Son Ye-jin, Song Hye-kyo and Jun Ji-hyun reign supreme in 2025: K-drama’s original queens are back with fire

It’s the year of the OGs. No doubt, K-Dramas have felt a little dull without the original queens.

Son Ye-jin, Song Hye-kyo and Jun Hi-jyun have taken 2025 by storm among others, dispelling the staid ‘shelf-life’ of actresses.

After the phenomenal success of Crash Landing on You, and Thirty-Nine, Son Ye-jin never really left the spotlight, even during her break to marry Hyun Bin and welcome their first child. Now, she’s ready for a powerful comeback with Park Chan Wook’s No Other Choice, a dark comedy co-starring Lee Byung-hun. The film is already generating buzz, with screenings lined up at major festivals like Venice and Busan. On top of that, Ye-jin is also leading Netflix’s upcoming drama Variety, further cementing her return to center stage.

Meanwhile, Song Hye-kyo remains luminous. In 2022, she starred in the painful The Glory, where she played a bullying survivor who returns to take revenge on the classmates and perpetrators. And, her lineup of intense projects was far from over: After that, she returned with Dark Nuns, which starred Jeon Yeon-been. She is now headlining the much-anticipated Netflix production Slowly and Intensely. With a staggering budget and a powerhouse cast including Gong Yoo, Cha Seung Won, Honey Lee, and Seolhyun, this 1960s-1980s period drama reunites her with celebrated screenwriter Noh Hee Kyung.

Not to be left behind, Kim Tae Hee and Jun Ji Hyun are also stepping up—Tae Hee with the Hollywood thriller Butterfly, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, and Ji-hyun with the Disney+ spy romance Tempest, premiering September 10. Ji-hyun’s spy-themed romance quickly grabbed attention, pairing two powerhouse leads—Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong Won—backed by a stellar supporting lineup that includes Park Hae Joon, Kim Hae Sook, and Oh Jung Se.