Kim Sae-ron
Kim Sae-ron was a South Korean actress. Kim began her career in 2001 as a child model and transitioned to acting in 2009 with the film A Brand New Life. She gained recognition through The Man from Nowhere, earning herself a Baeksang Arts Awards for Best New Actress nomination. She later starred in the television series Listen to My Heart, The Queen's Classroom, and Hi! School: Love On, along with the film A Girl at My Door. Her first adult lead role was in the series Secret Healer.
Over the years, Kim built a reputation as one of South Korea's most promising young actresses. However, in 2022, her career plateaued following a drunk driving incident, which led to public backlash and legal consequences. She left the production of Trolley and was partly edited out of the drama Bloodhounds, with the storyline revised.
Kim was found dead at her home in Seoul, South Korea, on February 16, 2025, at age 24. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Early life and education
Kim Sae-ron was born in Seoul on July 31, 2000. Kim had two younger sisters, and, who are also actresses. She attended Miyang Elementary School in Seoul, and graduated from Yang-il Middle School in Ilsan in February 2016. She then began attending School of Performing Arts Seoul. In 2018, Kim was admitted to Chung-Ang University's Department of Performing Arts and Film Studies.Career
2001–2014: Debut as a child model and transition to acting
Kim began her career in 2001, making her debut as a child model for a parenting magazine.Kim's first acting role was in the 2009 film A Brand New Life, directed by the French-South Korean filmmaker Ounie Lecomte and loosely based on her life. Kim played the main character, a nine-year-old girl named Jin-hee, who is abandoned by her father at an orphanage after he remarries, and is later adopted by a French couple. Kim attended the Cannes Film Festival when the film was shown there in a special screening, becoming the youngest actress to be invited to the festival.
She then co-starred with Won Bin in The Man from Nowhere, which was the highest-grossing film in South Korea in 2010. She played Jung So-mi, the daughter of a heroin addict who is kidnapped by an organized crime ring. During filming, she was only allowed to watch her own scenes on the monitor. Kim won several awards for her first two roles, including Best New Actress at the Korean Film Awards and Buil Film Awards, along with a Baeksang Arts Award nomination for Best New Actress – Film.
In 2011, Kim was in another crime film, I Am a Dad, playing the daughter of Kim Seung-woo. She had her first television role in the drama series Listen to My Heart, playing the younger version of Hwang Jung-eum's character. She appeared in the first four episodes, and her performance was praised by TV critics. Her next role was in the drama film , alongside her sister Ah-ron. The film is about international adoption, and was the first Korean film to win Best Film at the Giffoni International Film Festival in 2012. Kim then had a dual role in the thriller film The Neighbor, playing a murder victim and the serial killer's next target.
In 2013, she played a student in the television drama The Queen's Classroom, which won her a Best Young Actress Award at the 2013 MBC Drama Awards.
In a 2014 interview, Kim's manager said Kim had "a great eye for good scripts which made it possible for her to choose her own projects at a very young age". Kim also stated that she never had difficulty accepting difficult roles and was able to slowly immerse herself in the characters. Her first role of the year was in the documentary-drama film Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits, reenacting the teenage version of shamanist Kim Geum-hwa. She then played a victim of bullying and domestic violence in the film A Girl at My Door. She accepted the role because she liked the script and was attracted to the character. Kim attended the Cannes Film Festival for the second time when the film premiered there as an Un Certain Regard official selection. Her performance was praised by critics—Variety called it "mesmerizing" and Twitch Film noted she had shown more layers and depth compared to her previous roles. She was nominated for many awards, winning Best New Actress at the 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards and Golden Cinematography Awards. Also in 2014, she starred in the teen fantasy-romance television series Hi! School: Love On as an angel who becomes human, and the thriller film Manhole, playing a hearing impaired girl who is kidnapped by a serial killer.
2015–2021: Acclaim and transition to lead roles
In 2015, Kim had a lead role in the Drama City television special, Snowy Road. The two-part drama series is about the "comfort women" in Korea under Japanese rule during World War II, and was later released as a film in theaters. Kim's performance as a 15-year-old comfort woman was praised by both critics and viewers, and she was awarded Best Actress in a Foreign Film at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. She then played the main character in the television series To Be Continued and the younger version of Choi Kang-hee's character in Glamorous Temptation.She was cast in her first adult role in the 2016 television drama series, Secret Healer, playing a cursed Joseon-era princess. Her character has a fictional romance with Heo Jun, played by Yoon Shi-yoon, who was 14 years Kim's senior. In November 2016, Kim signed with YG Entertainment.
In 2018, Kim starred in the thriller film The Villagers. She went on to star in the fourth season of the campus web drama Love Playlist in 2019. The same year she starred in the thriller drama Leverage, based on the American drama of the same name. In November, it was reported that Kim's contract with YG Entertainment had expired, and that she would be leaving the company. In January 2020, Kim signed with Gold Medalist along with actors Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Yea-ji.
In May 2021, Kim was confirmed to take the female lead role in the 12-episode web series The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim, with Nam Da-reum portraying the male main lead.
2022–2024: DUI incident, career plateau and comeback attempt
In April 2022, she was cast in the SBS drama Trolley. On May 18, around 8:00 am, Kim was driving under the influence in Gangnam District, Seoul, when she crashed into several structures, including a transformer, guard rails and street trees. In the crash, the transformer malfunctioned, and electricity was interrupted for about three hours at 57 places, including nearby shops, causing damage to merchants. The following day, her agency, Gold Medalist, released a statement saying that, "Kim Sae-ron is deeply reflecting on her apparent mistake. The damage caused by the crash is being compensated as much as possible. I will do my best to take responsibility until the end." On May 19, she left the Trolley drama due to the charges.On May 23, Netflix announced that it has decided not to shoot additional scenes with Kim in the series Bloodhounds. A Netflix representative stated that "the editing of Kim's existing scene is under discussion". In 2023, the series was released after a significant portion of Kim's scenes were edited out, with the storyline revised.
In December 2022, Kim's contract with Gold Medalist expired.
On April 17, 2024, it was announced that Kim would act in the upcoming play Dong Chi Mee. This would be her first return to acting since the incident. On April 18, the organizers of the play announced that Kim was stepping down due to poor health issues.
2025: Posthumous releases
Kim's last two films, Guitar Man and Urineun Maeil Maeil , are set to be released posthumously in 2025. Filming for Guitar Man wrapped-up at the end of 2024 and was released in May 2025. Urineun Maeil Maeil was filmed in the latter half of 2021 and intended to be released in the first half of 2022. However, due to post-production difficulties, including Kim's drunk driving incident in May 2022, the film was shelved; it was initially planned to be released in South Korean cinemas in September 2025, though in May 2025 it was again delayed.Volunteer work
From 2015 to 2023, Kim volunteered for the Blue Angels, a group that cares for animals at shelters. Kim also frequently used her Instagram account to raise awareness for abandoned dogs and cats.Personal life
DUI incident aftermath
On May 19, 2022, Kim posted a hand-written apology to her Instagram account. She stated:She continued to receive criticism after it was reported online that she had allegedly hosted her 22nd birthday party, two months after the incident, at a bar and asked invitees to bring alcohol. On November 4, 2022, it was reported all the money that Kim had accumulated during her career had been used to cover the costs incurred due to the accident and settlement expenses, and that she had taken a part-time job. Later, Gold Medalist confirmed that Kim had a part-time job because her financial situation was difficult but later quit.
Negative public sentiment not only ended her acting career but also made it difficult for Kim to maintain her job at cafes and acting academies. According to a close associate, she changed her name and wore glasses in order to avoid recognition, but when people found out who she was, Kim would receive termination notices.
On March 8, 2023, the prosecutor of Seoul Central District Court asked for a fine of. Later, Kim appealed for leniency due to financial difficulties and requested a fine of from Mr. A, who was riding with her. Her previous agency, Gold Medalist, compensated businesses affected by the power outage resulting from her collision with the transformer, along with the actress. By the time of her death, she had a debt of more than ₩700 million won to her agency as a result of these settlements. She had also borrowed from friends and acquaintances to cover some of her debts.
In September 2024, Kim posted a social media message that suggested suicidal thoughts. She wrote, "If I die, please capture this and share it," and expressed frustration over the DUI incident, saying "the breathalyzer showed 0, the blood test showed a high level but that was from the day before. There was no blackout. I compensated all the damages anyway. At least now, I won’t be in pain anymore." She also thanked those who had helped her. After seeing the message, two acquaintances visited her and prevented a crisis.