Shin Min-a

Shin began her career as a model for teen magazine KiKi in 1998. Since then, she became one of the most in-demand and highest paid commercial endorsers in South Korea. 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,[3] as well as Friends & Love, a movie-style extended advertisement for Giordano in 2011 costarring Jung Woo-sung and So Ji-sub.[4]

In 2009, Shin went to Milan, Italy to shoot a photo spread for Elle Korea with Calvin Klein model Jamie Dornan.[5] In 2011, she was chosen as the first Asian model for the DIY Project ad campaign of American clothing brand Rag & bone,[6][7] then was subsequently featured in The New York Times's T Magazine.[8][9]

Shin appeared in several music videos for K-pop boyband g.o.d, until her acting debut in 2001 with a supporting role in popular melodrama, Beautiful Days.[10] The newcomer quickly rose to stardom, through the high school martial arts comedy film Volcano High with Jang Hyuk,[11][12] and the college romance movie Madeleine with Jo In-sung.[13]

She then took on a supporting role in Kim Jee-woon's noir film A Bittersweet Life, reuniting her with previous co-star Lee Byung-hun.[14] She then portrayed a deaf character in Sad Movie.[15] This was followed by leading roles in the melodrama A Love to Kill with Rain,[16] romantic comedy series The Beast and the Beauty with Ryoo Seung-bum,[17] and psychological thriller The Devil with Uhm Tae-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.[18] In the 2007 film My Mighty Princess, Shin simultaneously played two characters.[19]

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[20][21] and won numerous accolades for her portrayal. She then acted as an unfaithful wife in The Naked Kitchen,[22] 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.[23] 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 Nine-Tailed Fox (2010),[24] and the historical drama Arang and the Magistrate (2012).[25][26][27]

After appearing in The X, a 2013 spy thriller short film directed by Kim Jee-woon,[28] Shin returned to the big screen in 2014 in Gyeongju, an introspective arthouse romance opposite Park Hae-il.[29] This was followed by romantic comedy My Love, My Bride, in which she and Jo Jung-suk played a newly married couple; it was a remake of the same-titled 1990 hit which starred Choi Jin-sil and Park Joong-hoon.[30][31][32]

In 2015, Shin and So Ji-sub were cast in the romantic comedy series Oh My Venus.[33] For her character, an overweight lawyer, Shin underwent a three-hour makeup/prosthetic session every shoot.[34]

In 2016, Shin is cast opposite Lee Je-hoon in 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.[35][36]

In 2018, Shin was cast in the mystery film Diva, playing a diver who lost her memory after an accident.[37][38]

In 2019, Shin was cast in the political drama Chief of Staff opposite Lee Jung-jae; as a lawyer turned politician.[39][40]

In 2020, Shin is set to star in the drama Here written by Noh Hee-kyung, revolving around NGO volunteers.[41]

After her travels were documented on the cable channel O'live in 2008,[42] Shin published a book titled Shin Min-a's French Diary in 2009.[43]

She has also contributed her vocals to several singles and soundtracks.[44][45]

Shin Min-a in 2011