Moon Geun-young

Moon Geun-young (born May 6, 1987, in Gwangju, South Korea) is a South Korean award-winning actress, commercial film (CF) star, and model. Affectionately called "Korean nation's little sister," Moon started modeling at the age of 12 and appeared in the documentary film On the Way (1999) the following year. She came into the spotlight through her role as the young Eun-suh in the hugely popular television drama series Autumn Tale (2000). Her major breakthrough as a star was the horror film A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) directed by Kim Ji-woon. Later, she starred in such hit films as My Little Bride in 2004 and Innocent Steps in 2005. Moon Geun Young's recent dramas are Mary Stayed Out All Night with Jang Keun Suk and Cheongdam-dong Alice with Park Si-hoo.

Personal Life and education [edit]

Family [edit]

Moon has been loved as a proper and pure “the nations younger sister” ever since she debuted as a child actress on the 2000 TV drama Autumn in My Heart. Unlike other teenage celebrities who have already physically matured, she had the look of a young girl, she studied hard and acted well. People called her flawless and unspoiled. ^[1]

Moon read the eulogy to fellow actress, Lee Eun-joo, on February 22, 2005. Moon was in the same management agency as Lee.

In May 2005, Moon appeared onstage at the Cannes International Film Festival in France at the Palais de Festival. Moon's film Innocent Steps was chosen to be shown at the 58th Cannes International Film Festival.

Moon ranked first on the star power list in 2005 among actresses in Chungmuro, the Korean film industry, who can mobilize the greatest number of fans, and sell tickets on the sole basis of the actor's name alone.

The Korea Advertisers Association voted Moon the best entertainer to sell products by advertisers. The Korea Advertisers Association of 200 members awarded Moon and actor Jo Seung-woo as the winners of the 2005 Good Model Award. The winners were decided by votes based on how much they contributed to boosting the sales of products and enhancing the image of advertisers.

Moon graduated from Gwangju Gukje High School in February 2006. In March 2006, she entered Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. Moon has been devoted to her studies and has had a solid attendance record ever since she entered Sungkyunkwan University in 2006.

Moon and veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki hosted the 2006 Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), the biggest international film festival in South Korea.

In 2008, she took a one-year leave from school to focus on the drama The Painter of the Wind. Prior to and after signing her contract for The Painter of the Wind, Moon gave much thought about whether to apply for a leave of absence. She concluded that it would be virtually impossible to perform at the best of her ability to both her studies and drama at the same time. Moon has shown strong determination to fulfill her responsibilities as a student, and this application for a leave of absence is also seen as her decision to keep her promise of valuing her education.

She is currently on her final semester majoring in Korean Literature at Sungkyunkwan University.

Career [edit]

Early career [edit]

Before her debut on a television drama series, Moon filmed several commercials and modeled for various magazines. She started modeling at the age of 12, and appeared on the documentary drama On the Road by film director Choi Jae Eun in 1999. In 2000, Moon became the biggest teen star in the country at the age of 13 playing a school girl in a sentimental TV drama called Autumn Tale. It was a hit in Korea and won over viewers in other parts of Asia. She won the best young actress award at the 2000 KBS Drama Awards for her role in Autumn in My Heart together with Choi Woo Hyuk.^[2]

Following her early success, she returned to the screen in 2001 as the young Empress Myung-sung (later played by Lee Mi-yeon) on the popular historical (also known as "sa-geuk" in Korean) television drama series The Last Empress. During that year, she also made a cameo appearance in the SBS medical television series, Medical Center.

Moon's debut film appearance was in a supporting role as Cha Tae Hyun's younger sister, Lee Ji-yoon, in Lovers' Concerto (2002).

Stardom [edit]

In 2003 she was launched as a major star with her role in Kim Ji Woon's successful horror film A Tale of Two Sisters (2003). Moon plays the role of the younger sister Su-yeon in the film. It was both the highest-grossing Korean horror film and the first to be screened in American theaters.^[3]

In 2004, Moon played the role of Suh Bo-eun in the popular film My Little Bride.^[4] It was the second most popular Korean film in 2004, behind the blockbuster hit Taegukgi. In the film, Suh Bo-eun is an ordinary high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school's baseball team ace. One day, Bo-eun's grandfather orders her to marry Sang-min (Kim Rae-won) because of a pact he made with Sang-min's grandfather during the Korean War. Despite the grandchildren's opposition, they are forced to marry because it was Bo-eun's grandfather's wish to see them married before he died. So, Bo-eun's undercover married life begins: She pretends that she doesn't have a husband and starts dating Jung-woo. Boeun believes that she can manage both men and live a double life. Everything goes smoothly until Sang-min is assigned to work at Bo-eun's high school as a student teacher.

Following the release of My Little Bride (2004), she became known as "the nation's younger sister" (Gukmin yeo-dong-saeng")^[5] for her cute younger sister-like image, in addition to her charitable deeds and acting. Moon's subsequent appearances have given her a reputation as being one of Korea's few genuine box office draws.

In 2005, Moon starred in her subsequent film Innocent Steps where she plays the role of Jang Chae-ryn, an ethnic Korean living in China, who finds herself to be a complete fish out of water after being transferred to South Korea.^[6] When her sister bows out of a dummy marriage to a champion dance instructor, Chae-ryn decides to travel to Seoul herself and impersonate her sister. Once in South Korea, she meets Na Young-sae (Park Gun-hyung), who has agreed to the sham marriage for the sole purpose of locating a new dance partner. But when Chae-ryn's secret and her lack of dancing experience is revealed, Young-Sae wants to send his new bride back. Eventually, however, he has second thoughts and decides that his only hope is to train this wide-eyed novice himself. Of course, the practices start off as purely professional, but as Chae-ryn begins to dedicate herself to the art of dancing, a connection between the newlyweds begin to take shape. Chae-ryn's youthful exuberance and folksy way of speaking eventually charms Young-sae's hardened heart.

In 2006, Moon starred in the movie Love Me Not, a Korean big-screen remake of popular Japanese TV drama Ai nante iranee yo, natsu, where she plays the character of Ryu Min.^[7] Min is a blind heiress, cold-hearted like Julian, who slowly opens herself to Julian, and he, too, falls for Min. However, Julian has to pay his creditor for his millions of debt and Min's illness that took her eyesight as a child relapsed, threatening her life.

In September 2008, Moon made her return to the television screen with the epic drama The Painter of the Wind, in which she played the lead role of Shin Yoon-bok, a painter who disguises herself as a man. Shin Yoon-bok is a painter who lived during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and was known for his realistic and delicate depictions of daily life.

In 2010, Moon Geun Young played the role of Eun Jo on Cinderella's Sister that gained many recognitions to her. In the last quarter of 2010, Moon Geun Young & Actor Jang Keun Suk starred in a drama Mary Stayed Out All Night which become popular in Asia . Moon played the role of Wi Mae-Ri who fall in love with a rockstar Kang Mu Gyul played by Jang Keun Suk.

In 2012, Moon returned to television starring opposite Park Si-hoo in SBS weekend drama Cheongdam-dong Alice.^[8][9]

Acting acclaim [edit]

In December 2008, Moon won the Best Actress Award for her role as Shin Yoon-bok at the 2008 Grimae Awards (pronounced gree-may) presented by the Korean Television Directors of Photography Association.

At the end of the year drama awards, Moon won the Daesang (Grand Prize) award, the Best Couple Award with Moon Chae Won she was amazed by the hard work that she made, and the Top 10 Star Award at the 2008 SBS Drama Awards held on December 31, 2008-January 1, 2009.

In February 2009, Moon won the Best Female Actress Award in a TV Series at the 44th Baeksang Awards. She was also very close to winning the popularity award by a very small margin (0.1%) to Girls' Generation's Yoona.

Charity [edit]

Morning Reading [edit]

Moon donated close to 100 million won to Morning Reading, a non-profit organization that promotes reading books.^[10] She gave 4.3 million won in 2005, 4 million won in 2006 and 70 million won in 2007. Moon made the contributions secretly through her mother, Ryu Seon-young, but her good deeds became known when Morning Reading revealed its 2007 account information online.

Haenam Children's Center [edit]

Moon donated about 300 million won in 2006 to a learning center for poor children in Haenam, South Cholla Province, near her hometown of Gwangju.^[11] Bae Yo-seop opened an after-school study room for children from poor or single-parent families to study there for free in 2002. The program was facing closure in October 2006 when the landlord told Bae that the house would be sold. A new building, equipped with library, computer room, bathhouse and dining room was built on the land. The 200 million-won expense was also covered by Moon. Moon also paid an unannounced visit to their classrooms.

Community Chest of Korea [edit]

Moon donated more than 850 million won over the last six years to the Community Chest of Korea, a nationwide network of 16 nonprofit fundraising organizations, becoming the biggest individual donor. She had wanted to remain anonymous.^[12]

Moon was also selected among 100 people that "lit up the world" in 2008 in a survey conducted by the Korea Green Foundation.^[13]

Hangeul Library in Sydney [edit]

Moon again showed her generosity by building a Korean library for young Korean expatriates in Australia. The actress is going to support the library construction by helping out with the cost (100 million won), and donating books. Moon has been donating books with her own money since 2006, when she saw during a visit to her relatives in Australia how young Korean students there did not have enough books or places to learn Korean. She worked with the Lindfield Korean School in Sydney to build a permanent Korean library called the Hangeul Library.

Donated Haenam Children's Center to NGO Group [edit]

In April 2009, Moon donated the Haenam Children's Center used as a study room for poor students to an NGO group Good People, an international charity group of UN UCOSCO special consultative status aiming to improve self-sustainability and eradicate extreme poverty through restoration of self-esteem using the principles of human dignity and equality at a global level.^[14][15]

Filmography [edit]

Commercial Film/Model/Ambassador [edit]

• 2012 Spokesmodel for Vita 500
• 2010 Spokesmodel for Basic House Korea and China (with actor, Won Bin) (2010-2011)
• 2009 Ambassador for the Love Tree Project (2009-2010)
• 2009 Spokesmodel for Bulgaris Yogurt
• 2008 Spokesmodel for Innisfree (2007-2009)
• 2007 Ambassador for the Pink Ribbon (Breast Cancer Awareness) (2007-2009)
• 2005 Spokesmodel for Mr. Pizza (2005-2009)
• 2005 Ambassador for the National Election Commission
• 2005 Spokesmodel for Viki (2005-2006)
• 2005 Spokesmodel for 2% Water
• 2004 Spokesmodel for VOV Cosmetics (2004-2006)
• 2004 Spokesmodel for Ivy Club (2004-2005)
• 2004 Spokesmodel for Empas (2004-2005)
• 2004 Ambassador for the Young Voter’s Campaign
• 2004 Ambassador for the Korean e-Learning Initiative
• 2004 Ambassador for the Gwangju International Film Festival
• 2003 Ambassador for the Gwangju International Film Festival
• 2003 Ambassador for the Gwangju Kimchi Festival
• 2003 Spokesmodel for Petitzel (2003-2005)

Awards [edit]

Notes and references [edit]

External links [edit]

• Moon Geun-young at Cyworld (Korean)
• Moon Geun-young at Namoo Actors (Korean)/(English)
• Moon Geun-young at HanCinema
• Moon Geun-young at the Internet Movie Database