South Korean actress Kim Hieora re-entered the film scene in 2025. She recently took on Chun-Seo, a single mother, in the movie The Savior. This project marks her first screen comeback since stepping back in 2023, when school-bullying claims surfaced, halting her activities.
Her story didn’t start on camera. Born March 18, 1989, in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Kim pursued Musical and Theatre studies at Chungkang College of Cultural Industries. She launched her career in the musical world, first appearing in 2009 in the stage production of Jack the Ripper. That stage life built her skill set the hard way. She earned industry nods and support awards across the theatre circuit before shifting toward screen work.
As she moved into dramas and films, viewers started noticing the range she brought from her theatre background. Her performances tended to feel grounded, sharp, and emotionally layered, shaped by years of discipline in live performance. So, here are five works of hers that fans must know!
1. Lee Sa-ra in The Glory
Kim Hieora stepped into the spotlight in The Glory, taking on Lee Sa-ra, a crucial member of the privileged harassment ring at Sunghan High. Her character stood inside Park Yeon-jin’s tight circle, and her behavior helped set the entire retaliation story in motion. Sa-ra grew up with influence and comfort as the daughter of a respected pastor. In her school years, she sang in the choir, held social status, and targeted classmates from modest homes, acting from entitlement and wealth-driven superiority.
Years later, she built a name in the art world as an abstract painter, maintaining high-society appearances. Underneath that clean image, she battled a serious drug dependency and lived on a volatile. Yet she tries to protect her public reputation.
In a major breaking moment, Sa-ra attacks fellow bully Hye-jeong and stabs her in the neck during a drug-fueled outburst, showing how unstable and reckless she has become. As truths surface, her carefully built façade collapses, piece by piece, matching the larger downfall tied to Dong-eun’s strategy. The portrayal became a defining role for Kim Hieora, bringing her broad recognition across the drama scene.
2. Gelly in The Uncanny Encounter
Kim Hieora took a sharp turn in The Uncanny Counter Season 2, slipping into the role of Gelli Choi or “Gelly.” The show trails a squad of spirit-powered fighters called Counters. These are ordinary beings teamed with other-realm guardians to chase down hostile ghosts causing chaos in the human world.
Gelli arrives as a Level-3 rogue spirit nesting in a human body. She stands as one of the season’s headline dangers. Her toolkit includes breakneck speed and the unnerving ability to scan minds and wipe memories. This makes the Counters’ job a lot trickier, forcing them to stay one step ahead or risk losing more than just a fight.
Throughout the plot, she pushes the team into tougher battles. For Hieora, the role shifts her from a grounded antagonist to a full-fledged supernatural adversary. It demonstrates her ease in transitioning from realistic cruelty to eerie, otherworldly menace while maintaining an impactful performance.
3. Secretary/Tae Hyung-wook in Bad Prosecutor
Kim Hieora also featured in the legal-action drama Bad Prosecutor. The series tracks a fearless prosecutor who relies on untraditional tactics to take down influential offenders. In the show, she portrays Tae Hyung-wook, credited as Secretary / Director. The character works as both personal aide and protection detail for Seo Hyun-gyu, who leads Kangsan Law Firm.
Her duties place her beside the firm’s top authority, handling executive support while acting as a bodyguard. This appearance marks a shift into the legal-genre space, putting her in a supporting slot within a courtroom-focused narrative and expanding her screen range beyond school-violence roles.
4. Boss Young in Bad and Crazy
Kim Hieora makes an early appearance in Bad and Crazy as Boss Yong, a notable on-screen turn before her later breakout titles. In this thriller, she leads a drug-running ring, steering the illegal trade and holding control inside the criminal network.
Boss Yong runs narcotics deals, hands out bribes, and keeps ties with bent officials to protect the operation. One standout moment lands in Episode 3, where she shares a meal with Assemblyman Do Yoo-gon to talk about plugging leaks and keeping the business smooth. She gives orders, moves money, and signs off on violent tasks when needed. Efficient, dangerous, and always calculating.
She isn’t the top face of the police chase, but she plays a core part of the crime web that the leads must challenge. Her presence highlights the deep mix of power and corruption in the show’s world. This role adds an early dash of gritty crime energy to Kim Hieora’s career, sliding her into action territory with a sharp, crime-boss profile.
5. Gye Hyang-Sim in Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)
Kim Hieora appears briefly in the smash Netflix/ENA courtroom drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo. The series centers on Woo Young-woo, a genius attorney on the autism spectrum navigating prejudice and tricky cases inside a major Seoul firm.
In Episode 6, Kim shows up as Gye Hyang-sim, a North Korean escapee turned client. She’s accused of robbery and assault. Years earlier, she confronted a man who brutalized her, pushed him for money, and then vanished to care for her small daughter.
Young-woo takes her case. In court, she calls out bias from the examining doctor toward defectors. Hyang-sim admits she meant to get the cash no matter what. The jury still tags her as guilty, but the judge, considering her honesty and her situation as a mother fleeing violence, opts for probation instead of jail time.
Even though it’s a blink-and-you-miss-it role, the part carries emotional muscle. Hyang-sim symbolizes hardship, parental duty, and the quiet prejudice faced by defectors. For Kim Hieora, it serves as proof she can play soft-edged, conflicted characters too, not only steel-spined villains.
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