Claudia KIM, born KIM Soo-hyun in 1985, moved to the US with her family when she was 5 and spent there most of her childhood. She used to dream of becoming an international lawyer, but later considered as well a career as a TV news anchor. Once she finished high school, she moved back to Korea and majored in international studies at Ewha Womans University (sic). After gaining experience writing for the college’s English newspaper, she did internships in journalism, but her...More

Claudia KIM, born KIM Soo-hyun in 1985, moved to the US with her family when she was 5 and spent there most of her childhood. She used to dream of becoming an international lawyer, but later considered as well a career as a TV news anchor. Once she finished high school, she moved back to Korea and majored in international studies at Ewha Womans University (sic). After gaining experience writing for the college’s English newspaper, she did internships in journalism, but her career took an unexpected turn when she applied in 2005 for a beauty pageant, the Asian Supermodel Contest, and eventually won. With the sudden fame came many offers for screen roles, and even though she was interested and started taking acting lessons, she was still hesitant about taking the jump as it would mean giving up her initial aspiration to be an international lawyer. Upon hearing her sharing her doubts on a talk-show, a producer had the good idea to cast her in the role of an international lawyer, and so in 2006, she made her acting debut in TV series <Queen of the Game>. She would however spend the next four years away from the cameras, with the exception of a few commercials, in order to finish her university degree and decide her next step. She made her comeback in 2010 with a supporting role in the TV series <The Fugitive: Plan B>, under her new stage name ‘Uriel” to avoid confusion with the many other KIM Soo-hyun in the Korean show business. She would later appear in romantic comedy series <Romance Town> (2011) before taking one of the main roles of medical drama series <Brain> (2011) and starring in sitcom <Standby> (2012). In 2014, KIM gained a strong foothold in Hollywood by landing a role in the blockbuster superhero movie <Avengers: Age of Ultron> (2015) as a Seoul-based geneticist who helps Iron Man and company, thus making her big screen debut in one of the highest-grossing films. She was also cast the same year for the recurring part of Princess Khutulun in Netflix critically-acclaimed historical drama series <Marco Polo> (2014-2016). She appeared one last time on Korean television as part of the main cast of romantic drama series <Monster> (2016), before focusing her career on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. She notably played in sci-fi film <The Dark Tower> (2017) based on Stephen King’s novel series of the same name, and joined the cast of <Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald> (2018).Less