Kim Sun-A (born October 1, 1975) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her titular role as Kim Sam-soon in the popular television series My Lovely Sam Soon (2005). Other notable series include City Hall (2009) and Scent of a Woman (2011).

Biography

Kim Sun-a was born in Daegu and then spent much of her school years in Chōfu, Tokyo (she speaks Japanese fluently). She is the eldest in the family, and has a younger brother and sister. After first appearing in a music video by Kim Hyun-cheol, she started appearing often on TV but did not emerge as a star. She would first become well known as a film actress, debuting in the big-budget box office failure Yesterday but going on to play a lead role as a student teacher in the unexpected hit Wet Dreams.

Following her film success, Kim began to establish a niche for herself in comedies, often appearing as a straight-talking and not particularly demure comic heroine. She appeared in three films in 2003: a memorable cameo appearance in the period comedy Once Upon a Time in a Battlefield, opposite Im Chang-jung in the commercially successful The Greatest Expectation, and together with Cha Tae-hyun in the little-watched Happy Ero Christmas. In 2004 she took the lead role in S Diary as a jilted woman who decides to get revenge on her ex-boyfriends.

The early part of 2005 saw her star in the action-comedy She's on Duty, but she would follow up by returning to the realm of TV dramas. It proved to be the best move of her career, as My Lovely Sam Soon ended up becoming the most-watched drama of 2005. The forthright, independent personality she displayed in her leading role as a woman who finds unexpected success in life as a baker endeared her to women across Korea, and later Asia, establishing her as a top star.

Kim then re-enrolled in college at Ball State University in the US as a piano major, presumably also brushing up on her English skills in order to further her career.

Her first post-Sam Soon project was supposed to have been the movie Thursday's Child, but the project ran into problems midway through filming. The film production company Yoon and Joon sued Kim for breach of contract and damages worth ₩1 billion, claiming that the actress was liable for their losses of more than ₩2.3 billion. She won the lawsuit in 2007, with the Seoul Central District Court ruling that Kim bore no responsibility for the shutdown of the movie. After undergoing script revisions and a change of director and lead actress (to Yunjin Kim), Thursday's Child was eventually renamed and released as Seven Days.

In early 2008, Kim was involved in another controversy. Na Hoon-a, a successful trot singer with a career spanning over 40 years, was falsely rumored to had been castrated by yakuza, because he was having an affair with the mistress of a gang boss. The mistress was wildly guessed at, with the names of actresses Kim Hye-soo and Kim Sun-a thrown around (both issued official denials). Na ended up holding a press conference in which he almost stripped in order to prove the rumor was untrue, and demanded that the media apologize to the two actresses.

After a three-year hiatus caused by legal and contractual disputes, Kim finally got back to work in 2008, starring in the big-screen comedy Girl Scout, and the poorly received TV drama Night After Night (also known as When It's At Night). 2009's City Hall, where she played a low-ranking city official whose life takes a turn when she wins a pageant and later becomes the mayor, was a modest hit, with fans crediting its success to Kim's chemistry with her co-star Cha Seung-won.

Originally cast as the lead actress for 2010's I Am Legend, Kim quit before filming started due to issues with the production (she was replaced by her good friend Kim Jung-eun). Instead she chose the 2011 melodrama Scent of a Woman, which centers on a spinster who, after slaving herself at a travel agency for many years, is diagnosed that she only has six months left to live, and decides to live the rest of her life happily, turning in her resignation and leaving for a vacation of luxury. She next starred in the movie Pitch High (in Korean, Fighting Spirit), in which she plays the supportive wife of a second string baseball pitcher.

In 2012 romantic comedy series I Do, I Do, Kim's character is a workaholic shoe designer who gets pregnant after a one-night stand with a much younger newbie employee, then meets a charming obstetrician. She returned to the big screen in 2013 thriller The Five, based on the popular webtoon by Jeong Yeon-shik, in which Kim played a woman who plots revenge against the serial killer who murdered her family and left her crippled.

In 2014, Kim signed with management agency Fantagio.



^ "Naver People Search". Naver. Retrieved 22 October 2014.

^ "Actors and Actresses of Korean Cinema: Kim Suna". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-10-09.

^ "MBC Drama Sparks "Kim Sam-soon Syndrome"". The Chosun Ilbo. 4 July 2005.

^ "Kim Sun-a Gains Weight to Win Hearts". The Chosun Ilbo. 20 July 2005.

^ "Kim Seon-ah Wins Breach-of-Contract Suit". The Chosun Ilbo. 14 December 2007.

^ Park, Sang-woo (26 January 2008). "Na Hoon-a denies gangster rumors, drops his trousers". Korea JoongAng Daily.

^ "Na Hoon-a and the Posion of Celebrity Rumor". The Chosun Ilbo. 28 January 2008.

^ Ki, Sun-min (11 June 2008). "No pain, no gain for the streetwise ajumma squad". Korea JoongAng Daily.

^ "Night after Night premiered on June 16, 2008 and actress Kim Seon-a plays the main character Hur Cho-hee". MBC Global Media. 2 July 2008.

^ Han, Sang-hee (21 April 2009). "City Hall to Bring Public Officials to TV". The Korea Times.

^ Oh, Jean (29 April 2009). "More romantic comedy for prime time". The Korea Herald.

^ Park, So-jung (1 June 2011). "Kim Suna, Lee Dong-wook and Um Ki-joon cast in new drama". 10Asia.

^ Lee, Ga-on (4 November 2011). "Actress Kim Suna's Song Picks". 10Asia.

^ Hong, Lucia (16 February 2010). "Kim Suna and Kim Ju-hyeok cast in new drama movie". 10Asia.

^ Hong, Lucia (17 May 2012). "Kim Suna, Lee Jang-woo's I Do I Do to air later this month". 10Asia.

^ Oh, Jean (25 May 2012). "Kim, well-shod, chic and ready for her close-up". The Korea Herald.

^ Sunwoo, Carla (30 January 2013). "Kim Sun-a to make way back to the big screen". Korea JoongAng Daily.

^ Jeon, Su-mi (29 January 2013). "Kim Sun Ah to Star in The 5ive Hearts". enewsWorld.

^ "Kim Sun Ah no longer a Free Agent and signs with Fantagio". Allkpop. 4 February 2014.