Choi Soo-young

2000–2007: Career beginnings

Choi was initially discovered through an SM Entertainment Open Audition when she was in fifth grade.^[6] She later won first place at the 2002 Korea-Japan Ultra Idol Duo Audition, leading to her debuting in Japan as a member of Route 0.^[7] The duo released three singles before ultimately disbanding in 2003.^[8]

Choi returned to SM Entertainment and eventually debuted in South Korea as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007.

2008–2016: Acting roles and songwriting

Girls' Generation gained significant mainstream popularity with the release of their single "Gee" in 2009.^[9] Choi has said in an interview that she was also interested in acting before debuting as a singer, and had failed more than 70 auditions prior to her debut in Girls' Generation.^[10]

Aside from Girls' Generation's activities, Choi participated in various music and acting projects. Initially, her acting work mostly involved several small roles and guest appearances, including KBS2's sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (2007),^[11] the romantic comedy film Hello, Schoolgirl (2008),^[12] SBS's drama Oh! My Lady (2010),^[13] SBS's Paradise Ranch (2011) and SBS's A Gentleman's Dignity (2012).^[14][15] During this period, musically, she recorded two songs: one trot song titled "KKok" with Girls' Generation member Yuri for the SBS drama Working Mom, with another, "Feeling Only You", being a collaboration with Girls' Generation member Tiffany and South Korean duo The Blue.^[16][17]

As a member of Girls' Generation, Choi contributed songwriting credits. She penned the lyrics for three Girls' Generation songs: "How Great is Your Love" (2011),^[18] "What Do I Do" (2016),^[19] and "Sailing (0805)" (2016),^[20] while co-writing the song "Baby Maybe" (2013).^[21]

In September 2012, she landed her first major acting role in tvN's medical drama The Third Hospital.^[22][23] Her performance was praised by her co-actors Oh Ji Ho and Kim Seung-woo.^{[24][25][26][unreliable source?]} In May 2013, Choi was cast in tvN's romantic comedy drama, Dating Agency: Cyrano, a spin-off of the 2010 movie Cyrano Agency.^[27] Park Ju-yeon from the Hankook Ilbo praised Choi for her lively character portrayal, stating that her performance lacked the "overdone emotions [that] commonly appear in acting newcomers".^[28]

In September 2014, Choi scored a lead role in MBC's melodrama, My Spring Days, playing a terminally ill patient who receives a heart transplant and meets her donor's husband, played by Kam Woo-sung.^[29] For this breakthrough performance, Choi won the "Best Actress in a Miniseries" award at the 2014 MBC Drama Awards and the "Excellence Award for Actress" at the 2015 Korea Drama Awards.^[29][30] She contributed a song to its soundtrack, titled "Wind Flower".^[31]

In 2015, Choi starred as the female lead in KBS2's special drama Perfect Sense, which was produced by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance to help raise public understanding of the disabled. She played a teacher named Ah-yeon who is visually impaired.^[32][33]

In June 2016, Choi starred as the female lead alongside Ma Dong-seok and Seo In-guk in the OCN crime drama Squad 38.^[34][35]

2017–present: Label change and continued acting

In early August 2017, Choi starred as a television producer in the JTBC web drama Someone You Might Know.^[36] Later in August, she played the female lead in the MBC drama series Man in the Kitchen.^[37] In November 2017, Choi joined Echo Global Group after the conclusion of her exclusive contract with SM Entertainment.^[38][39]

In 2018, Choi was cast in the Korean-Japanese film Memories of a Dead End^[40][41] and the action comedy film Miss & Mrs. Cops.^[42]

In December 2018, Choi released her solo single, "Winter Breath", which marked her first song release following her departure from SM Entertainment. Choi launched her official Twitter and YouTube accounts to commemorate the single's release.^[43][44]

In May 2019, Choi signed with a new agency, Saram Entertainment.^[45] In February 2020, Choi starred in the OCN drama Tell Me What You Saw.^[46]

Following the release of Tell Me What You Saw in 2020, Choi starred in the JTBC romance drama Run On.^[47] Then in 2021, she starred alongside Choi Tae-joon in the Naver TV romantic comedy series So I Married the Anti-fan, based on the manhwa of the same name^[48] and appeared in the Netflix original series Move to Heaven.^[49]

In 2022, she starred in the KBS2 drama If You Wish Upon Me in the role of a hospice nurse.^[50] Choi participated in Girls' Generation's fifteenth anniversary album Forever 1 (2022), co-writing the songs "Seventeen" and "Villain" for the album.^[51][52]

On August 29, 2024, Saram Entertainment announced that Choi would be releasing her Japanese debut maxi single, titled "Unstoppable", on October 30, 2024.^[53]

In 2025, Choi starred opposite Kim Jae-yong in the ENA romance drama I Dol I.^[54] She played Maeng Se-na, a lawyer and boy group fangirl.^[55]

Korean singles

Japanese singles

Awards and nominations

Listicles