Seo Hyun-jin

Biography

Seo Hyun-jin (Korean: 서현진; born February 27, 1985) is a South Korean actress and singer. Seo debuted as the vocalist of South Korean girl group M.I.L.K. in 2001 and continued until the group disbanded in 2003. She contributed songs as a solo artist after the group broke up before she transitioned into acting in 2006.
Seo made her acting debut in the musical The Sound of Music (2006) then followed by appearances in several television series and film. She is best known for her leading role as Oh Hae-young in the romantic comedy TV series Another Miss Oh (2016), which gained her wider recognition. Seo has since gone on to have key parts in the medical melodrama Dr. Romantic (2016–2017), romance dramas Temperature of Love (2017), The Beauty Inside (2018), and You Are My Spring (2021), and the legal drama Why Her (2022).

1985–2005: Early life and music career

Seo was born on February 27, 1985, in Dobong District (now Nowon District), Seoul, South Korea. She was scouted by S.M. Entertainment and later debuted as a vocalist of South Korean girl group, M.I.L.K in 2001, under the label's subsidiary BM Entertainment. However, the group soon fell by the wayside due to fierce competition among manufactured bands, which led to one of the members quitting before they completely disbanded in 2003. After M.I.L.K. was dissolved, Seo attended Dongduk Women's University, where she majored in applied musicology to keep her dream of a singing career alive. Seo contributed songs to a few soundtracks and SM Town compilations as a solo artist.

2006–2014: Acting debut and further roles

Seo had the chance to perform in her first musical, The Sound of Music in 2006, which she saw as the turning point in her acting career.
Supporting roles followed in the period drama Hwang Jini (2006), TV police procedural H.I.T (2007), and the queer-themed film Ashamed (2011). Seo first drew attention for her subtler performance in The Duo (2011), as a neighborhood tomboy who later becomes a gisaeng. She played her first villain in Feast of the Gods (2012), as an extremely ambitious chef embroiled in a rivalry. Seo was then cast in leading roles for two historical dramas The King's Daughter, Soo Baek-hyang (2013) and The Three Musketeers (2014).
Seo has also frequently appeared in projects directed by her best friend, actress Ku Hye-sun, notably in the short film The Madonna and in the feature film Magic, in which she had her first leading role.

2015–present: Rising popularity and continued television roles

Seo said the character that most resembled her real-life personality was the foodie freelance writer in Let's Eat 2 (2015), adding that she "didn't realize how much fun shooting a lively and comedic drama could be." The drama was Seo's first foray into the romantic-comedy genre. She was reviewed well for the part, to the point that it became a turning-point in her career.

Her popularity grew rapidly after the hit romance comedy drama Another Miss Oh (2016), in which she starred alongside Eric Mun. She was praised for her portrayal of a girl-next-door type, and won the Baeksang Arts Award for Best Actress. Later that same year, she starred in the SBS hit medical drama Dr. Romantic alongside Han Suk-kyu and Yoo Yeon-seok. In 2017, Seo starred in the romantic-themed television series Temperature of Love penned by Ha Myung-hee.
In 2018, Seo was cast in the fantasy melodrama The Beauty Inside which was based on the 2015 romantic comedy film of the same name. She played an actress who spends a week each month inhabiting someone else's body. She then starred in the high school television series Black Dog: Being A Teacher in 2019 and subsequently in the tvN drama series You Are My Spring in 2021.
In 2022, Seo starred in the SBS legal drama Why Her in the titular role of Oh Soo-jae, a lawyer-turned-professor and in the film Cassiopeia as a woman who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is slowly turning into a young child due to the loss of her memory.
In 2024, Seo starred in the mystery melodrama television series The Trunk opposite Gong Yoo. Written by Park Eun-young and directed by Kim Kyu-tae, it is based on the novel of the same name by Kim Ryeo-ryeong about two people under a one-year marriage contract and a mysterious trunk. Seo played Noh In-ji, a director of the company that arranges temporary marriages.

Personal life

A devout Roman Catholic, Seo is an ambassador and a member of the One Heart One Body Movement, a Catholic organization from Seoul. Her baptismal name is Gabriella.

Other activities

In 2019, Seo was recognised as an exemplary tax payer by the National Tax Service of South Korea and was named as an honorary ambassador together with Lee Je-hoon.