[Running man] Song Jihyo - Running man Ace

Song Ji Hyo
Song Ji-hyo at the press conference for “Crime Squad”, 2011
Born	Cheon Seong-im 15 August 1981 (age 34) Pohang, North Gyeongsang, South Korea
Occupation	Actress, television personality
Years active	2001-present
Agent	Namoo Actors (2005-2011) C-JeS Entertainment (2011-2015)
Korean name
Hangul	송지효
Hanja	宋智孝
Revised Romanization	Song Ji-hyo
McCune–Reischauer	Song Chihyo
Birth name
Hangul	천성임
Hanja	千成林
Revised Romanization	Cheon Seong-im
McCune–Reischauer	Ch’ŏn Sŏngim

Early life

Song was born in Pohang, one of the main seaport cities in North Gyeongsang, on 15 August 1981. She has a younger brother and a younger sister. She attended Daerim Elementary School, Hwagye Middle School and Ilsan Convention High School. Song dreamed of being an actress during her high school years after watching Park Shin-yang in the 1998 South Korean film, Promise. She graduated with a tax and accounting degree from Kyungmoon University (now Kookje College), located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi. Before entering the acting world, it was revealed that Song was cast while working on a part-time job at a cafe

Career

2001-09: Early work         

                                  

Before Song debut as an actress, she was a model for Kiki Magazine. She chose “Song Ji-hyo” as her stage name as she was inspired by the two famous actors, Song Seung-heon and Song Hye-kyo. Song appeared in the music video for Lee Soo-young’s “And I Love You” and appeared in another music video for JTL’s “Just Say Goodbye”. She also made a cameo appearance in the last episode of the television drama Age of Innocence.

Song made her feature film acting debut in the 2003 Korean horror film Wishing Stairs, playing a young student who studied ballet. She also had the lead role in the 2004 crime thriller Some, opposite Go Soo, where she starred as a reporter. In 2006, Song started out her first lead role in television drama in the MBC romantic comedy drama Princess Hours, where she played a ballet dancer who dreams to be a ballerina. She appeared in the music video for STAY’s “Words that I can’t believe”. In the same year, Song appeared as Lady Ye So-ya, the first wife of Jumong and the mother of King Yuri in the historical drama Jumong. In 2007, She appeared in the comedy film Sex Is Zero 2 the sequelto the 2002 comedy film Sex Is Zero. Song was also the co-host, with Super Junior’s Heechul, of SBS’s weekly live music showInkigayo from 11 November 2007 to 4 May 2008.

In December 2008, She played the Queen in Yoo Ha’s film, A Frozen Flower which was one of the highest grossing films of the year. She later commented, “When I decided to do this film, nudity was not the central issue. How much I expose is not important to me; I thought without that scene, it would be difficult to portray the subtle changes in emotion. What mattered to me at the time was working on my facial expressions apart from the posture that the director wanted me to convey.” She also co-hosted the 2009 Dream Concert withHeechul, which was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on 10 October.

2010-2015: Running Man and Collaboration works

Song is currently a cast member of the popular SBS variety show Running Man. She was requested to join the show by Kim Joo Hyung PD (aka Myeok PD) whom Song worked with and was close to while hosting Inkigayo (Myeok PD has since left Running Man to re-join Inkigayo). She was originally a guest for the second to fifth episodes and officially joined the program in episode 6 but she was unable to attend until episode 7.

Song joined C-JeS Entertainment in Early 2011. Song appeared as a young girl in the Choo Chang-min’s film, Late Blossom. In March 2011, She played as a reporter inCrime Squad, opposite Song Il-gook and Lee Jong-hyuk. In July 2011, she played as Eun-go, the Queen of King Uija in the historical drama Gyebaek, for which she won the Producer’s Award at the MBC Drama Awards. She has also appeared in two music videos: “In Heaven” by JYJ and “It’s Nothing Serious” by Young Jee.

In 2012, Song appeared in Young-Ji and Kyu-Hoon’s music video teaser “Be Happy”. In November 2012, She starred opposite label-mate Kim Jaejoong of JYJ in the film Code Name: Jackal where she played a clumsy female assassin who kidnaped a Hallyu star, who was played by Jaejoong. She received extensive training before the start of filming in May, and her first scenes involved a flip off from a 2-meter-high stack. Her other scenes also includes scaling walls and hand-to-hand combat

In 2013, Song participated in dubbing for the animated movie Maritime Police Marcoas the voice of Lulu with her fellow Running Man member Lee Kwang-soo. In February 2013, She appeared as a charismatic female detective in Park Hoon-jung’s crime drama film, New World. In April 2013, She played as a royal nurse, opposite Lee Dong-wook in The Fugitive of Joseon. She later appeared in Freestyle feat. Navi’s music video “Winter Song”. In January 2014, Song starred as a girl who divorced and later meets her ex-husband again but this time as an intern in tvN’s medical romantic drama, Emergency Couple along with Choi Jin-hyuk. It was a hit and has since been sold to nine countries.

In Spring 2014, Song collaborated with NBA and released her own series “NBA X Song Ji Hyo”, “CHO.2”. Known for creating basketball merchandise, NBA’s collaboration with Song brought about a different style than the usual sports affiliated look. The “CHO.2” was seen on the episode of “Running Man” when the actress wore the cap while filming in Australia. “CHO.2” stands for two Chinese characters — 뛰어넘을초 (exceed “超”) and 처음초 (initial “初”), both having the sound of the Korean word “초” (CHO)—that sums up Song’s motto “to never lose the original heart so that you will do everything.” The motto matches perfectly with her character on Running Man as she is often seen trying new things and doing her best. She has worn the cap on both Running Man and, Emergency Couple. Song completed filming for her first Chinese film 708090, set to be shown in cinemas in 2015, with Taiwanese singer and actor Kenji Wu. On 19 August 2014, Banila Co. endorsed Song as an official model due to her “flawless skin, natural beauty and huge international fan base.” A rep from Banila Co. said, “Song Ji Hyo’s natural beauty and refined charm complement banila co.’s urban, upbeat concept well.”

2015-present: Ex-Girlfriend Club

In 2015, Song took on the lead role in the romantic-comedy drama Ex-Girlfriend Club, starring opposite Byun Yo-han. The drama filming started in March and first aired on 8 May 2015. It was originally scheduled for 16 episodes, but tvN later decided that the drama would have 12 episodes instead of 16 in order “to maintain high quality of the remaining episodes”.

On 10 July 2015, it was reported that Song and C-JeS Entertainment have mutually decided to part ways after 4 years.

On 29 December, Song appeared in Gary’s MV teaser for ‘Lonely Night’ featuring Gaeko.   

                  

Personal life

Song’s last known address was in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, South Korea. It is reported that she has actually moved to Hapjeong, Mapo and resides in the same apartment complex as other celebrities (i.e. Ha Dong Hoon (HaHa), Daesung, Yang Hyun Suk, etc.) since 2013.

While guest starring on Happy Together, Song indicated that her favourite celebrity is actor Hwang Jung Min. She particularly enjoys wake-boarding and cycling, and revealed in an interview that she once cycled from her home to her filming site. Some of Song’s closest friends include her Running Man members, actor Lee Dong Wook, actress Choi Yeo Jin, actress Kim Ji Soo, Super Junior’s Kim Heechul, and singer Young Jee whom she attended high school with. She is also friendly with Taiwanese actor-singer Kenji Wu
.