EL

EL is a South Korean actress with one of the most striking faces in Korean drama. She was born Kim Ji-hyun on 26 August 1982 in South Korea, and she acts under the name EL. On Oxfea, she appears in Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016), where she plays Sam-shin, the goddess of birth and fate.

EL is 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) tall.

Early life

She studied at Sungkyunkwan University and began acting in theatre before moving to film and television near the end of the 2000s. Her unusual name and strong look set her apart from the start. For years she took bold supporting roles that other actresses might have been afraid to play.

Career and breakthrough

Her film breakthrough came with Inside Men (2015), and television viewers met her power in Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, where her red-lipped goddess Sam-shin stole every scene she was in. She later shocked and moved audiences in The Call (2020) on Netflix and won fresh praise as Yeom Gi-jeong, the eldest sister in My Liberation Notes (2022).

Popular roles

Fans name three roles first: Sam-shin in Guardian, the terrifying mother in The Call and the honest, searching Gi-jeong in My Liberation Notes. Each role is completely different, and that is her trademark. She can be divine, frightening or deeply ordinary, sometimes within a single year of work.

Recent work and why fans love them

EL keeps a low profile off screen, which makes her on-screen changes feel even bigger. Fans love her courage in choosing strange and difficult women, and her voice and eyes stay in the memory long after an episode ends. She is one of Korea's true character actresses.