Im Soo-jung

Im Soo-jung made her debut in 1998 as a cover model for teen magazines. She then moved onto acting and debuted in the teen drama School 4,^[3][4] but it was Kim Jee-woon's 2003 stylish horror A Tale of Two Sisters that first drew her critical notice and newcomer awards.^[5][6]

A year later in 2004, the hit KBS2 drama series I'm Sorry, I Love You catapulted her into stardom.^[7][8] With Im looking much younger than her age, those projects solidified her image as an eternal ingenue, as did touching character study ...ing,^[9] horse jockey film Lump Sugar,^[10] and Park Chan-wook's surrealist I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK.^[11]

In 2007, she began shedding that image by taking on more adult roles,^[12] notable among them Hur Jin-ho's romantic melodrama Happiness,^[13][14] Choi Dong-hoon's blockbuster fantasy Jeon Woo-chi: The Taoist Wizard,^[15][16] romantic comedy Finding Mr. Destiny^[17] and Lee Yoon-ki's minimalist breakup indie Come Rain, Come Shine.^[18] For her performance in All About My Wife,^[19][20] she won Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards,^[21] and the Women in Film Korea Awards.^[22][23]

Im and Lee Jung-jae played two artists in a post-apocalyptic environment in the short film El Fin del Mundo ("The End of the World"), which screened at the prestigious contemporary art exhibition dOCUMENTA.^[24][25] She also acted opposite veteran Thai actor Sorapong Chatree in Aditya Assarat's short film Phuket, which was commissioned jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Association of Tourism and Hotel Operators of Phuket.^[26][27]

Im was previously part of the SidusHQ agency, but moved to being managed by KeyEast. KeyEast launched her official website in June 2012. According to the actress, the online space will be a place where she can converse with her fans directly.^[28][29]

In 2015, Im starred in Perfect Proposal, a remake of British crime thriller Woman of Straw that was partly shot in Macau.^[30][31] She next starred in Time Renegades, a time-hopping romantic thriller where she played dual roles.^[32]

In October 2015, her contract with KeyEast expired and she decided to sign with new management agency YNK Entertainment.^[33][34]

Im then starred in the female-centric indie film The Table directed by Kim Jong-kwan, which premiered at the 21st Busan International Film Festival.^[35]

In February 2017, Im was cast in the drama Chicago Typewriter alongside Yoo Ah-in. This marks Im's small screen come back after thirteen years since 2004.^[36] The same year, she was named the cultural ambassador for the UK-Korea Creative Futures mutual exchange.^[37] She then returned to the big screen with Mothers based on the book Your Request - My Other Mother by Lee Dong-eun, who also directs the film.^[38][39]

In 2019, Im returned to the small screen with the series Search: WWW.^[40][41]

In 2020, Im appeared the film Single in Seoul with Lee Dong-wook.

In 2021, Im starred in the tvN drama Melancholia alongside Lee Do-hyun.^[42]

In 2022, Im's contract with King Kong by Starship expired in August, and she decided not to renew the contract.^[43]

In November 2024, Im signed with new agency MYM Entertainment.^[44]

In an interview with Kwak Soo-jung in 2021, Im Soo-jung stated that she had become a vegan and was an advocate of animal rights.^[45]

On how she became a vegan, she said: "After going on a vegan trip with an acquaintance, my lifestyle became completely different from before. As a result, I naturally became interested in animal welfare and the environment. In the end, it was all connected."

On her thoughts on the difficulty in maintaining a vegan diet, she said: "The number of vegetarian restaurants is limited in some neighbourhoods [of Seoul]... It's important to have more vegetarian restaurants, but it's okay if there are vegetarians options... even if it's not vegan, I hope more restaurants will have one or two vegetarian options so that people don't feel alienated. If we do that, I think we can enjoy a sustainable vegetarian culture together into the future."

Concerning animal products, she said: "[On set] I have to wear leather clothes or bags because of my role, and I can have trouble locating alternative materials. There are times when stylists can't pick up these clothes or accessories as much as they want. No one says anything because it's acting, but I sometimes falter a little by myself. That's a bit agonizing. Fortunately, fake fur and artificial leather are so good these days, so I wear them mainly, but I try not to even do that. Some people may think it's a little too much, but I think that artificial leather and faux fur should be avoided as well. Because even if it's fake, it's true that if it looks good, it will eventually lead to more consumption of leather and fur materials without recognizing the boundaries between fake and real."^[45]