In 2003 Kim made a memorable cameo as a profanity-spouting ajumma in the Jang Nara comedy Oh! Happy Day. It successfully revamped her image and rejuvenated her fading career. Kim quickly became known in the Korean entertainment industry as the “Queen of Ad-lib,” with her comic talent showcased in many of her succeeding projects, notably Mapado,Twilight Gangsters, Granny’s Got Talent (2015), and the Marrying the Mafia sequels.

Kim also gained attention for her turns in more serious fare, such as 2006’s Barefoot Ki-bong, a heartwarming pic about a developmentally disabled man. Her 2011 film Late Blossom is a romance between two elderly couples, a topic rarely explored in Korean cinema.The low-budget indie became a sleeper hit, and for her portrayal of an Alzheimer’s-afflicted woman, Kim won Best Supporting Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.