Yoon So Yi
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| Yoon So Yi | |
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2007 Auction House |
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| Born | January 5, 1985 South Korea |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 윤소이 |
| Hanja | 尹소이 |
| Revised Romanization | Yun Soi |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yun Soi |
Yoon So-yi (born Moon So-yi on January 5, 1985) is a South Korean actress.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Yoon So-yi debuted as a model in Graffiti Magazine in 2001. After a few years of print and commercial modeling, she auditioned for Ryu 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.[1] The film was a relative commercial success, with one review describing her as "tall and attractive in an excellently non-cutesy way."[2] She received a Best New Actress nomination at the 2004 Blue Dragon Film Awards.[3]
Yoon next starred in the TV drama Say You Love Me, a dark, twisted love story between four people.[4] 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 China. In the role of a beautiful young swordswoman who protects the future king, Yoon says that she was inspired by Anita Mui in The Heroic Trio,[5] 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.[6][7]
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 relationships and nature.[8][9] 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.
An athlete in junior high,[10] 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.[11] Yoon graduated in 2011.[12]
Her next project Auction House attempted a different format from the standard serialized Korean drama. The twelve-episode season 1 had four directors and four writers, airing one episode every week, with each director producing his own segment in his own style, crossing genres.[13] The episodic format was not a hit with Korean audiences (despite a season 2 focusing on plastic surgeons with a completely different cast).
Yoon 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 2009 she was cast as a last-minute replacement leading lady in the quirky Lee Jun-ki-starrer Hero.[14][15] Despite being praised as a well-acted and solid drama, Hero received low ratings.[16] Yoon's next film Try to Remember, about lovers in the past whose love transcends time and brings them together in the present day,[17] premiered at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[18]
She was cast as Queen Seondeok in a specially commissioned 20-minute film for the Gyeongju World Culture Expo. Titled Byeongnucheon ("The Bracelet of Blue Tears"), the fantasy adventure aims to spearhead Korea's nascent stereoscopic film industry, and combines live action sequences with 3D animated computer graphics.[19]
In 2011, Yoon joined the microblogging site Twitter with the handle "soy00". During the same year, her fusion sageuk Warrior Baek Dong-soo brought in high viewership ratings, topping its timeslot for 3 straight months.[20] She immediately followed that with the Dong-A Ilbo cable series The Color of Women, replacing Eugene as the romantic comedy lead when the latter dropped out in the aftermath of her sister's car accident.[21]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Dramas
- The Color of Women (Channel A, 2011)
- Warrior Baek Dong-soo (SBS, 2011)
- Hero (MBC, 2009)
- Glass Castle (SBS, 2008)
- Auction House (MBC, 2007)
- Several Questions That Make Us Happy (KBS, 2007)
- Goodbye Solo (KBS, 2006)
- Say You Love Me (MBC, 2004)
[edit] Films
- The Bracelet of Blue Tears (2011 Gyeongju World Culture Expo promotional film)
- Try To Remember (2010)
- Shadowless Sword (2005)
- The Twins (2005)
- Arahan (2004)
[edit] Music videos
- Words That I Can Say (T-Max, 2010)
- A Girl's Love Story (Han So-ri, 2003)
- Rainbow (Cho Kyu-chan, 2002)
[edit] TV/Print/Online Ads
- Entia for Coreana (2002)
- SK Telecom June (2002)
- Haitai Green Tea Ice Cream (2003-2004)
- Ziozia
- ZOOC
- NII (2003)
- Hair Pack Nano Therapy (2003)
- Anycall (2003)
- Lotte Iote Chocolate (2003)
- Gatorade Ice (2004)
- Samsung Digital Plaza (2004-2006)
- KOOlHaaS (2006)
- Paris Baguette
- Clinique YES! campaign (2009)
- Kiara (2011)
- Inti Placenta (2011-2012)
- Sun Cruise Resort (2011)
[edit] Awards
- 2011 SBS Drama Awards: Excellence Award, Special Production (Warrior Baek Dong-soo)
- 2009 Asia Model Festival Awards: Special Model Award
- 2008 SBS Drama Awards: New Star Award (Glass Castle)
[edit] References
- ^ Two Female Action Figures Compete on Screen Chosun Ilbo. May 10, 2004.
- ^ Arahan review Koreanfilm.org
- ^ http://www.blueaward.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=awards_news&sca=25
- ^ Say You Love Me MBC Global Media.
- ^ '무영검' ('Shadowless Sword') Production Meeting Report Twitchfilm. September 27, 2005.
- ^ nKino Interview: Yoon So-Yi and Lee Seo-Jin talk 무영검 (Shadowless Sword) Twitchfilm. November 9, 2005.
- ^ 무영검 (Shadowless Sword) Press Screening Report Twitchfilm. November 15, 2005.
- ^ Drama Breaks From the Traditional Korea Times. February 24, 2006.
- ^ Welcome To Life, Noh Hee-Kyung's 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo) Twitchfilm. March 30, 2006.
- ^ Yoon So-Yi Holly's Girls. October 27, 2008.
- ^ Is celebrity education really education? Dramabeans. November 5, 2007.
- ^ Kim Suro and Yoon So Yi graduate from Dongkuk University Allkpop. November 18, 2011.
- ^ MBC’s Auction House Dramabeans. October 3, 2007.
- ^ Yoon Soy-yi picks up "Hero" 10Asia. November 4, 2009.
- ^ Lee Jun-ki says "Hero" is the perfect fit 10Asia. November 17, 2009.
- ^ Hero star watches finale with fans Dramabeans. January 13, 2010.
- ^ Love transcends time in Try to Remember Dramabeans. November 24, 2010.
- ^ 14th PiFan History
- ^ Gyeongju World Culture Expo ready for grand opening Korea Times. May 30, 2011.
- ^ "The Warrior Baek Dong-soo" bows out atop Mon-Tues lineup for 13th win 10Asia. October 12, 2011.
- ^ Yoon Soy to replace Eugene in new series 10Asia. November 23, 2011.
[edit] External links
- Mini-Homepage at Cyworld (Korean)
- Fan Cafe at Daum (Korean)
- Yun Soi at Bless Entertainment (Korean)
- Yoon Soy at HanCinema
- Yun Soy at the Korean Movie Database
- Yoon So-yi at the Internet Movie Database