CALL it a fat shot at fame that worked.
Until the movie 200 Pounds Beauty, Korean actress Kim Ah Jung had always been known as an acting lightweight, famous only for good looks and 'knockout figure'.

But now, she has found big-time fame by donning a fat suit to play an obese backstage singer who undergoes full-body plastic surgery to become slim.

Ah Jung, 25, was the only one who dared take up the challenge of the 90kg role which was reportedly rejected by other actresses.

Her jaw-dropping transformation - not unlike Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow in the film Shallow Hal - has won rave reviews in Korea and catapulted the movie to the No 1 spot on the local box-office chart.

Within a month, 200 Pounds Beauty has attracted more than 4.5 million admissions.

Ah Jung herself has also become the talk of the town, inspiring Sports Chosun to coin the term 'Kim Ah Jung Syndrome' to refer to her raging popularity.

Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo's resident film critic also praised her 'artful comic acting' and how her tears 'embellish' a key concert performance scene.

The movie's theme song Maria, also performed by Ah Jung, has soared to No 1 on a local music chart. It has also been downloaded 170,000 times from Cyworld, where the single is posted.

In addition, Ah Jung has also snagged no less than five product endorsements, including a coveted lingerie commercial.

Ah Jung, who made her acting debut on TV in 2004, was once deemed too snobbish and unapproachable.

She has admitted she does not warm to strangers easily, and that she is too 'timid' to initiate conversation.

But not anymore, it seems.

DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT

Earlier when she was busy touring Korea to promote 200 Pounds Beauty, Ah Jung was only too eager to share her filming experiences.

Like how it took four hours for a special Hollywood makeup team to 'inflate' her to 90kg, and how it was unbearably hot to wear the fat suit made of latex and cotton.

'To smile as I usually do, I had to double my energy because of the thick makeup on my face,' she told The Korea Times.

But the svelte 48kg star, who stands at 1.69m, was also frank to admit that she found it hard to accept her ballooned image.

'When I first looked at myself after the special effects makeup, I was really shocked and cried when nobody was looking... until the seventh shooting, I couldn't focus on acting,' she told The Korea Herald.

However, she said it was easy to immerse in her fat character. She even drew strength from nasty comments from passers-by who whispered they 'felt sick' to see her filming in the streets.

Exactly how does she look? Singapore fans do not have to wait long to find out.

Innoform Media has acquired the distribution rights for 200 Pounds Beauty and its general manager Lim Teck said it will hit our screens late next month or in March.

'We like the concept of the movie and we think it'd work here,' said Mr Lim.

'The fat/slim theme will definitely attract attention here and Kim Ah Jung really went all out for her comedic role.'

MORE often than not, she has been slammed for her lousy acting.

But Korean model-turned- actress Han Ye Seul (right) has the last laugh now.

With her latest drama Couple Or Trouble, the 25-year-old has finally become the envied It girl of TV land.

She plays a Paris Hilton-like heiress Ana Jo, who loses her memory in an accident, but still behaves like a spoilt brat when forced to live with the ordinary folks who saved her.

Her snobbish catchphrase 'Look at you!' has even been mimicked by thousands of fans.

Ye Seul, who was born in the US but returned to Korea after winning a modelling contest in 2001, is pleasantly surprised by the changing tide.

Having played the villainess in dramas like Nine-tailed Fox, she said she was prepared to face the firing squad, but got 'friendly responses' instead.

'The Netizens are just too cute. I used to be hated by them, but now I'm loved. Those detractors have suddenly become my fans.'

Perhaps her absence has made hearts grow fonder.

After starring in the 2005 drama Typhoon That Summer, Ye Seul took a one-year break to spend time with her parents in California.

Couple Or Trouble, which was shown in Korea last October, marks her TV comeback. And what a splash she made.

In a recent Internet poll, she beat established names like Lee Young Ae and Son Ye Jin to become 'the actress you most want to see in an entertainment programme'.

French cosmetics giant Clarins also signed her up as its new Korean spokesmodel with a 400 million won ($640,000) deal this year.

But the best sign of Ye Seul's rising star was her triple win at the annual Korean TV station MBC Drama Awards last month.

Besides a popularity award and an Outstanding Female Artiste award, she also won the Best Screen Couple award with her Couple Or Trouble co-star Oh Ji Ho.

So, what's next for Ye Seul?

Breaking into Hollywood is her dream - which makes sense since she speaks perfect English complete with an American accent - but right now she wants to focus on polishing her acting.

'I've been a star rather than an actress, and that's no good. Stars have an inflated image and a short lifespan.

'I want to be more passionate about my job and build my career so that I can continue to act for a long time.'

SHE may be young, but Ko Ara is slated to be the next big K-popster in Japan after BoA.

Her pretty face was splashed on 53 giant billboards placed in prominent locations in Tokyo last November.

Come March, the bubbly 17-year-old will make her big-screen debut in the highly-anticipated Japanese-Mongolia epic film The Blue Wolf: To The Ends Of The Earth And Sea.

She beat some 40,000 hopefuls in an audition to play the young lover of the great Mongol leader Genghis Khan (Takashi Sorimachi).

With an album planned in months to come, Ara, who was discovered in 2003 by SM Entertainment, which groomed BoA, looks set to take Japan - and subsequently Asia - by storm.

Back in her hometown, it seems she has been busy collecting acting chops, as well as plum endorsement deals from brands like Korean cosmetics Etude.

In her latest drama Snow Flower, Ara plays the rebellious daughter of a successful novelist who gets cast in a film adapted from her mother's book.

Her mature acting not only drew praise from critics, but also won her a Best Newcomer trophy at the annual Korean TV station SBS Drama Awards.

Even her 'mystical brown eyes' have become the topic of various forum discussions lately.

Although Ara has clarified for the umpteenth time that her eyes are naturally brown, it doesn't stop curious reporters and fans alike from asking yet again if they are real.