Career
Jung Hye-sung got her start in the glamour world as a model. With a modest beginning there, she ventured into the entertainment industry. She debuted in Kwak Kyung-taek's drama ‘Friend, Our Legend’. A remake of Kwak's own 2001 box-office hit film ‘Friend’, the series aired on MBC from June 27 to August 30, 2009, and depicted a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of four friends. Jung portrayed the character Sae-ri.
In 2011, she modelled at the 13th Tokyo Girls Collection Autumn/Winter event. Two years later, she walked the ramp at the Tokyo Runway Autumn/Winter show.
She returned to television in 2012 in the romantic comedy ‘To The Beautiful You’. The series was based on the Japanese shōjo manga series, ‘Hanazakari no Kimitachi e’ (For You in Full Blossom) and also starred Sulli, Choi Min-ho, and Lee Hyun-woo. Jung played Hong Bo-hee, one of the fans of Kang Tae-joon, a high-jump athlete portrayed by Choi.
She next appeared in the season 2 of the hit crime procedural drama ‘Special Affairs Team TEN’. Cast as Bae Seo-yeon, Jung got the chance to work alongside veteran actor Joo Sang-wook. In this season, the team pursues a serial killer known as “Murder F”.
In ‘Potato Star 2013QR3’, which aired on tvN in 2013, she played Park Seung-hee, a neighbour of the Noh family, the central protagonists of the comedy series. In 2014, she appeared as Lee So-yi in SBS’ ‘Glorious Day’, a family drama about a single mother who is raising her three daughters on her own.
Her next project, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, that ran on MBC from October 27, 2014 to January 13, 2015, told the story of a public prosecutor and his team of mismatched legal warriors who would do everything they can to protect the innocent and punish the wicked, despite prideful authorities and a corrupt system acting as seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Jung’s role in the series was as Yoo Kwang-mi, a supporting character.
For her next project, she chose the vampire thriller ‘Blood’ (2015). Cast as Choi Soo-eun, this was her first outing in a fantasy series.
The 2015 fitness drama ‘Oh My Venus’ was an important milestone in her career. She played Jang Yi-jin, who is a CF Queen of South Korea. Bubbly and mischievous, Jang is the daughter of a rich CEO as well as has a thriving career in the entertainment industry. She is an ardent fan of Jang Joon-sung (Sung Hoon), who is a professional boxer.
Jung followed it up with SBS’ ‘Remember: War of the Son’, a legal melodrama that premiered on December 9, 2015, and ended on February 18, 2016. She was cast as Nam Yeo-kyung, who has lived all her life in a bubble of an upper-class girl. Adored by her doting father, she quickly develops feelings for Seo Jin-woo (Yeo Seung-ho), the male protagonist.
In 2016, she did a variety of things. She appeared in the pilot episode of MBC’s melodrama ‘Marriage Contract’ as Han Ji-hoon’s (Lee Seo-jin) girlfriend. She was also cast in the music video for South Korean pop-rock band CNBLUE’s song ‘You’re So Fine’. Jung made appearances on several reality shows as well, including on the 466th episode of KBS2’s ‘Happy Together’ and on the 11th and 12th episodes of tvN’s ‘Candy in My Ear’.
She played Hong Ga-eun, an accounting intern who is sent to spy on the lead protagonist Kim Sung-ryong (Namkoong Min) by a prosecutor in KBS2’s 2017 workplace comedy ‘Good Manager’. The single-camera sitcom was able to draw top ratings, despite being set against big-budget dramas such as SBS’ ‘Saimdang, Light's Diary’.
Jung also appeared on the 355th episode of SBS’ variety show ‘Running Man’. She acted in another KBS2 series in 2017, the fantasy sitcom ‘Manhole’. Despite innovative setting and genuinely witty dialogues, the show drew poor numbers, registering average nationwide rating of 2.7%.
