Love Scout to Heavenly Ever After: Han Ji-min's unstoppable K-Drama run, how she chooses bold and fresh roles

It’s the year of Han Ji-Min, and her power isn’t just in headlining hit dramas. It’s in the nuanced, refreshing, and unexpected choices she’s made from Love Scout to Heavenly After roles so distinct that K-drama fans everywhere are saying, ‘Okay, we’re so back with K-dramas.’

Love Scout didn’t just score big with ratings and rave reviews, it reignited fans’ love for office romances, hitting all the classic K-drama tropes without feeling clichéd or overdone. At its heart was a wholesome, slow-burn love story between a polished, no-nonsense team leader and her secretary, played brilliantly by Lee Jun-Hyuk. What made it even more refreshing: Han Ji-Min’s character was the one making the first moves—a rare and welcome twist in the K-drama world. Her character, while delightfully quirky, masking a woman quietly carrying suppressed trauma. The storytelling never dragged, the conflicts didn’t overstay their welcome, and the romance filled the gap fans had been feeling in the genre for a while.

And now, there’s Heavenly Ever After, a tale dealing with the afterlife. In this story, Han Ji-min, plays  a mysterious woman who unexpectedly appears in Heaven without any recollection of her past, except for the name "Go Nak-joon". There are only tantalising clues that she has: She is filled with furious rage at the sight of a man in a Hawaiian shirt, to the point that she almost kills him. She is torn apart by the demons inside, as she worries that she might be a ‘bad’ person if she regains her identity and sense of self. Han Ji-min might not quite be the center of the show, but she has a stellar presence: Her exhausted eyes, loose hair speak volumes. The series is heading into its finale soon, and fans are already buzzing with theories: They have enough to go on, from betrayal, to infidelity, and loss of memories.

Truth be told, Han Ji-min has always chosen her roles with care, almost as if she instinctively knows which ones will strike gold. Take emotional and heartbreaking The Light in Your Eyes (2019), for instance, which earned her a Baeksang Award. She also took on a standout role in Our Blues, an ensemble drama in an omnibus format, establishing her power as an actress.