The stunning actress began her acting career in 2005 in the 5th season of a South Korean television situation series, ‘Nonstop. The series originally has 6 seasons. After her debut in the sitcom, she went on to star in two films, ‘My Boss, My Teacher’, a sequel to the 2001 film ‘My Boss, My Hero’ and ‘Ad-lib Night’, based on a short story by Japanese writer Azuko Taira in 2006. In the same year, Han Hyo-joo increased her public attention after co-starring with Seo Do-young, Daniel Henney and Lee So-yeon in a television series, ‘Spring Waltz’, which is the fourth and final instalment of the director Yoon Seok-ho’s ‘season drama’ series.

Fortuitously, Han was a part of two highly successful television series between 2006 and 2009. The two popular series that propelled her career into the limelight were ‘Heaven and Earth’ in 2007, directed by Moon Bo-hyun, and ‘Iljimae’ in 2008 by Lee Yong-suk. She played a role in a top-rated Korean drama, ‘Brilliant Legacy’, in 2009 with 28 episodes aired on SBS from 25 April to 26 July.

She appeared in the role alongside actor Kim Jae-joong in a South Korean-Japanese film, ‘Heaven’s Postman’, directed by Lee Hyung-min in 2009. In 2010 she played a titular role in the South Korean television series, ‘Dong Yi’, along with Ji Jin-hee, Lee So-yeon and Bae Soo-bin.

She received more acceptance from the audience after appearing in Song Il-gon’s romantic drama film, ‘Always’, starring together with So Ji-sub. The film, which narrates the love story between an ex-boxer and a telemarketer who is slowly going blind, was released on 20 October 2011.

Han was the Queen Consort-yoo in the 2012 South Korean film, ‘Masquerade’, which is the ninth highest-grossing South Korean film so far. The film also won more than a dozen awards at the 49th ‘Grand Bell Awards’. In the same year, she played a lead role along with the actor Go Soo in the film, ‘Love 911’, which led her to receive a ‘Best Actress’ nomination at the 49th ‘Baeksang Arts Awards’ later in 2013.

One of her best-known action thriller films, ‘Cold Eyes’, also made her win the ‘Best Actress’ award in 2013. The film, directed by Cho Ui-seok and Kim Byeong-seo, is a remake of the 2007 Hong Kong film, ‘Eye in the Sky’.

In 2015, Han Hyo-joo appeared in two films:- ‘The Beauty Inside’, a romantic comedy film directed by Baek Jong-yul based on an American social film, ‘The Beauty Inside’ and ‘C’est si bon’, a musical drama film written and directed by Kim Hyun-seok.

Next year, in 2016, Han was cast in a South Korean period drama film, ‘Love, Lies’, which received critical appreciation for its reconstruction of Seoul in the 1940s. The film, directed by Park Heung-sik, stars Han Hyo-joo, Chun Woo-hee and Yoo Yeon-seok, has gained popularity among the audience and also earned box office success. She received remarkable appreciation globally after acting in the South Korean television series, ‘W’, consisting of 16 episodes. The series gained popularity because of its unique presentation and also achieved reasonably high viewership ratings.

Han Hyo-joo was a lead cast in the South Korean action thriller film, ‘Golden Slumber’, in 2018, directed by Noh Dong-seok based on a Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka. She starred in the film with actors Gang Dong-won, Kim Eui-sung, Kim Sung-kyun, Kim Dae-myung and Yoon Kye-sang. During that year, she became notable for her lead role in a South Korean science fiction action film, ‘Illang: The Wolf Brigade’ by Kim Jee-woon.

In 2022, She played a role in a South Korean adventure film by Kim Jeong-hoon, ‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’. Later, the film became the first Korean film to get 1 million viewers in 2022, within 11 days of its release. It is also available on Netflix from 2 March 2022. The same year, she made a special appearance as ‘adult Na Bo-ra’ in the film, ’20th Century Girl’, directed by Bang Woo-ri and released on Netflix on 21 October 2022.

Baek Jong-Yeol’s ‘Believer 2’ is the latest film of the actor Han Hyo-joo as of 2023.