Career
The South Korean entertainment company S.M. Entertainment scouted her while she was still in her teens. In 2001, she made her debut in the showbiz as the lead vocalist of the South Korean K-pop girl group ‘M.I.L.K’.
On December 17, 2001, ‘M.I.L.K’ released its studio album ‘With Freshness’ under BM Entertainment & SM Entertainment. Other collaborations of the group included 2001 Winter Vacation in SM Town - Angel Eyes and 2002 Winter Vacation in SM Town - My Angel, My Light among others.
Following the departure of Bae Yu-mi from the group, ‘M.I.L.K’ was disbanded in 2003.Seo, who always nurtured her dream of taking forward her musical career, enrolled at the Dongduk Women's University and majored in applied musicology.
She then embarked as a solo artist. Though shedid not release any official album or single, she went on to release four solo tracks,appeared on OSTs and also contributed songs to SM Town compilations.
Her career took a fortunate turn when she got an opportunity to act on-stage in the musical ‘The Sound of Music’ in 2006. This paved the way for other acting pursuits.Theatrical features of Seo includes‘Goong: The Musical’ (2010) and ‘Cinderella’ (2015).
In 2006,she made her debut in small-screen and big-screen with the popular historical Korean series ‘Hwang Jini’ and the South Korean romanticdrama ‘Love Me Not’.
The ensuing years saw her playing supporting roles in many South Korean films and television projects. These included the MBC aired police procedural crime drama series ‘H.I.T’ (2007),the flick ‘Story of Wine’ (2008)and the queer film ‘Ashamed’ (2011).
Her first leading role in a feature film happened with ‘Magic’ (2010) directed by South Korean actress, singer-songwriter, director and artist Ku Hye-sun who also happens to be Seo’s best friend. Seo has featured in other projects of Ku Hye-sunas well including the 2008 short film ‘The Madonna’.
Her first television role that garnered herattention as an actress was that of Dal-yi in the South Korean historical drama series ‘The Duo’. The series which was aired on MBC with 32 episodes from February 7, 2011 to May 24, 2011 became quite popular and received solid ratings during its run.
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She displayed her versatility in acting with the adversary role ofHa In-joo / Song Yeon-woo in the South Korean romantic comedy melodrama ‘Feast of the Gods’. The weekend series which was aired on MBC with 32 episodes from February 4, 2012 to May 20, 2012 fetched herExcellence Award for actress at the 31st MBC Drama Awards.
She then played one of the main characters namedNa Jin-joo in the South Korean family romantic TV series ‘Here Comes Mr. Oh’which was aired on MBC with129 episodes from November 19, 2012 to May 17, 2013. It earned her Excellence Award for actress at the 31st MBC Drama Awards in 2012 and Excellence Award for actress at the 6th Korea Drama Awards in 2013.
She then got the opportunity to play the leading role of Soo Baek-hyang / Seol-nan in the South Korean historical period drama ‘The King's Daughter, Soo Baek-hyang’. The series was aired on MBC with 108 episodes from September 30, 2013 to March 14, 2014.
This was followed up with another leading role by the name Kang Yoon-seo in the South Korean period action romantic political drama ‘The Three Musketeers’ which was aired on tvN with 12 episodes from August 17, 2014 to November 2, 2014.
In 2014, she remained as the regular cast member of the variety show ‘SNS Expedition’. The other variety shows she featured in include ‘Let's Eat with Friends’(2015),‘Running Man’(2015) and ‘Infinite Challenge’ (2017).
Her real breakthrough came with the South Korean romantic comedy thriller series ‘Let's Eat 2’which was aired on tvN with 18 episodes from April 6, 2015 to June 2, 2015. The series that garnered her positive reviews as an actress catapulted her fame and popularity, thus bolstering her career.
According to her, the one reel-life character that she can relate to is that of Baek Soo-ji, a foodie freelance writer, from ‘Let's Eat 2’.Talking about her experience of playing the character, she said that she "didn't realize how much fun shooting a lively and comical drama could be."
She then shot to limelight with the extremely popular South Korean romantic comedy drama series ‘Another Oh Hae-young’ which was aired on tvN with 18 episodes from May 2, 2016 to June 28, 2016. The series emerged among the highest rated Korean dramas in the history of cable television.
Her brilliant performance as Oh Hae-young (soil) in ‘Another Oh Hae-young’ not only earned her kudos from audience but also won her several awards including Best Actress award at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards in 2017.
Meanwhile she played Sang-mi in the June 29, 2016, released South Korean comedy-drama film ‘Familyhood’ that garnered US$15 million at the box office.
Her next notable role, which only strengthened her burgeoning career, was that of Yoon Seo-jung in the commercially successful South Korean medical melodrama ‘Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim’. It was aired on SBS with 20 episodes from November 7, 2016 to January 16, 2017. It fetched her several awards at the 24th SBS Drama Awards in 2016.
She played Lee Hyun-kyung in the January 4, 2017 released South Korean fantasy-comedy omnibus film ‘Because I Love You’ that starred Cha Tae-hyun and Kim Yoo-jung.
Presently, she can be seen playing one of the leading roles named Lee Hyun-soo in the South Korean romantic television series ‘Temperature Of Love’. The series, which began on September 18, 2017, is aired on SBS every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00 (KST).
