Kim Sun-a

Kim Sun-a (born October 1, 1975) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her role as Kim Sam-soon in My Lovely Sam Soon.

Biography

Kim Sun-a was born in Daegu and then spent much of her school years in Chōfu, Tokyo (she speaks Japanese fluently). After first appearing in a music video by Kim Hyun-cheol, she started appearing often on TV but did not emerge as a star. She would first become well known as a film actress, debuting in the big-budget box office failure Yesterday but going on to play a lead role as a student teacher in the unexpected hit Wet Dreams.^[2]

Following her film success, Kim began to establish a niche for herself in comedies, often appearing as a straight-talking and not particularly demure comic heroine. She appeared in three films in 2003: a memorable cameo appearance in the period comedy Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield, opposite Im Chang-jung in the commercially successful The Greatest Expectation, and together with Cha Tae-hyun in the little-watched Happy Ero Christmas. In 2004 she took the lead role in S Diary as a jilted woman who decides to get revenge on her ex-boyfriends.^[2]

The early part of 2005 saw her star in the action-comedy She's on Duty, but she would follow up by returning to the realm of TV dramas. It proved to be the best move of her career, as My Lovely Sam Soon ended up becoming the most-watched drama of 2005.^[3] The forthright, independent personality she displayed in her leading role as a woman who finds unexpected success in life as a baker endeared her to women across Korea, and later Asia, establishing her as a top star.^[2][4]

Kim then re-enrolled in college at Ball State University in the US as a piano major, presumably also brushing up on her English skills in order to further her career.^[2]

Her first post-Sam Soon project was supposed to have been the movie Thursday's Child, but the project ran into problems midway through filming. The film production company Yoon and Joon sued Kim for breach of contract and damages worth 1 billion won, claiming that the actress was liable for their losses of more than 2.3 billion won. She won the lawsuit in 2007, with the Seoul Central District Court ruling that Kim bore no responsibility for the shutdown of the movie.^[5] After undergoing script revisions and a change of director and lead actress (to Yunjin Kim, Thursday's Child was eventually renamed and released as Seven Days.

In early 2008, Kim was involved in another controversy. Na Hoon-a, a successful trot singer with a career spanning over 40 years, was falsely rumored to had been castrated by yakuza, because he was having an affair with the mistress of a gang boss. The mistress was wildly guessed at, with the names of actresses Kim Hye-soo and Kim Suna thrown around (both issued official denials). Na ended up holding a press conference in which he almost stripped in order to prove the rumor was untrue, and demanded that the media apologize to the two actresses.^[6][7]

After a three-year hiatus caused by legal and contractual disputes, Kim finally got back to work in 2008, starring in the big-screen comedy Girl Scout,^[8] and the poorly received TV drama Night After Night (also known as When It's At Night).^[9] 2009's City Hall, where she played a low-ranking city official whose life takes a turn when she wins a pageant and later becomes the mayor,^[10][11] was a modest hit, with fans crediting its success to Kim's chemistry with her co-star Cha Seung-won.

Originally cast as the lead actress for 2010's I Am Legend, Kim quit before filming started due to issues with the production (she was replaced by her good friend Kim Jung-eun). Instead she chose the 2011 drama Scent of a Woman, which centers on an old maid who, after slaving herself at a travel agency for many years, is diagnosed that she only has six months left to live, and decides to live the rest of her life happily, turning in her resignation and leaving for a vacation of luxury.^[12][13] She next starred in the movie Pitch High (in Korean, Fighting Spirit), in which she plays the supportive wife of a second string baseball pitcher (Kim Joo-hyuk).^[14]

In 2012 drama I Do, I Do, Kim's character is described as an "alpha girl", a workaholic shoe designer who gets knocked up by a young newbie employee, then meets a charming obstetrician.^[15][16] She returned to the big screen in 2013 thriller The Five, based on the popular webtoon by Jung Yeon-shik, in which Kim plays a woman who plots revenge against the serial killer who murdered her family and left her crippled.^[17][18]

In 2014, Kim signed with management agency Fantagio.^[19]

Filmography

Television Drama

Film

Musical theatre

• Guys and Dolls (2000)

Commercials

• Fried BBQ Chicken
• Hanafos Telecom
• Lotte Pokhan Potato Chips
• Pizza Hut
• DHC Cosmetics
• Chamasi
• Max Beer
• Crystia
• Paris Baguette
• Lotte Binch
• Collagen Drink
• Samsung Credit Card
• Dongwon
• VONO
• Waffle Bant
• Make Up For Ever
• Emporio Armani watch
• OB Beer Americas

Awards

References

External links

• Kim Sun-a on Sina Weibo
• Kim Sun A at Kingkong Entertainment (Korean)
• Kim Suna at Yedang Entertainment (Korean)
• Kim Seon-ah at HanCinema
• Kim Seon-a at the Internet Movie Database