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Quick Facts
Biography
Shim Eun-kyung (born May 31, 1994) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in a number of films and television dramas, notably the box office hits Sunny (2011) and Miss Granny (2014).
Career
Shim Eun-kyung made her acting debut at age 9 in the 2004 TV series The Woman Who Wants to Marry, and subsequently made a career as one of the best child actresses of her generation. She starred in horror fairytale Hansel and Gretel, as well as TV series such as Hwang Jini, The Legend, Women of the Sun, and The Great Merchant, critics say at times even outshining her adult counterparts.
In 2011, she successfully transitioned as a lead actress via retro dramedy Sunny, which tells the story of seven women, crosscutting between their lives in the present and the experiences that first brought them together as teenagers in the 1980s. Distinguished for its period detail, witty dialogue and the performances of its ensemble cast, the film shattered the common belief that women-centered pictures can't achieve blockbuster-level success. By appealing to a wide range of age groups, Sunny's box office total stood at more than 7 million admissions at the end of its long run. Director Kang Hyeong-cheol described Shim as someone "who is already complete as an actress."
Shim's other notable roles include a girl caught amidst the Korean War in black comedy Kyung-sook, Kyung-sook's Father (also known as My Dad Loves Trouble), a sister with seemingly supernatural abilities in Possessed, a depressive in The Quiz Show Scandal, and a court taster in Masquerade.
In the 2014 comedy Miss Granny, Shim played a woman in her 70s who miraculously finds herself back in her 20-year-old body. She said, "This film is quite close to my heart as it is the first film for me to star in not as a child actor, but as full-fledged actress." With 8.65 million admissions, its box office success surpassed Sunny's, proving Shim's ability to carry a film. She also won Best Actress at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, the Baeksang Arts Awards, the Director's Cut Awards, and the Buil Film Awards.
Shim next starred as the eccentric savant pianist heroine in Cantabile Tomorrow, a Korean drama adaptation of Japanese manga Nodame Cantabile. Her upcoming films include the animated Seoul Station directed by Yeon Sang-ho, and Marital Harmony, the second installment of the "divining art trilogy" after The Face Reader.
Personal life
Shim is the youngest daughter in her family. Her hobbies are listening to music, reading science fiction comics, and doing taekwondo. She's the drummer of a band she formed with friends, Chick and Candy.
After graduating from Eonbuk Elementary School and Cheongdam Middle School, in 2010 Shim temporarily quit acting to move to the U.S., explaining, "I chose a place where there aren’t a lot of Korean people and decided on a high school in Pittsburgh. Studying is a goal, but I also chose this because I've grown tired mentally and physically after having acted since a young age." She graduated the Professional Children's School in 2013.
Controversy
She shot a commercial with rocker Seo Taiji in 2008 and played the younger version of Lee Ji-ah's character Sujini in The Legend, but she didn't know that Lee and Seo were secretly married until 2011 when Shim was implicated in rumors that she was Seo and Lee's daughter, which she denied.
Originally nominated for the Best Actress award at the 2011 Grand Bell Awards for her role in Sunny, Shim complained publicly through her Twitter account when the awards committee removed her name from the official list of the nominees after she notified them she could not attend the event because she was currently studying in the U.S. She was one of four actors and actresses removed from the initial nomination. Shim ended up winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in Romantic Heaven; Chun Woo-hee, her castmate in Sunny, accepted the honor on Shim’s behalf.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | Thomas An Jung-geun | An Jung-geun's daughter | |
2007 | Hansel and Gretel | Kim Young-hee | |
2009 | Possessed | So-jin | |
2010 | Happy Killers | Kim Ha-rin | |
The Quiz Show Scandal | Kim Yeo-na | ||
A Night on Earth | short film | ||
2011 | Earth Rep Rolling Stars | Soo-ji (voice) | animated film |
Sunny | young Im Na-mi | ||
Romantic Heaven | young Kim Boon-yi | ||
2012 | Masquerade | Sa-wol | |
2014 | Miss Granny | Oh Doo-ri | |
2015 | The Wait | Hee-joo | |
Seoul Station | Daughter (voice) | animated film | |
2016 | Missing You | ||
2017 | Fabricated City | Yeo-wool | |
Marital Harmony | Princess Songhwa |
Television series
Year | Title | Role | Network |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Dae Jang Geum | Saenggaksi | MBC |
2004 | The Woman Who Wants to Marry | young Lee Shin-young | MBC |
Jang Gil-san | young Bong-soon | SBS | |
Sweet Buns | young Han Ka-ran | MBC | |
Emperor of the Sea | student under Lady Jung-hwa (uncredited) | KBS2 | |
2005 | That Summer's Typhoon | young Kang Soo-min | SBS |
Drama City "Goblins Are Alive" | Ji-won | KBS2 | |
I Love You, My Enemy | Kim Ga-ram | SBS | |
The Secret Lovers | MBC | ||
Lovers in Prague | student in Hangul class (uncredited) | SBS | |
2006 | 641 Family | Jin Dal-rae | KBS2 |
Spring Waltz | young Song Yi-na | KBS2 | |
Drama City "Kkot-nim-yi" | Kkot-nim-yi | KBS2 | |
Hwang Jini | young Hwang Jini | KBS2 | |
2007 | The Legend | young Sujini | MBC |
2008 | Women of the Sun | young Shin Do-young | KBS2 |
2009 | Kyung-sook, Kyung-sook's Father | Jo Kyung-sook | KBS2 |
Tae-hee, Hye-kyo, Ji-hyun | Shim Eun-kyung | MBC | |
2010 | The Great Merchant | young Kim Man-deok | KBS1 |
Bad Guy | Moon Won-in | SBS | |
2014 | Cantabile Tomorrow | Seol Nae-il | KBS2 |
Variety Shows
Year | Title | Network | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Running Man | SBS | Guest, ep 186 |
Discography
Year | Song title | From the Album | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | narration | ||
2010 | "Fly High" | duet with Kim Dong-wook | |
2014 | "If You Go to Los Angeles" | ||
"White Butterfly" | |||
"Once More" | |||
"Raindrop" | |||
"If You Go to Los Angeles" | with Rose Motel |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Young Actress | Hwang Jini, Kkot-nim-yi | Won |
2008 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Young Actress | Women of the Sun | Won |
2009 | KBS Drama Awards | Best Young Actress | Kyung-sook, Kyung-sook's Father | Nominated |
2010 | 47th Grand Bell Awards | Best New Actress | Happy Killers | Nominated |
31st Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best New Actress | The Quiz Show Scandal | Nominated | |
2011 | 47th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actress (Film) | Happy Killers | Nominated |
48th Grand Bell Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Romantic Heaven | Won | |
2012 | 48th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actress (Film) | Sunny | Nominated |
2014 | 19th Chunsa Film Art Awards | Best Actress | Miss Granny | Won |
50th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Actress (Film) | Won | ||
18th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival | Fantasia Award | N/A | Won | |
14th Director's Cut Awards | Best Actress | Miss Granny | Won | |
10th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival | Best Actress in a Music Film | Won | ||
23rd Buil Film Awards | Best Actress | Won | ||
51st Grand Bell Awards | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
35th Blue Dragon Film Awards | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
1st Korean Film Producers Association Awards | Best Actress | Won | ||
KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Cantabile Tomorrow | Nominated | |
2015 | 10th Max Movie Awards | Best Actress | Miss Granny | Nominated |
Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | |||
2016 | 53rd Grand Bell Awards | Best Actress | Missing You | Nominated |