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Moon Choi (also known as Hee-Seo Choi) is a Korean actress currently residing in Seoul, South Korea.
She spent her childhood across South Korea, Japan, and the United States, gaining exposure to diverse cultures, arts, and languages. At 18, she returned to Seoul to attend Yonsei University, where she studied Journalism and English Literature by day and trained as an actor at the Yonsei Theater Art Club by night. At 21, Choi studied acting for a year at UC Berkeley as an exchange student. Upon returning to Seoul, she auditioned for her first commercial film, "Lifting King Kong" (2009), a drama about female weightlifters, marking the start of her professional acting career. Following her significant supporting role in "Lifting King Kong," she appeared in several independent and short films showcased at prestigious international film festivals. Her 15-minute short film "Janus," which premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, won the Jury's Grand Prize at the 2015 Poitiers Film Festival in France.
In 2016, Choi encountered a pivotal moment when, on her way to rehearsal, prominent writer and director Shin Yeon-shick noticed her memorizing lines on the subway. He gave her his business card and introduced her to Lee Jun-ik, the acclaimed director of "King and the Clown." This chance meeting led to her casting as "Kumi" in Lee’s film "Dong-Ju: the Portrait of the Poet," which won multiple awards, including Best Film of the Year in South Korea in 2016. Her performance received critical acclaim, earning her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2016 Wildflower Film Awards. In 2017, Choi gained widespread recognition for her breakthrough role in "Anarchist from Colony," also directed by Lee Jun-ik, where she portrayed Kaneko Fumiko, a Japanese anarchist and feminist who fought for freedom and equal rights for Koreans under Japanese imperial rule. Following the film’s nationwide release, Choi rose to fame and won nine awards for her role, including Best New Actress at the Blue Dragon Awards, Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, and Buil Film Awards. Additionally, she achieved the unprecedented honor of winning both Best New Actress and Best Actress at the Grand Bell Awards, becoming the first actress in the award’s 54-year history to receive both simultaneously.
Choi is fluent in Korean, English, and Japanese, and she speaks conversational Italian.
