Kim Go-eun - South Korean Actress, Career and Childhood

Kim Go-eun was born on 02 July 1991 in Seoul, South Korea. Due to her father’s profession, her parents moved to Beijing, China, when she was four years old. The family lived there for the next ten years, due to which Kim and her elder brother had to do their early education in Beijing and learnt Mandarin language. When she entered her teens, the family returned to South Korea in 2004 and settled down in Seoul.

She completed her schooling from Kaywon High School of Arts in Seoul and later attended the School of Drama at the Korean National University of Arts from where she completed a degree in Theatre.

During her youth she was greatly influenced by Chen Kauge’s movie ‘Together’, which she watched several times and wanted to become a filmmaker. However, destiny took her towards acting, starting with school and university plays. She felt anxious during her first performance but soon took to the stage like a fish in water once she got over her initial stage fright.

As a child she was known to have a mind of her own and knew exactly what she wanted. Once she started liking the stage she set her mind on becoming an actress. She avoided commercials as she felt it may tarnish her image as an actress.

In 2012, while she was still in college, Kim caught the eye of film director, Jung Ji-woo and was offered the lead role of a 17 year high school student in the movie ‘A Muse’. Her maiden performance took the South Korean film industry by storm as she fitted the character perfectly and walked away with the Best Actress award that year.

After her first movie she took a break for two years to complete her degree and came back to hit the screens with the thriller ‘Monster’, where she played the role of a differently abled woman who takes revenge on the serial killer who murders her younger sister. The role was quite different from what she portrayed in her first film and proved her to be a versatile actress with great potential. From a young girl she had turned into a woman of substance.

By 2015 she was already a known celebrity in the film industry of South Korea and was invited to the Cannes Festival with the director and cast of her next film, ‘Coin Locker Girl’, based on a Japanese novel with the same name. The exposure at Cannes opened up her world to the international film industry and impacted her future performances.

She learnt martial arts and appeared in the movie ‘Memories of the Sword’ in which she acts alongside her role model, actress Jeon Do-yeon. In keeping with her diversified roles, she also appeared as a prosecutor in the movie ‘The Advocate: A Missing Body’ and as a young girl in the family drama, ‘Canola’ in the same year. Even with her busy schedule she portrayed a totally different character in each movie.

Kim Go-eun made her debut on television in 2016 when she was given a role in the serial, ‘Cheese in the Trap’, for which she won the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actress on Television. The following year she appeared in the fantasy serial ‘Guardian: The Lonely and Great God’. Her television appearances brought her into the bedrooms of her fans who loved her reoccurring performances.

Recently she has been cast in the movie; ‘Byeon San’ directed by Lee Joon-ik and has signed up with BH Entertainment to manage her commitments. She also works under the talent agency ‘Jangin Entertainment’.

Her films include ‘A Muse’ (2012), ‘Monster’ (2014), ‘Memories of the Sward’ (2015) and ‘Canola’ (2016).

Her television career started later with ‘Cheese in the Trap’ (2016) and ‘Guardian: The Lonely and Great God’ (2016 – 2017).

She has also sung the number ‘Attraction’ for the serial Cheese in the Trap’.

Her performance in ‘A Muse’ was recognised by ‘Best New Actress Award’ on multiple platforms including the 8th Jecheon International Music and Film Festival, 21st Buil Film Awards, 32nd Korean Association of Film Critics Awards, 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards, Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation, 13th Busan Film Critics Awards, 4th KOFRA Film Awards and the 12th New York Asian Film Festival.

She won the ‘Fantasia Award’ for the 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2015 for her performance in ‘Coin Locker Girl’.

She also won the Amazing Rising Star Award for her role in ‘Cheese in the Trap’.

Kim Go-eun is known to have dated veteran actor, Shin Ha Kyun, who is seventeen years her senior. They met each other while doing scuba diving and got further acquainted in the course of their acting careers. Despite the large age difference, the relationship continued for a while and they were reported to be living together.

As per reports in social media, she recently broke up with actor Shin Ha Kyun and is rumoured to be dating her co-star Gong Yoo from the movie ‘Goblin’. However, there is no news of a steady relationship.

She follows the Protestant Christian religion and speaks Korean and Mandarin languages.

She initially turned down the role in the television serial ‘Cheese in the Trap’ due to scheduling issues until director Lee Yoon Jung offered to reschedule the shooting to suite her timings as he found her most suited for the role.

She has contributed with her voice on the track ‘Attraction’, by Tearliner for the television drama, ‘Cheese in the Trap’.

She had to change her hairstyle for her role in the television drama ‘Cheese in the Trap’ and uses heavy eye makeup for her roles.