Song Yun-ah Biography

Song Yun-ah (Korean: ???, born June 7, 1973) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for starring in the film Jail Breakers (2002), as well as the television dramas Hotelier (2001), On Air (2008) and Mama (2014).

Early life

Song Yun-ah was born in Seoul, but spent her childhood in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. She has two elder brothers, the first one is a doctor. While studying Cultural Anthropology as a freshman at Hanyang University, she was recommended by an older schoolmate to a modeling agency. Song made her entertainment debut when she won three awards at the KBS Super Talent Contest in 1995, and began appearing in magazine advertisements and as an extra on TV shows.

Career

In 1998, Song rose to fame as the antagonist in Mister Q, playing the head of the design department in an underwear company who bullies the heroine; the trendy drama was a big hit, with a peak viewership rating of 45.3%. Over the next few years, Song became well known for her roles in TV dramas such as Paper Crane (1998), The Boss (1999), and Hotelier (2001).

Her first few films did not make a significant impression at the box office. But in late 2002, Song starred in one of the bigger commercial hits of the year, Jail Breakers with actors Sol Kyung-gu and Cha Seung-won. Her energetic performance in Kim Sang-jin's comedy was recognized with Best Supporting Actress trophies from the Blue Dragon Film Awards, the Chunsa Film Art Awards, and the Grand Bell Awards. Song next played an anthropologist from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation in the 2004 horror film Face.

In 2006, she reunited onscreen with Sol Kyung-gu in Lost in Love, a low-key melodrama directed by Choo Chang-min about two college friends who drift apart and reconnect over the course of ten years. Arang followed, in which Song played a detective on the trail of a serial killer; this was her first time to get top billing over a male costar (rookie actor Lee Dong-wook). But like Face, her previous project in the horror genre, Arang was a commercial and critical failure. Song returned to television with My Beloved Sister, in the title role of a graduate art student who grew up wealthy but must suddenly take on the responsibilities as head of the family and take care of her younger brothers after their father goes bankrupt then disappears.

Her next hit drama came in 2008 with On Air, a behind-the-scenes look at the Korean entertainment industry. Song was cast in the role of scribe Kim Eun-sook's alter ego, a successful, acerbic screenwriter who clashes egos with a top actress (played by Kim Ha-neul) while falling for a TV director (played by Park Yong-ha). Then in the 2009 thriller Secret, Song played the wife of a homicide detective"?she becomes the prime suspect in a brutal murder he's investigating, while in the 2010 tearjerker Wedding Dress, her character is a widowed designer who is diagnosed with cancer and begins sewing the ultimate parting gift, a special dress for her young daughter's wedding, which she will never get to see.

After getting married in 2009 and giving birth in 2010, Song went on a five-year hiatus from acting. She became an adjunct professor and part-time lecturer at Seoul Arts College in 2010, as a faculty member of the Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Broadcasting, Entertainment and Visual Arts. Apart from occasional stints as an awards ceremony host (she hosted the Korean Film Awards from 2003 to 2010), in 2011 she also joined the cooking show Food Essay on cable channel Olive, and served as a judge on the first season of talent-reality show Korea's Got Talent.

Song made her acting comeback in the 2014 drama series Mama, which revolved around a terminally ill single mother's quest to find a loving family for her son before her impending death, leading to her befriending the current wife of a former lover. Her performance won Best Television Actress at the 51st Baeksang Arts Awards.

Personal life

Song married actor Sol Kyung-gu on May 28, 2009 in a Catholic church in Bangbae-dong followed by a reception at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul. Both graduates of Hanyang University, they acted opposite each other in Jail Breakers (2002) and Lost in Love (2006). Their son Sol Seung-yoon was born on August 3, 2010.

In 2014, Song filed a defamation suit against 57 netizens who spread online rumors that she began having an extramarital affair with Sol in 2002 while he was still married to his first wife and was the cause of their divorce in 2006. Sol and Song have denied these rumors, stating that their relationship started in 2007.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1997	1818 (Profanity)	Hong Se-in
1998	Zzang (The Best)	Song Na-young
2000	A Masterpiece in My Life	Kang Yeo-kyung
2002	Jail Breakers	Han Gyeong-sun
2004	Face	Jung Sun-young
2006	Lost in Love	Yeon-soo
	Arang	So-young
2009	Secret	Yoo Ji-yeon
2010	Wedding Dress	Seo Go-eun

Television drama

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
1995	Age of Individuality		KBS2
	Brilliant People		KBS1
1996	Tears of the Dragon	Ms. Jung, Yi Suk-beon's wife	KBS1
1997	Drama City "The Road to Gorangpo"		KBS2
	Hometown of Legends		KBS2	episode: "The Nine-Tailed Fox"
	Beyond the Horizon		SBS
1998	Love	Lee Hee-soo	MBC
	Mister Q	Hwang Joo-ri	SBS
	???? 8??	Jung-in	SBS	episode: "The Eye of Terror"
	Paper Crane	Cha Yeon-hee	KBS2
	Advocate	Jang Hye-mi	MBC
1999	The Boss	Han Yeon-ji	MBC
	You Don't Know My Feelings	Na Sook-ja	MBC
	Love Story	Jung-in	SBS	episode 3: "Lost Baggage"
2000	Bad Friends	Ha Young-seo	MBC
2001	Hotelier	Seo Jin-young	MBC
	Sweet Bear	Han Jung-eun	MBC
2002	The Present	Kim Hye-jin	MBC
2004	Into the Storm	Cha Mi-seon	SBS
2005	Hong Kong Express	Han Jung-yeon	SBS
2006	My Beloved Sister	Yoon Seung-joo	MBC
2008	On Air	Seo Young-eun	SBS
2010	Secret Garden	Top star at giveaway event (cameo, episode 2)	SBS
2014	Mama	Han Seung-hee	MBC
2015	Assembly	Choi In-kyung	KBS2
2016	The K2	Choi Yoo-Jin	tvN
	Drama Special- Sweet Home	cameo	KBS2

Variety show

Year	Title	Network	Notes
1998	Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival - Big Concert Musical Journey	KMTV	Host
	Go! Our Heaven	MBC	Host
1999	Super TV Sunday Is Fun - Song Yun-ah's Summer Escape	KBS2
	Korean Video and Records Awards	MBC	Host
2000	SBS Drama Awards	SBS	Host
2002	Golden Disk Awards	MBC	Host
2003	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
	SBS Drama Awards	SBS	Host
2004	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2005	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2006	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2007	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2008	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2010	Korean Film Awards	MBC	Host
2011	Food Essay	Olive TV	Host
	Korea's Got Talent - Season 1	tvN	Judge
	The Miracle of Kangaroo Mother Care	MBC	Documentary narrator
2012	Spring Hasn't Come Yet: One Year After the Earthquake in Japan	SBS	Documentary narrator
2014	Hope TV SBS	SBS	Host

Discography

Year	Song title	Notes
2002	"Pink Lipstick"	Track from Jail Breakers OST
2008	"Shadow"	Track from On Air OST

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1995	KBS Super Talent Contest	Gold Award
		Photogenic Award
		Julia Award
1998	SBS Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actress	Mister Q
	KBS Drama Awards	Popularity Award, Actress	Paper Crane
1999	35th Baeksang Arts Awards	Most Popular Actress (TV)	Mister Q
	MBC Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actress	The Boss
2000	SBS Drama Awards	Big Star Award	Love Story "Lost Baggage"
	45th Information and Communication Day	Prime Minister's Commendation
2001	MBC Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actress	Hotelier, Sweet Bear
2002	23rd Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Jail Breakers
	Korea Best Dressed Swan Awards	Recipient
2003	11th Chunsa Film Art Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Jail Breakers
	40th Grand Bell Awards	Best Supporting Actress
2004	SBS Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Planning Drama	Into the Storm
		Top 10 Stars
2006	4th Korea Fashion World Awards	Best Dressed, Movie Actress category
	MBC Drama Awards	Excellence Award, Actress	My Beloved Sister
2007	3rd Andre Kim Best Star Awards	Best Star Award
	MBC Entertainment Awards	Achievement Award
2008	Cosmopolitan	Fun Fearless Female
	SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	On Air
		Top Excellence Award, Actress
		Top 10 Stars
2009	4th Andre Kim Best Star Awards	Female Star Award
2010	2nd Korea Jewelry Awards	Diamond Award
2014	3rd APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Mama
	27th Grimae Awards	Best Actress
	MBC Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama
2015	51st Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actress (TV)
	KBS Drama Awards	Excellence Awards, Actress in a Mid-length Drama	Assembly