Grace Kim

Meet Grace Kim, our Playmate of the Month for November 2008. Shes our first Korean Playmate, with long, dark hair and almond-shaped eyes. She was raised in a traditional Korean family, and to have an appreciation for the arts her mother was a calligrapher, her father a violinist, and her brother a classical pianist. She got her bachelors in English from UCLA and masters in education from Cal State, and taught elementary school for two years before she landed a gig in public relations with Activision, publisher of Guitar Hero. Less than two months in, Grace decided to go to the Playboy Mansions Halloween Party, and she sent us a photo in a bid to get in the door. The next day, I got an email, she says, asking me if I wanted to be a Playmate. Grace shot a test in October, and three weeks later, we asked her to do a full pictorial. I had to call in sick for five days, she said. It wasnt fair to me or my boss, and I knew that I had to leave Activision. She and the company parted on good terms shes much happier as a Playmate, going to dinners and parties at the Mansion, and still plugs Guitar Hero in the press. Before I made Playmate, I was working on a book about dating in Los Angeles, says Grace, but after that, my focus changed. I wanted to give back. Grace is back at UCLA, where she studies psychology, and shes working on a book about addiction and recovery. Thats my real passion, she says. When shes not at school, she spends time with friends and family she has four video game consoles, and bonded with fellow Playboy model Jo Garcia over their love of first-person shooters. She loves to go out for traditional Korean food, like kalbi, beef short ribs, or kimchi, spicy cabbage, but also loves American Thanksgiving. As a second-generation Korean from Los Angeles, I have the best of both worlds, she says. We couldnt agree with her more.