Edited by Seo Hayne
Translated Cho EK
Kim Go Eun debuted in 2012 with the movie A Muse, based on the novel of the same name. She drew attention by taking on a surprisingly explicit role, the high school girl that an old poet loved. Kim Go Eun won six Rookie of the Year awards at various film festivals, including the ones at the Daejong and Blue Dragon Film Awards. Because of this role in this movie, she quickly emerged as a rising star.
She later received good reviews in the female noir film Coin Locker Girl (2015) that she co-starred with Kim Hye Soo, playing the character who goes by Il Young because she was dumped in subway locker number 10. She realistically played a woman surviving in a harsh and ruthless world. In another film, Canola (2016), where she collaborated with Yoon Yeo Jeong, she played a warm-hearted girl who reunites with her grandmother after ten years.
Her first drama series was tvN’s Cheese in the Trap (2016), a series adaptation of a webtoon of the same name. Although there were some negative opinions about her before the premiere, Kim Go Eun won the sympathy of many viewers by naturally playing the character, Hong Seol, an ordinary college student who can be a little sensitive at times.
She later solidified her acting career by playing Eun Tak, a girl born with a tragic fate who should have been dead in the fantasy drama, tvN’s Guardian: The Lonely and the Great God. The drama’s success earned not only her popularity but also rave reviews on her acting. The scene where Eun Tak cries after recovering her memory of Kim Shin is one of the best scenes in drama history.
Kim Go Eun is an actress who often gets chosen again by the crew she once worked with. For instance, A Muse director Jung Ji Woo asked Kim to join his 2018 film, Tune in for Love. In addition, in SBS’ The King: Eternal Monarch, Kim Go Eun played two roles as detective Jeong Tae Eul and criminal Luna and worked with Guardian writer Kim Eun Sook again.
Now, Kim Go Eun is coming back with another webtoon-based drama, Yumi’s Cells. She will approach viewers as an ordinary office worker, Yumi. Her new musical movie, Hero, is also waiting to meet the audience. It will be a biographical film of Ahn Jung Geun. In it, Kim Go Eun took on the role of Seol Hee, the last maid in the palace of Joseon, and performed singing and acting in the film.
As she has shown us various roles over the past ten years, I can’t wait to see more of the versatile female roles she will present us in the future.
Editor Seo Hayne: I like actors as they faithfully lead through their long running-time. I also like idols who accomplish everything on stage within 3 minutes.
Translator Cho EK: I’m a big fan of Korean dramas and movies.
