Jun Ji-hyun (born Wang Ji-hyun on 30 October 1981), also known by her English name Gianna Jun, is a South Korean actress and model. She has received multiple awards, including two Grand Bell Awards for Best Actress and a Daesang (Grand Prize) for Television at the Baeksang Art Awards. Jun rose to fame for her role as The Girl in the romantic comedy film My Sassy Girl (2001), which became a tremendous sensation across Asia and sparked an international breakthrough for Korean cinema. Other notable films include Il Mare (2000), Windstruck (2004), The Thieves (2012), The Berlin File (2013) and Assassination (2015). She also starred in television series My Love from the Star (2013–2014), The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016–2017) and Jirisan (2021), as well as the Netflix series Kingdom (2020–present). Jun Ji-hyun's success in film and television has established her as a top Hallyu star. She is referred to as one of "The Troika" along with Kim Tae-hee and Song Hye-kyo, collectively known by the acronym "Tae-Hye-Ji". Early life and education Jun was born in Seoul, South Korea. She has a brother who is five years older. Her mother and her mother's friends all encouraged her to be a model or actress due to her height and slim figure. Her childhood dream was to become a flight attendant, but she changed her mind after a flight. In 1997, at the age of 16, she followed her high school female senior and began her career as a model for Ecole Magazine. In 1998, she debuted as an actress and adopted the stage name Jun Ji-hyun, at the suggestion of a producer. Jun attended college at Dongguk University and graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Theater and Film. She later enrolled in Dongguk University's graduate school of Digital Media and Contents in 2011 and obtained a master's degree. Career 1997–2005: Career beginnings and breakthrough Jun first became well known as a commercial model and as a TV actress. Although she made her film debut in the little-watched White Valentine in 1999, it was not until later in the year when she was featured in a commercial for Samsung My Jet Printer that she became a popular sensation. The dancing and attitude expressed in the ad made her into an icon for Koreans in their late teens and early twenties. The following year, Jun made her first well-publicized film