After gaining recognition as a member of an idol group, It’s pretty common for some performers to branch out into other projects, such as an acting project or brand ambassador project. If they start acting, they usually being with minor roles until they eventually land their first main role in a TV series or movie. Would you like to know more?
M.I.L.K’s Seo Hyun-jin
First, we have Seo Hyun-jin from M.I.L.K! She used to be the main vocalist in M.I.L.K, but after the group was disbanded, she made a career shift and begain acting in 2006. Her acting debut began with the musical drama The Sound of Music in 2006. She became more popular as an actress after her role in Another Miss Oh, as Oh Hae-young, in 2016. She’s also played in some minor roles, such as the ones she had in Hwang Jini, H.I.T, and Ashamed. She also got attention for her appearances in The Duo and Three Musketeers. After being involved in a lot of TV series and movies, her name became even bigger than before, and her acting career, as well as her fame, have been growing rapidly ever since.
CHAKRA’s Jung Ryeo-won
Jung Ryeo-won has also done some acting projects, even though her career began by being one of the singers in the girl-group Chakra. She’s a Korean-Australian singer and actress, and her first acting debut was in My Name Is Kim Sam-soon. When Chakra was disbanded in 2004, Jung Ryeo-woon fully changed her path into acting. Even though there were some doubts about her ability to act after she failed 11 auditions, she was eventually accepted for a role in Hello Franceska in 2005, and made her breakthrough appearance in My Name Is Kim Sam-soon. Since she began acting she’s taken on roles in dramas that span a wide variety genres, such as Gate, Witch at Court, Never Ending Story, and many more!
Baby V.O.X’s Yoon Eun-hye
Yoon Eun-hye started her career in entertainment through a girl-group called Baby Vox, but she wasn’t part of the group for very long before she bagan to move into acting. She’s best known for her role in Princess Hours in 2006. At first there were a lot of people who made a petition to reject Yoon Eun-hye as the main role in Princess Hours, but, eventually, she made it and Princess Hours was very well-received throughout Asia. Since then, she’s had roles in TV series such as Coffee Prince, The Vineyard Man, The Legend of Seven Cutter, and many more! She’s proven herself as actress, which was clear when she beat actresses Kim Hee-ae and Park Jin-hee and won the 44th Baeksang Arts Award for the Best New Actress in 2007.
SUGAR’s Hwang Jung-eum
Hwang Jung-eum was well-known as the lead vocalist in the girl-group Sugar since 2001. But in 2004, she decided to leave the group and continue her solo career. In 2007, Hwang Jung-eum made her first acting debut in The Person I Love. Her real breakthrough role was when she appeared in High Kick Through the Roof. She revealed that during the filming of High Kick, she felt that she had a real passion for acting and she enjoyed every moment of it, which is why her work was so good. She’s been involved in a lot of famous TV series, such as Kill Me Heal Me, Listen to My Heart, Golden Time, and others. Her latest TV series was The Undateables, which was released in 2018.
S.E.S’s Eugene
Eugene was originally known as one of the members of the girl-group, S.E.S. More recently, she’s been focusing on her career as an actress and has appeared in several TV shows. Her first roles were in the dramas Loving You, Save the Last Dance For Me, Wonderful Life, and Love Truly. Her acting career began to come into its own after S.E.S disbanded in 2002. Eugene was also involved in musical theater productions. Innocent Steps was her first musical theatre debut. Some of her lead roles were from Creating Destiny and One Mom and Three Dads.
Rainbow’s Kim Jae-kyung
Kim Jae-kyung used to be known as the leader of Rainbow, but, eventually, she went into acting full time. One of her best appearances was in Monster, which was also her first lead role. Some of her other best appearances include her roles in Inspiring Generation, Always Cantare 2, and many more! she’s also been the guest on a number of variety shows, such as Running Man, Law of the Jungle, The Genius: Rule Breaker, Honey Jar, and many more! In 2016, she moved to new agency, Namoo Actors, to refresh herself as an actress.
GIRLS’ GENERATION’s Yoona
Im Yoon-ah, famously known as Yoona from the girl-group Girls’ Generation, made her acting debut in 2007 with a minor role in Two Outs in the Ninth Inning, followed by another minor role in Woman of Matchless Beauty in 2008. Yoona landed her first main character through You Are My Destiny in 2008, playing Jang Sae-byuk. After Two Outs in the Ninth Inning, she went on to other projects and was involved in a lot of movies, TV series, and TV shows. For her breakthrough role in You Are My Destiny, she received her first acting awards for Best New Actress at the 2008 KBS Drama Awards and and the 4th Baeksang Arts Awards. Other great appearances include her roles in Love Rain, The K2, Cinderella Man, and many more.
GIRLS’ GENERATION’s Yuri
Another Girls’ Generation member, Kwon Yu-ri, or Yuri, also started her acting in 2008, taking a role in Unstoppable Marriage and then minor roles in The King’s Boyfriend and Attack on the Pin-Up Boys. Her acting started to gain recognition after she got a role in Fashion King in 2012. Even though she wasn’t the lead role, she was still in one of the main roles, which led to her being case for her first movie project, No Breathing, in 2013. Yuri returned to acting in 2016 with Local Hero and was involved in some web series such as Gogh, The Starry Night. She also gained a lot of attention after her appearance in the TV series Innocent Defendant in 2017, after her famous appearance in Fashion King previously.
GIRLS’ GENERATION’s Sooyoung
Choi Soo-young, also known as Sooyoung from Girls’ Generation, also took part insome acting projects. Her first acting appearances were mostly in minor roles, such as in Unstoppable Marriage, followed by Hello Schoolgirl, Oh! My Lady, Paradise Ranch, and others. Her first main role was in the drama The Third Hospital in 2012. She got a lot of compliments from the drama, and also after her appearance in Dating Agency: Cyrano, in 2013, which was also highly praised. After her departure from SM Entertainment, she wanted to become an real actress, so she joined the Echo Global Group and became more focused on her acting career. Sooyoung also appeared in the web drama Someone You Might Know in 2017.
GIRLS’ GENERATION’s Seohyun
Seo Joo-hyun, or Seohyun, is another Girls’ Generation member who is fond of acting. Her first acting debut was in 2013 through a minor role in Passionate Love. Since then, she began to improve her acting ability through a musical in 2014, Moon Embracing the Sun, and got her first main role. Mostly, Seohyun’s acting career was in musical theater. A lot of people gave good responses about her acting, and have said that her acting ability has been improving over time. After her contract with SM Entertainment ended, she signed with Namoo Actors as her new agency and remained an actress. She played the lead roles the the TV series Time and Bad Thief, Good Thief.
AFTER School’s UEE
Next, we have Uee from After School! Actually, her main desire was to be an actress, but eventually she was debuted as a singer, first as part of Five Girls, before it became After School in 2009. Her acting debut was in Queen Seondeok, and she also took a part in You’re Beautiful. In 2011, she had two lead roles, in Birdie Buddy and Ojakgyo Family. Because of her natural acting, she received Best New Actress awards from the KBS Drama Awards and the Baeksang Arts Awards. She also appeared in Jeon Woo-chi in 2013. From that TV series, she again revealed her aspirations to be a serious actress, and she wanted to erase her ‘idol singer-turned-actor’ image. Some of her latest acting projects are Manhole, Mr. Oh, and many more.
AFTER SCHOOL’s Nana
This performer is another After School member, Nana! She became an actress outside her activity with After School at the time. Her acting debut started with a role in Love Weaves Through a Millenium, a Chinese TV series in 2015, then she took a part in Go Lala Go! 2. She also appeared in some TV series in minor roles, but her appearances in those were nice, as well. Eventually, she got another lead role in Four Men, but she decided to leave it. Some of her latest appearances have been in Kill It and Justice, in 2019.
