Shin Min-a

1998–2002: Beginnings as a model and acting debut

Shin began her career as a model for the teen magazine KiKi in 1998, under her birth name, Yang Min-a.^[5] Unbeknownst to her, a submitted her to the magazine's model competition, which Shin won.^[6] She first made a name for herself starring in commercials for brands such as Samsung^[7] and Korea Telecom 018, in which her line "Love moves about" gained popularity amongst Korean youth.^[6]

Shin started acting by starring in music videos.^[7] In 2000, she was cast in the high-budget music video for Jo Sung-mo's "Do You Know", as a Vietnamese girl who falls in love with a Korean soldier during the Vietnam War.^[8][9] Ahead of her film debut in Volcano High, she adopted the stage name Shin Min-a, to avoid confusion with the actress Yang Mi-ra.^[10] While Volcano High started production earlier, her first appearance as an actress was in the melodrama Beautiful Days.^[11] She took five months of acting lessons in preparation for her role. Regarding it, she stated to The Dong-A Ilbo: "It was a completely different role than my regular image [...] At first, it was awkward, but I'm confident I won't get criticized for 'clumsy acting'."^[12]

2003–2011: Rising popularity and breakthrough

In 2003, she took the main role in the college romance movie Madeleine with Zo In-sung.^[13] For her role as a hairdresser, she practiced hairdressing for three months before the movie started filming.^[13] She then took on her first main TV role as a boxer in the series Punch, training under the wing of the boxer Kim Ju-hee for two months.^[14] The drama's director, Lee Hyun-jik, praised her, saying, "Min-a might be a rookie actor, but she's so enthusiastic sometimes we worry someone might get hurt, and she also excels in expressing emotions."^[15] Her role earned her a New Star Award at the 2003 SBS Drama Awards.^[16]

In 2005, she took on a supporting role in Kim Jee-woon's noir film A Bittersweet Life, reuniting her with previous co-star Lee Byung-hun.^[17] She then portrayed a deaf character in Sad Movie.^[18] This was followed by leading roles in the melodrama A Love to Kill with Rain,^[19] romantic comedy series The Beast and the Beauty with Ryoo Seung-bum,^[20] and psychological thriller Lucifer with Uhm Tae-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.^[21] In the 2007 film My Mighty Princess, Shin simultaneously played two characters.^[22] After her travels were documented on the cable channel O'live in 2008,^[23] Shin published a book titled Shin Min-a's French Diary in 2009.^[24]

2012–2021: Leading roles and international success

In the 2008 film Go Go 70s, Shin played a sexy counterculture singer^[25][26] and won numerous accolades for her portrayal. She then acted as an unfaithful wife in The Naked Kitchen,^[27] and a cynical young woman in search of her father in Sisters on the Road, a critically acclaimed indie film which also stars fellow actress and close friend Gong Hyo-jin.^[28] But Shin became best known for her portrayals of supernatural horror icons revamped into endearingly innocent yet spunky heroines in the rom-com My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010),^[29] and the historical drama Arang and the Magistrate (2012).^[30][31][32] After appearing in The X, a 2013 spy thriller short film directed by Kim Jee-woon,^[33] Shin returned to the big screen in 2014 with Gyeongju, an introspective arthouse romance opposite Park Hae-il.^[34] This was followed by the romantic comedy film My Love, My Bride, where she and Jo Jung-suk played a newly married couple; it was a remake of the same-titled 1990 hit that starred Choi Jin-sil and Park Joong-hoon.^[35][36][37]

In 2015, Shin and So Ji-sub were cast in the romantic comedy series Oh My Venus.^[38] For her character, an overweight lawyer, Shin underwent a three-hour makeup/prosthetic session every shoot.^[39] At the 2015 KBS Drama Awards, Shin won the Excellence Award, the Best Actress in a Miniseries award, and the Best Couple Award with So Ji-sub.^[40] She also won the Outstanding Korean Actress award at the 11th Seoul International Drama Awards.^[41] In 2016, Shin was cast opposite Lee Je-hoon in the fantasy melodrama Tomorrow, With You, portraying a 30-year-old amateur photographer who finds out that her better half can time travel. The drama was fully pre-produced and premiered in February 2017.^[42][43]

Shin took a break from acting for two years. In 2018, Shin was cast opposite Lee Yoo-young in the mystery film Diva, playing Yi Young, a diver who lost her memory after an accident.^[44][45] The film marks the directorial debut of Cho Seul-ye. It was showcased in the Korean Fantastic features section at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival held in July 2021.^[46] In 2019, Shin returned to the small screen after three years in the political drama Chief of Staff opposite Lee Jung-jae, as Kang Seon-yeong, a lawyer turned politician.^[47][48] In winter 2019, Shin reprised her role for the second season.^[49][50][51]

In 2021, Shin reunited with director Yoo Je-won in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, starring Kim Seon-ho and Lee Sang-yi. She played the role Yoon Hye-jin, a dentist who moved from the city to open a clinic in the seaside village of Gongjin. It was a remake of 2004 film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong, which starred Uhm Jung-hwa and Kim Joo-hyuk. The series became a domestic hit with audience ratings peaking at 13.322% and went on to become one of the highest-rated television series on Korean cable television history.^[52] Following its release on Netflix, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha became one of the platform's most-watched non-English television shows. It remained on Netflix's non-English popular television show list for 16 weeks, and reached the top 10 charts in more than 20 countries.^[53][54] It also on Netflix's Top 10 Chart for television shows for more than two months from its last episode.^[55][56] She has also contributed her vocals to several singles and soundtracks.^[57][58]

2022–present

Shin starred in Noh Hee-kyung's omnibus drama Our Blues.^[59] Shin played Min Seon-ah, a divorcee with one child who came to Jeju and met her childhood friend Lee Dong-seok.^[60] It premiered on tvN on 9 April 2022.^[61]

Shin was cast in the movie Our Season in 2020,^[62] which released in 2023.^[63] The film was her first big screen role in three years after the thriller Diva.^[64] Playing a woman whose dead mother gets a "trip from heaven" to visit her, Shin chose to appear in the film because of its heartwarming feel and relatable subject matter.^[65] She played against type with a gloomier character, as in her previous project, Our Blues—explaining her choice, she stated that she wanted to play a variety of roles.^[65] A writer for the Korean news outlet Dispatch, reviewing the movie, said Shin's performance with Kim Hae-sook was "like seeing a real mother and daughter".^[66] The same year Our Season was released, Shin also returned to television with the series No Gain No Love; it began airing in August 2024.^[67]

In 2025, Shin starred in Netflix's crime thriller television series Karma directed by Lee Il-hyung.^[68] It is based on the Kakao webtoon of the same name by Choi Hee-seon, about people who are unexpectedly entangled and destroy each other while pursuing their own desires.^[69][70]

Endorsements

Along with Kim Hyo-jin, Kim Min-hee, and Yang Mi-ra [ko], she was considered one of the "four teenage commercial stars",^[7] and a representative of the "N generation" (a Korean analogue to the millennial generation).^[71] She has since become one of the most in-demand and highest paid commercial endorsers in South Korea.^[72]

Notable among her forays into branded entertainment is the 2008 multi-episode Summer Days opposite Hyun Bin and Ryoo Seung-bum for LG Xnote featuring music by You Hee-yeol,^[73] as well as Friends & Love, a movie-style extended advertisement for Giordano in 2011 costarring Jung Woo-sung and So Ji-sub.^[74] In 2009, Shin went to Milan, Italy to shoot a photo spread for Elle Korea with Calvin Klein model Jamie Dornan.^[75] In 2011, she was chosen as the first Asian model for the DIY Project ad campaign of American clothing brand Rag & bone,^[76][77] and in 2012 was featured in The New York Times' T Magazine.^[78][79]

Shin is a Roger Vivier's Maison ambassador for Korea.^[80] On November 11, 2021, she was appointed as Gucci's brand ambassador with Lee Jung-jae.^[72][81]

Philanthropy

Shin is a distinguished philanthropist whose cumulative contributions surpassed ₩4 billion by 2025.^[82] Her commitment to social welfare has been widely recognized, earning her a Presidential Citation in 2019^[83] and the Good People Artist Award at the 14th Beautiful Artist Award in 2024.^[82] Her contributions already surpassing ₩1 billion by 2015^[84] and reaching a milestone of ₩3.3 billion by the end of 2022. That year alone, her year-end gifts of ₩260 million to the Community Chest of Korea and Asan Medical Center brought her annual total to ₩360 million.^[85]

Shin has been a dedicated benefactor to medical sector, focusing on pediatric care and specialized treatment. Shin is a constant donor to the Community Chest of Korea. Since December 2009, she has donated ₩2 million monthly, supplemented by year-end gifts ranging from ₩50 million to ₩100 million. By 2015, her contributions totaled approximately ₩717 million. Per her wishes, these funds primarily support heating costs for the elderly living alone, medical expenses for children with burns, and education for immigrant children.^[85] In February 2020, she contributed ₩100 million to support medical staff and vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[86]

In August 2014, she took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge.^[87] In October, 2015, she participated in the "Ohui Beautiful Face Campaign" and personally donated a ₩50 million to Seoul National University Children's Hospital. In September 2016, she donated ₩50 million to the same hospital.^[88] Since 2015, she has been a supporter of the Hallym Burn Foundation. She participated in the "Let's Share the Heart" talent donation campaign in November 2016. She donated of ₩100 million in December 2020,^[89][90] and another ₩100 million in December 2021.^[91] Shin have been supporting Asan Medical Center since 2018.^[92] In December 2021, she donated ₩100 million each to Asan Medical Center and the Korean Developmental Society to support psychological treatment for children affected by prolonged COVID-19 infections.^[91]

In 2010, Shin donated ₩50 million to help build Korea's first multicultural school in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.^[93] Shin has also maintained a long-term partnership with Good Friends, an organization she began supporting in 2010 after being introduced by writer Noh Hee-kyung. Since then, her cumulative donations of ₩290 million have funded essential services for North Korean defectors, specifically targeting single mothers and their children.^[85] Most recently, in December 2025, Shin and her husband, Kim Woo-bin, jointly donated ₩300 million through organizations such as the Hallym Burn Foundation and Good Friends to ensure medical access for low income families and those in difficult circumstances.^[94]

She has also donated to disaster relief. In May, Shin donated ₩100 million to Nepal earthquake relief efforts via The Korean branch of Join Together Society.^[84] In August 2020 she donated ₩50 million to Community Chest of Korea to assist victims of torrential rains.^[95] In March 2022, Shin donated ₩100 million to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association,^[a] to help victims of the wildfires in Uljin County.^[97][85] On 8 February 2023, Shin donated ₩50 million via the same NGO to help victims of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.^[98] In March 2025, Shin donated ₩50 million to the Korean Red Cross to help wildfire victims in the Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam.^[99]

Film

Television series

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations

State honors

Listicles