Jung Ho-yeon

In Squid Game (2021), Hoyeon's Kang Sae-byeok makes trusting another player feel dangerous in itself. Her guardedness gives the alliances a difficulty that cannot be reduced to the rules of the competition. We were moved by her vulnerability because she made it matter whom Sae-byeok trusted, beyond what an alliance might gain her. Alongside Park Hae-soo's Cho Sang-woo, she gives Hwang Dong-hyuk good reason to let the relationships carry the drama. The series can be blunt when it makes speeches, but there is little need to explain what is at stake between these players.

That was her acting debut. Subsequent television work included the food blogger Hong Cha in Chicken Nugget (2024) and Jisoo in Alfonso Cuarón's Disclaimer (2024), her first English-language role. The clearer turn is towards physical action in Na Hong-jin's Hope (2026), her first feature film.

As Lim Sung-ae, she stands out among performers prepared to look foolish without treating the danger as a joke. The characters may make poor decisions, but their fear remains credible enough for the comedy to work. Lee Hwo-kyoung's production design gives the small town enough ordinary life for the emergency to feel like an interruption. Once the chases accumulate, that sense of place weakens, and the creatures are less persuasive than the pursuit. Hoyeon's readiness for the physical work helps: she performed her own stunts and learnt gun handling and manual driving for the part.

We would be wary of asking only for more force from her. Her instinctive physical acting can still use finer control, and more action is not the only way to develop it. Hwang gets the more affecting work by letting her relationships carry the pressure, while Na puts her seriousness to comic use. A quieter part would be as welcome as another demanding chase. Start with Squid Game, then try Hope if creature chases are your idea of an evening.