller also directed by Kim, two women vying for the same man display a love-hate relationship. The actor again played a hostess in this film in an exceptional performance. The commercial success of her first two movies catapulted her to stardom. 

A Good Lawyer's Wife (2003)



In 1974, Youn took a hiatus from acting after she married singer Cho Young-nam and moved to the U.S. with him. Divorcing him after 13 years of marriage, she returned to Korea and resumed her career, taking on both leading and minor roles on the small screen.

"A Good Lawyer's Wife" by director Im Sang-soo marked Youn's first film role in a long while. She played a mother-in-law in a dysfunctional family who cheats on her terminally ill husband.

Actresses (2009)

This film made headlines for featuring Korea's top actresses in their 20s to 60s. They all gather for a fashion magazine shoot and begin chatting due to a delay. Tension runs high among the actors, each of whom are used to getting the spotlight. When actress Go Hyun-jung's divorce becomes the talk of the town, Youn says in a famous quote, "Back in my day, divorce was a scarlet letter. Drugs were the only news for which we would appear on the 9 p.m. news. When she (Go) divorced and came back, I thought it was like the resurrection of Jesus." 

The Housemaid (2010)


Youn continued her cinematic collaboration with directors Kim and Im through "The Housemaid" (2010), a remake of Kim's 1960 work of the same name.

For her powerful portrayal of the elderly housekeeper Byeong-sik, Youn swept the Best Supporting Actress awards at the Asian Film, Grand Bell and Blue Dragon awards.

The Taste of Money (2012)

This film depicts the Baek family, a wealthy corporate clan dominated by money, and shows their entanglement and obsession with power.

Youn plays Baek Geum-ok, a wealthy heiress who brazenly shows greed and violence as the wife of a corporate executive. The actor was honored after the film was invited to the competition section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. 

The Bacchus Lady (2016)

In this film, Youn plays So-young, a woman with a dark life who lives in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. The character is a "Bacchus lady," a name often used to describe prostitutes for the elderly. The actor raised her game in a work dealing with the sensitive social issue of elderly sex workers.

"The Bacchus Lady" was invited to the Berlin and Hong Kong international film festivals. For her performance, Youn won Best Leading Actress at the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Jury Grand Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

xuaiy@korea.kr