Cover Spanning period epics to modern hits, Kim Tae-ri’s standout K-dramas, such as ‘Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born’, highlight her range and the performances that have defined her career so far (Photo: IMDB)
Spanning period epics to modern hits, Kim Tae-ri’s standout K-dramas, such as ‘Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born’, highlight her range and the performances that have defined her career so far (Photo: IMDB)
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From breakout roles to critically acclaimed performances, Kim Tae-ri’s K-dramas showcase a career built on memorable characters and carefully chosen projects
As Kim Tae-ri marks her 36th birthday on April 24, she returns once again to the centre of South Korea’s cultural conversation—this time through her variety show After School Teacher Tae-ri, where she guides rural schoolchildren through the transformative power of theatre. But her presence extends far beyond any single project, defined instead by a career built on deliberate restraint and precision.
Unlike the idol-to-actor pipeline that defines so many Hallyu careers, Kim’s path began at Kyung Hee University, where she studied journalism, worked behind the scenes in Daehakro theatre and weathered years of audition rejections. There was no agency machine shaping her debut, only persistence accumulating in the margins. When Park Chan-wook ultimately cast her from over 1,500 candidates for The Handmaiden, it felt less like a breakthrough than a point of convergence.
In the decade since, she has appeared in just eight films and five television series. By the standards of South Korea’s fast-moving entertainment industry, that is a deliberately restrained output. Yet each project reads like a curatorial choice: a Cannes-lauded psychological thriller, a nation-defining political drama, a healing rural film that sparked a cultural shift, a record-breaking period epic, a Netflix sci-fi blockbuster, a generation-defining youth drama, a supernatural acting showcase and a passion project reviving a fading traditional art form. Not a single filler role. Every performance is fully committed.
This is Kim Tae-ri at her most essential. Whether you are a long-time devotee or a first-time viewer, here is the watchlist you need.
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‘The Handmaiden’ (2016)
Above Kim Tae-ri plays cunning pickpocket Sook-hee in the acclaimed film 'The Handmaiden'
Chosen from over 1,500 candidates by visionary director Park Chan-wook, Kim Tae-ri announced herself to the world as Nam Sook-hee, a pickpocket recruited to con a wealthy Japanese heiress during Korea’s colonial era. Premiering at Cannes, the psychological thriller holds a 96 per cent Tomatometer rating and an IMDb score of 8.1. Kim’s fearless, layered performance—navigating acting-within-acting at every turn—was an instant masterclass in debut-level audacity.
‘1987: When the Day Comes’ (2017)
Above Kim Tae-ri portrays student activist Yeon-hee in the political drama 1987
Playing Yeon-hee, a university freshman who transforms from politically indifferent to fiercely defiant during Korea’s landmark June Democratic Struggle, Kim Tae-ri held her own alongside veteran heavyweights Kim Yoon-seok and Ha Jung-woo. Her Grand Bell Awards nomination for Best Actress confirmed that The Handmaiden was no fluke. Part political thriller, part collective history lesson, 1987 is essential Korean cinema—and Kim is its most accessible emotional entry point.
‘Little Forest’ (2018)
Above Kim Tae-ri as Hye-won finds solace in seasonal rural life in 'Little Forest'
Filmed over a full year to authentically capture seasonal transitions—from spring foraging to winter stews—Little Forest follows Hye-won as she abandons Seoul’s brutal competitiveness for the quiet rhythms of rural life. Kim Tae-ri’s quietly luminous performance earned her Best Actress at the Director’s Cut Awards, and the film struck such a deep chord with South Korea’s burnt-out millennial generation that it is widely credited with inspiring a real-life return-to-farming movement.
‘Mr Sunshine’ (2018)
Above Kim Tae-ri as Go Ae-shin, a Joseon sniper, in the Netflix epic ‘Mr Sunshine'
Written by celebrated screenwriter Kim Eun-sook and set at the twilight of the Joseon dynasty, this Netflix period drama cast Kim Tae-ri as Go Ae-shin, a noblewoman who secretly trains as a sniper for the Righteous Army. Subverting every K-drama damsel cliché in existence, her performance helped the series reach a peak domestic rating of over 18 per cent, ranking it among the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable history. Go Ae-shin remains one of the genre’s most enduringly iconic heroines.
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‘Space Sweepers’ (2021)
Above Kim Tae-ri as space captain Jang in the Netflix sci-fi film ‘Space Sweepers’
South Korea’s first large-scale space blockbuster arrived on Netflix with Kim Tae-ri at the helm as Captain Jang, the sharp-tongued, uncompromising leader of a scrappy space salvage crew on a mission to protect a child from a ruthless corporate villain. Reaching No 1 in 16 countries during its debut, the film proved that Kim’s charismatic screen presence was just as formidable in zero gravity as it was in a Joseon hanbok.
‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’ (2022)
Above Kim Tae-ri as fencing prodigy Na Hee-do in the drama ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’
At 32 years old, Kim Tae-ri convincingly portrayed Na Hee-do, a spirited high school fencing prodigy navigating first love and relentless ambition against the backdrop of South Korea’s devastating 1997 IMF crisis. Following six months of daily fencing training, her portrayal of teenage idealism—raw, joyful and heartbreaking in equal measure—swept the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards for Best Actress. The drama’s bittersweet finale sparked fierce global debate: the ultimate measure of a performance that truly gets under the skin.
‘Revenant’ (2023)
Above Kim Tae-ri delivers a chilling dual performance as Gu San-young in 'Revenant'
Written by legendary screenwriter Kim Eun-hee, this supernatural thriller required Kim Tae-ri to inhabit both an ordinary young woman and the ancient evil spirit possessing her—without visual effects to assist the transition. Her ability to shift between the two personas through subtle changes in voice and physicality alone was widely described as an acting masterclass. It earned her the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 2023 SBS Drama Awards: a recognition of pure, unadorned craft.
‘Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born’ (2024)
Above Kim Tae-ri as opera star Yoon Jeong-nyeon in ‘Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born’
The crowning achievement of Kim Tae-ri’s career to date, Jeongnyeon charts the rise of Yoon Jeong-nyeon from poverty to stardom within Yeoseong Gukgeuk, Korea’s rare all-female traditional opera. Three years of Pansori vocal training, traditional dance and regional dialect study went into this role—and it shows in every frame. Peaking at 18.8 per cent domestic ratings, it revitalised national interest in a fading cultural heritage and earned Kim her second Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actress in 2025.
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After more than a decade in lifestyle media, Clifford has mastered the art of writing seriously about things that are fun—and writing fun things about people who take themselves very seriously. At Tatler Asia, he helped steer its flagship lists, Tatler’s Most Influential and Asia’s Most Stylish. And today, he leads T-Labs, Tatler Asia’s content innovation hub, where he continues the noble pursuit of lifestyle storytelling, spinning stories on wealth, entertainment, necessary style, Hallyu, Hollywood, beauty and more for audiences across Asia.
