Kang Mal-geum

In this Korean name, the family name is Kang.

Kang Mal-geum (Korean: 강말금; born January 3, 1979)^[3] is a South Korean actress. She graduated in Arts from Pusan National University, Department of Korean Language and Literature.^[4][5] She made her acting debut in 2010 in the film Yong-Tae: The Ordinary Memories. She is known for her role in the film Lucky Chan-sil (2019), for which she earned six "Best New Actress" and one "Best Actress" awards in seven different award shows. She also appeared in the film The Chase (2017) and the television series Legal High (2019) and Missing: The Other Side (2020).^[6] In 2021, she appeared in a small role on the hit Netflix survival drama series Squid Game.

Kang Mal-geum
Kang Mal-geum for Marie Clarie Korea in March 2022
Born	Kang Soo-hye (1979-01-03) January 3, 1979 (age 46) Busan, South Korea[1]
Education	Bachelor of Arts in Korean Language and Literature
Alma mater	Pusan National University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2010–present
Agent	Star Village Entertainment[2]
Korean name
Hangul	강말금
Revised Romanization	Gang Malgeum
McCune–Reischauer	Kang Malkŭm

Early life

Kang was born in Busan in 1979 and graduated from Busan National University in Korean Language and Literature. After graduating, she worked for a trading company for 4 years, then made her debut in Chungmuro in 2010 after debuted earlier onstage in Daehak-ro in 2007.^[7]

Director Kim Cho-hee, who watched "Free acting" at the Jeongdongjin Independent Film Festival, contacted Kang directly and suggested appearing in Lucky Chanshil. While working at the tasting corner of the mart, Kang became the main character of a feature film for the first time at forty while going back and forth between theatrical stages and short films.^[8]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2010	Yong-Tae: The Ordinary Memories			[9]
2011	From the End		Short film	[10]
2014	Encounter
2016	A Man in the Midnight
2017	The Chase	Caregiver 2
	Daydream (Baek-il-mong)
2018	The Monologue
2019	Idol	Myung-hui's wife
	Family Affair	Homeroom teacher
	Lucky Chan-sil	Lee Chan-sil	Won 7 awards	[11]
	Gyeongwon		Short film	[10]
2020	A Bedsore	Nurse		[10]
	More Than Family	Ho Hoon's mother
2022	In Our Prime	Han Ji-woo's mother		[12]
	Drown	Hye-soo		[13]
	Birth	Teresa Kim		[14][15]
2023	Soulmate	a curator at an art museum		[16]
2024	Land of Happiness	Ok Jeong-ae
2025	Lobby	Minister Cho		[17][18]

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	Children of Nobody	Si-wan's mother		[19]
2019	Legal High	Lee Eun-ji
	Beautiful World	Eun Kyeong-seon
2020	Missing: The Other Side	Kim Hyeon-mi	Season 1
	Please Don't Date Him	Telegram girl
	KBS Drama Special: "The Joys and Sorrows of Work"	Lee Ji-hye	one act-drama
2021	Mouse	Ba Reum's aunt	Cameo	[20]
	Sell Your Haunted House	Manager Joo / Joo Hwa-jeong		[21]
	Squid Game	Gi-hun's ex-wife
	The Silent Sea	Song Won-kyung
2021–2022	The Red Sleeve	Hong Hye-bin / Lady Hyegyeong		[22]
2022	Thirty-Nine	Cha Mi-hyun		[23]
	Military Prosecutor Doberman	Do Soo-kyung		[24]
2023	Divorce Attorney Shin	Kim So-yeon		[25]
	The Good Bad Mother	Jung Gum-ja		[26]
	Miraculous Brothers	Chae Woo-jung		[27]
2023–2024	Gyeongseong Creature	Choi Seong-sim	Season 1	[28]
2025	When Life Gives You Tangerines	Motel Owner	Cameo (episode 2,3)
	Knock-Off	Jegal Hyeon-suk		[29]

Stage

Musical

Musical performances^[4]

Year	Title		Role	Theater	Ref.
	English	Korean
2013	Heavy Metal Girls	헤비메탈 걸스		Hansung Art Hall 1

Theatre

Theater performances^[4]

Year	Title		Role	Theater	Ref.
	English	Korean
2008	Commedia	꼬메디아	Scaramouche	Sangmyeong Art Hall 1
2012	Penn	뻘	Jimaki	Doosan Art Centre Space111
2012	Ro Pung Chan's Nomadic Theater	로풍찬 유랑극장	Gobongja	Yeonwoo Small Theatre (Daehak-ro)
2014	Hermes	헤르메스	Yoo Jeong-sook	Theatre out of
2014	Ro Pung Chan's Nomadic Theater	로풍찬 유랑극장	Gobongja	Daehakro Arts Theatre Small Theatre
2015	Kyung-sook Kyung-sook's Father	경숙이, 경숙아버지	Jaya	Yes24 Stage 3
2015	Uncle Sunwoo	순우 삼촌		Daehak-ro Sundol Theatre
2016	2016 Mountain Forest Classic Theatre - Oresteia	2016 산울림 고전극장 - 오레스테이아		Sanullim Small Theatre
2016	Doosan Humanities Theatre 2016 Adventure - Game	두산인문극장 2016 모험 - 게임	Florence Margaret	Doosan Art Center Space111
2016	Dandelion Wind	민들레 바람되어	Old lady	Yes24 Stage 3
2017	Richard III	리처드3세		Arko Arts Theatre Grand Theatre
2017	The Women of Troy	트로이의 여인들		Art Space Seoul
2018	Red Peters - K's Reading	빨간 피터들 - K의 낭독회		Samil-il Warehouse Theatre
2018	Lonely person, difficult person, sad person	외로운 사람, 힘든 사람, 슬픈 사람	Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov	Doosan Art Center Space111	[30]

Ambassadorship

Year	Title	Ref.
2021	21st Seoul International Alternative Visual Arts Festival	[31]
2022	22nd Seoul International Alternative Visual Arts Festival	[32]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
Baeksang Arts Awards	2020	Best New Actress – Film	Lucky Chan-sil	Won	[33][34]
	2022	Best Supporting Actress – Television	Thirty-Nine	Nominated	[35]
	2024		The Good Bad Mother	Nominated	[36]
Blue Dragon Film Awards	2021	Best New Actress	Lucky Chan-sil	Won	[37][38]
Buil Film Awards	2020	Best New Actress		Won	[39][40]
Busan Film Critics Awards	2020	Best Actress		Won	[41]
Cine 21 Awards		Best New Actress		Won	[42]
Chunsa Film Art Awards	2021	Best New Actress		Nominated	[43]
Director's Cut Awards	2022	Best Actress in Film		Nominated	[44][45]
		Best New Actress in Film		Won
KBS Drama Awards	2020	Best New Actress	Drama Special – The Joys and Sorrows of Work	Nominated	[46]
	2021	Best Supporting Actress	Sell Your Haunted House	Nominated	[47]
Korean Association of Film Critics Awards	2020	Best New Actress	Lucky Chan-sil	Won	[48]
Wildflower Film Awards		Best Actress		Nominated	[49][50]
		Best New Actress		Won
Women in Film Korea Festival				Won	[51]