Yoon So-yi (Korean윤소이; born Moon So-yi on January 5, 1985) is a South Korean actress. She debuted as a print and commercial model, then began acting in Ryoo Seung-wan's action-comedy film Arahan in 2004, followed by Shadowless Sword in 2005. Yoon has had leading roles in television dramas, notably in Goodbye Solo (2006), Glass Castle (2008), Hero (2009), and Warrior Baek Dong-soo (2011).

Yoon So-yi
Yoon So-yi
Born
Moon So-yi

(1985-01-05) January 5, 1985 (age 39)
EducationDongguk University
OccupationActress
Years active2001–present
AgentEL Park[2]
Spouse
Jo Sung-yoon
(m. 2017)
Children1
Korean name
Hangul
윤소이
Hanja
Revised RomanizationYun Soi
McCune–ReischauerYun Soi
Birth name
Hangul
문소이
Revised RomanizationMun Soi
McCune–ReischauerMun Soi

Career

edit

Yoon So-yi made her entertainment debut as a model in Graffiti Magazine in 2001. After a few years of print and commercial modeling, she auditioned for Ryoo Seung-wan's action comedy Arahan in 2004. Based on a popular South Korean comic, Arahan explored the consequences of unleashing an ancient evil spirit into a modern city, with Yoon's character part of a hidden school of ancient masters who train a naive young policeman to fight this evil force. Yoon underwent strict training for six months in a film action school, where she had to overcome her phobia of heights.[3] The film was a relative commercial success, with one review describing her as "tall and attractive in an excellently non-cutesy way."[4] She received a Best New Actress nomination at the 2004 Blue Dragon Film Awards.[5]

Yoon next starred in the TV drama Say You Love Me, a dark, twisted love story between four people.[6] This led to a friendship with her co-star Kim Rae-won, with whom she starred in a series of advertisements for Samsung Digital Plaza. When Kim later launched his own management company Bless Entertainment, she would also join his stable of stars.

After playing Jung Joon-ho's love interest in The Twins, Yoon was cast in Shadowless Sword, a wuxia martial arts epic set in ancient Korea. In the role of a beautiful young swordswoman who protects the future king, Yoon said that she was inspired by Anita Mui in The Heroic Trio,[7] and that the strong-willed female character appealed to her. She learned wushu for three months in Korea, then wire action from the Chinese stunt team.[8][9]

In 2006, she became part of the ensemble cast of Goodbye Solo, written by renowned drama writer Noh Hee-kyung. Even though her dramas do not attract a large number of viewers, Noh has gained a cult following for her in-depth portrayal of ordinary characters, taking a more human natural approach through realistic and yet emotional lines. Goodbye Solo featured seven characters of different generations and backgrounds, as they reflect on human nature and relationships.[10] Yoon would later work again with mostly the same crew in the 2-episode TV special Several Questions That Make Us Happy.

Goodbye Solo's writer Noh and veteran actress Bae Jong-ok introduced Yoon to Join Together Society (JTS), a Seoul-based Buddhist international relief agency (Yoon herself is a Buddhist). Since then she has been extremely active in charity work for JTS, spearheading street fund drives and various programs to benefit underprivileged children in North Korea and developing countries.[11][12]

An athlete in junior high, Yoon was a Sports Model major at Dongduk Women's University, but eventually dropped out due to showbiz commitments. She later enrolled in Dongguk University as a Theatre and Film major, slowing down her acting activities to focus on her studies and becoming known in the Korean press as one of the very few celebrity model students, with regular attendance and good grades. Yoon graduated in 2011.[13]

Her next project Auction House attempted a different format from the standard serialized Korean drama. The twelve-episode first season in 2007 had four directors and four writers, airing one episode every week, with each director producing his own segment in his own style, crossing genres.[14] The episodic format was not a hit with Korean audiences (despite a second season focusing on plastic surgeons with a completely different cast).

Yoon then played a former reporter struggling to adjust to life as a chaebol daughter-in-law in Glass Castle; the drama was a modest success in 2008. She was cast as a last-minute replacement leading lady in 2009 in the quirky Lee Joon-gi-starrer Hero.[15][16] Despite being praised as a well-acted and solid drama, Hero received low ratings. Yoon returned to the big screen in Try to Remember, about lovers in the past whose love transcends time and brings them together in the present day, premiered at the 2010 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[17]

She was cast as Queen Seondeok in a specially commissioned 20-minute film for the 2011 Gyeongju World Culture Expo. Titled Byeongnucheon ("The Bracelet of Blue Tears"), the fantasy adventure aimed to spearhead Korea's nascent stereoscopic film industry, combining live action sequences with 3D animated computer graphics.[18]

Later that year, Yoon's period drama Warrior Baek Dong-soo brought in high viewership ratings, topping its timeslot for 3 straight months.[19] She immediately followed that with the Channel A cable series Color of Woman, replacing Eugene as the romantic comedy lead when the latter dropped out in the aftermath of her sister's car accident.[20]

For her first variety MC job, Yoon co-hosted the 2012 televised magicians tournament King of Magic, which aired on cable for three weeks.[21]

A supporting role followed in 2013 spy action series Iris II: New Generation, in which she played a South Korean college student who defects to North Korea, trains in the special forces and counter-terrorism units, then returns to her home country as a North Korean spy.[22][23] She headlined the 2014 daily drama Angel's Revenge in the role of a nun who avenges her sister, then joined the cast of police procedural Hidden Identity in 2015.[24][25]

In May 2016, Yoon signed with new management agency JS Pictures.[26]

Personal life

edit

Yoon married musical actor Jo Sung-yoon in May 2017.[27] On September 13, 2021, she posted a photo on Instagram saying she was pregnant and expected to give birth soon [28] Her daughter was born in November 2021.[29]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Title Role
2004 Arahan Ahn Eui-jin
2005 The Twins Oh Soon-hee
Shadowless Sword Yeon So-ha
2010 Try to Remember In-woo
2011 The Bracelet of Blue Tears
(Gyeongju World Culture Expo promotional film)
Queen Seondeok of Silla
2015 Midnight Garage
2018 Brothers in Heaven Chan-mi

Television

edit
Year Title Role
2004 Say You Love Me Seo Young-chae
2006 Goodbye Solo Chung Soo-hee
2007 Several Questions That Make Us Happy Ji-soo
Auction House Cha Yeon-soo
2008 Glass Castle Jung Min-joo
2009 Hero Joo Jae-in
2011 Warrior Baek Dong-soo Hwang Jin-joo
Color of Woman Byun So-ra
2012 King of Magic MC
2013 Iris II: New Generation Park Tae-hee
2014 Angel's Revenge Lee Seon-yoo
2015 Some Guys, Some Girls
Let's Eat 2 Mysterious woman (ep. 18)
Hidden Identity Jang/Lee Min-joo
2016 Yeah, That's How It Is Yoo Se-Hee
2018 The Last Empress[30] Seo Kang-hee
Tale of Fairy[31] Immortal Izy
2019 A Place in the Sun Yoon Si-wol
Doctor Detective Yoon Si-wol (cameo)
2020 Get Revenge[32] Goo Eun-hye
2022 Becoming Witch Yang Jin-ah [33]

Music video

edit
Year Song Title Artist
2002 "Rainbow" Cho Kyu-chan
2003 "A Girl's Love Story" Han So-ri
2010 "Words That I Can Say" T-Max
2013 "The Letter" Davichi

Commercials

edit
Year Product
2002 Entia for Coreana
SK Telecom June
2003 Anycall
Haitai Green Tea Ice Cream
Ziozia
ZOOC
NII
Hair Pack Nano Therapy
Lotte Iote Chocolate
2004 Gatorade Ice
Samsung Digital Plaza
2005 Samsung Digital Plaza
2006 Samsung Digital Plaza
KOOlHaaS
2009 Paris Baguette
Clinique YES! campaign
2011 Kiara
Sun Cruise Resort
Inti Placenta
2012 Inti Placenta

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2004 41st Grand Bell Awards Best New Actress Arahan Nominated
25th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best New Actress Nominated
MBC Drama Awards Best New Actress Say You Love Me Nominated
2008 SBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama Glass Castle Nominated
New Star Award Won
2009 4th Asia Model Festival Awards Special Model Award Won
2011 SBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Planning Drama Warrior Baek Dong-soo Won
2014 KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Daily Drama Angel's Revenge Nominated
2019 27th Korean Culture and Entertainment Awards Best Actress in a Drama[34] A Place in the Sun Won
KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actress in a Daily Drama Nominated
2022 Asia Model Awards[35] Popularity Award, Actress Won

References

edit
  1. ^ "윤소이". Cinefox (씨네폭스) (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  2. ^ Hwang Ji-hyang (October 4, 2022). "윤소이, 류수영·오지호와 한솥밥…이엘파크 전속계약" [Soi Yoon, Suyoung Ryu, Oh Ji-ho and one pot rice… EL Park exclusive contract]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Naver.
  3. ^ "Two Female Action Figures Compete on Screen" Archived 2012-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. The Chosun Ilbo. May 10, 2004.
  4. ^ Kim, Kyu Hyun. "Arahan" Archived 2012-07-19 at the Wayback Machine. Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  5. ^ "Awards and Nominations" Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine (in Korean). 25th Blue Dragon Film Awards. November 29, 2004.
  6. ^ "Say You Love Me" Archived August 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. MBC Global Media. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  7. ^ "무영검 (Shadowless Sword) Production Meeting Report". Twitch Film. September 27, 2005.
  8. ^ "nKino Interview: Yoon So-Yi and Lee Seo-Jin talk 무영검 (Shadowless Sword)". Twitch Film. November 9, 2005.
  9. ^ "무영검 (Shadowless Sword) Press Screening Report". Twitch Film. November 15, 2005.
  10. ^ Park, Chung-a (February 24, 2006). "Drama Breaks From the Traditional" Archived 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine. The Korea Times via Hancinema.
  11. ^ 윤소이, "나눔은 즐거워요" (in Korean). Join Together Society. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  12. ^ 한지민, '빈곤퇴치 우리 함께해요~' (in Korean). Join Together Society. December 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  13. ^ 김수로·윤소이, 18일 동국대 나란히 졸업 '공로상' (in Korean). Dongguk University Cyber Alumni Association. February 11, 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  14. ^ "Auction House". MBC Global Media. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  15. ^ Moon, Yong-sung (November 4, 2009). "Yoon Soy-yi picks up Hero" Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. Asiae.
  16. ^ Wee, Geun-woo (November 17, 2009). "Lee Jun-ki says Hero is the perfect fit" Archived 2022-06-11 at the Wayback Machine. Asiae.
  17. ^ "Try to Remember 우리 만난 적 있나요" Archived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. 14th PiFan History. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  18. ^ Chung, Ah-young; Lee, Hyo-won (May 30, 2011). "Gyeongju World Culture Expo ready for grand opening" Archived 2023-11-25 at the Wayback Machine . The Korea Times.
  19. ^ Hong, Lucia (October 12, 2011). "The Warrior Baek Dong-soo bows out atop Mon-Tues lineup for 13th win". 10Asia.
  20. ^ Kim, Jessica (November 23, 2011). "Yoon Soy to replace Eugene in new series". 10Asia.
  21. ^ Lee, Dong-hyun (April 18, 2012). "King of Magic to Follow Comedy Big League 2". enewsWorld.
  22. ^ Ho, Stewart (January 25, 2013). "Yoon Soy Joins Iris 2 as a Beautiful and Brainwashed Spy". enewsWorld. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  23. ^ Jun, Ji-young (March 14, 2013). "Actress Yoon So-yi Set to Appear as Beautiful Elite Spy". KBS Global. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
  24. ^ "Yoon Soi, Lee Se-eun's Sincere Tearful Acting". KBS Global. January 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  25. ^ Ghim, Sora (April 28, 2015). "Hide Your Identity Holds Its First Script Reading". BNTNews. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  26. ^ 윤소이 '나인' 제작사 제이에스픽쳐스 전속계약, 이다해와 한솥밥 (in Korean). TV Daily. May 26, 2016. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  27. ^ 우리 사랑 이대로"…윤소이 조성윤 부부, 다정한 미소 (in Korean). January 9, 2018. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  28. ^ Jo Jun-won (September 13, 2021). "임신' 윤소이, 기대와 설렘으로 곧 만나러 갑니다...부끄럽지 않은 부모가 되도록 노력[TEN★]" ['Pregnant' Yoon So-yi, I'm going to meet you soon with anticipation and excitement... I try to become a parent who is not ashamed [TEN★]]. Ten Asia (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021 – via Naver.
  29. ^ Lee Joon-hyun (December 7, 2021). "윤소이♥조성윤, 득녀 후 첫 가족사진 "새로운 삶에 감사해" [TEN★]" [Yoon So-yi ♥ Jo Seong-yun, first family photo after childbirth "Thank you for a new life" [TEN★]] (in Korean). Ten Asia. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Naver.
  30. ^ "'황후의 품격' 장나라-최진혁-신성록-신은경-이엘리야, 열정 충만 첫 대본리딩". Herald POP (in Korean). October 16, 2018. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  31. ^ "'계룡선녀전' 한현민, 선계 커피 신선 '칼디' 역으로 출동! 문채원과 케미!". My Daily (in Korean). November 12, 2018. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  32. ^ "Kim Sa Rang, Yoon Hyun Min & more cast in upcoming drama 'Get Revenge'". Allkpop. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  33. ^ Yeon Hwi-seon (February 7, 2022). "이유리X이민영X윤소이, TV조선 '마녀는 살아있다' 출연 [공식]" [Lee Yu-ri X Lee Min-young X Yoon So-yi to appear in TV Chosun's 'The Witch Is Alive' [Official]] (in Korean). OSEN. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Naver.
  34. ^ "191129 이상엽/윤소이 - 문화연예대상 드라마부문 남여최우수상". Korean Pop Culture YouTube Channel (in Korean). 3 December 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  35. ^ Yang, Yong-eun (October 14, 2022). "제17회 2022 아시아모델페스티벌 인 의정부', 14일부터 사흘간 의정부에서 개최" [The 17th 2022 Asian Model Festival in Uijeongbu’, held in Uijeongbu for three days from the 14th]. Straight News (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
edit
  NODES
Association 1
INTERN 2
Note 1
Project 1