Shin Min-a

Yang Min-a (born 5 April 1984), better known by the stage name Shin Min-a, is a South Korean model and actress best known for starring in television dramas A Love to Kill (2005), My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010), Arang and the Magistrate (2012), Oh My Venus (2015), Tomorrow, With You (2017), Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021), and Our Blues (2022).

This was followed by the romantic comedy film My Love, My Bride, where she and Jo Jung-suk played a newly married couple; it was a remake of the same-titled 1990 hit that starred Choi Jin-sil and Park Joong-hoon.

Shin began her career as a model for the teen magazine KiKi in 1998, under her birth name, Yang Min-a.

Without her knowledge, her friend applied her to the magazine's model competition, where she got first place.

She first made a name for herself starring in commercials for brands such as Samsung and Korea Telecom 018, in which her line "love moves about" gained popularity amongst Korean youth.

Along with Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Min-hee, and Yang Mi-ra, she was considered one of the "four teenage commercial stars," and a representative of the "N generation" (a Korean analogue to the millennial generation).

She has since become one of the most in-demand and highest paid commercial endorsers in South Korea.

In 2000, she was cast in the high-budget music video for Jo Sung-mo's "Do You Know," as a Vietnamese girl who falls in love with a Korean soldier during the Vietnam War.

Ahead of her film debut in Volcano High, she adopted the stage name Shin Min-a, to avoid confusion with the actress Yang Mi-ra.

While Volcano High started production earlier, her first appearance as an actress was in the melodrama Beautiful Days.

She took five months of acting lessons in preparation for her role.

Regarding it, she stated to The Dong-a Ilbo: "It was a completely different role than my regular image [...] at first, it was awkward, but I'm confident I won't get criticized for 'clumsy acting.'"

In 2003, she took the main role in the college romance movie Madeleine with Jo In-sung.

For her role as a hairdresser, she practiced hairdressing for three months before the movie's filming went underway.

She then took on her first main TV role as a boxer in the series Punch, training under the wing of the boxer Kim Ju-hee for two months.

The drama's director, Lee Hyun-jik, praised her, saying, "Min-a might be a rookie actor, but she's so enthusiastic sometimes we worry someone might get hurt, and she also excels in expressing emotions."

Her role earned her a New Star Award at the 2003 SBS Drama Awards.

In 2005, she took on a supporting role in Kim Jee-woon's noir film A Bittersweet Life, reuniting her with previous co-star Lee Byung-hun.

She then portrayed a deaf character in Sad Movie.

This was followed by leading roles in the melodrama A Love to Kill with Rain, romantic comedy series The Beast and the Beauty with Ryoo Seung-bum, and psychological thriller Lucifer with Uhm Tae-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.

In the 2007 film My Mighty Princess, Shin simultaneously played two characters.

As Shin entered her mid-twenties, she began showcasing more maturity in her choice of roles.

In Go Go 70s, Shin played a sexy counterculture singer and won numerous accolades for her portrayal.

She then acted as an unfaithful wife in The Naked Kitchen, and a cynical young woman in search of her father in Sisters on the Road, a critically acclaimed indie film which also stars fellow actress and close friend Gong Hyo-jin.

Notable among her forays into branded entertainment is the 2008 multi-episode Summer Days opposite Hyun Bin and Ryoo Seung-bum for LG Xnote featuring music by You Hee-yeol, as well as Friends & Love, a movie-style extended advertisement for Giordano in 2011 costarring Jung Woo-sung and So Ji-sub.

In 2009, Shin went to Milan, Italy to shoot a photo spread for Elle Korea with Calvin Klein model Jamie Dornan.

But Shin became best known for her portrayals of supernatural horror icons revamped into endearingly innocent yet spunky heroines in the rom-com My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010), and the historical drama Arang and the Magistrate (2012).

In 2011, she was chosen as the first Asian model for the DIY Project ad campaign of American clothing brand Rag & bone, then was subsequently featured in The New York Times's T Magazine.

Shin is Roger Vivier's Maison Ambassador for Korea.

On November 11, 2021, she was appointed as Gucci's brand ambassador with Lee Jung-jae.

Shin started acting by starring in music videos.

She also won the Outstanding Korean Actress award at the 11th Seoul International Drama Awards.

After appearing in The X, a 2013 spy thriller short film directed by Kim Jee-woon, Shin returned to the big screen in 2014 with Gyeongju, an introspective arthouse romance opposite Park Hae-il.

In 2015, Shin and So Ji-sub were cast in the romantic comedy series Oh My Venus.

For her character, an overweight lawyer, Shin underwent a three-hour makeup/prosthetic session every shoot.

Shin won Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries and with So Ji-sub, Shin won Best Couple Award from 2015 KBS Drama Awards.

In 2016, Shin was cast opposite Lee Je-hoon in the fantasy melodrama Tomorrow, With You, portraying a 30-year-old amateur photographer who finds out that her better half can time travel.

The drama was fully pre-produced and premiered in February 2017.

Shin took a break from acting for two years.

In 2018, Shin was cast opposite Lee Yoo-young in the mystery film Diva, playing Yi Young, a diver who lost her memory after an accident.