Park Shin Hye on Spotlight
About the Actress
Park Shin-Hye was born in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, in South Korea to a regular family. She had an older brother named Park Shi-Won. Park Shin-Hye initially wanted to become a police officer because of a robbing incident she experienced when she was a child. One of her elementary school teachers suggested that she audition for Dream Factory, an entertainment company founded by singer Lee Sung-Hwan. She was offered a role in a music video and that started her journey to stardom. Her parents fully supported her acting career thus moving to Seoul to support her acting endeavor.
| Name | Park Shin Hye |
| Birth Date | February 18, 1990 |
| Birth Place | Gwangju, South Korea |
| Star Sign | Aquarius |
| Blood Type | A |
| Height | 168 cm or 5 ft 5 in |
| University | Chung-Ang University |
| Education | Theater |
| Agent | S.A.L.T |
Park Shin Hye’s Official Social Media Pages
| ssinz7 | |
| none | |
| TikTok | none |
| Website | S.A.L.T. Entertainment Official Website |
| YouTube | none |
Her pleasant personality and positive attitude earned her the title “Nation’s Little Sister” along with several other actresses. She attended Chung-Ang University and got a degree in Theater. Park Shin-Hye is a well-versed singer and actress and has won a number of awards throughout the years she is active in the entertainment business. She is best known for her performance in The Heirs alongside Lee Min-Ho. She plays the poor working student who falls in love with the rich heir of a chaebol family.
“I learned it from you. Going in head first even when I know that I’m going to get hurt.”
Cha Eun Sang to Kim Tan – The Heirs [The Inheritors] 2013
Her double roles as orphans Ko Mi-nyeo and Ko Mi-nam in You’re Beautiful with Jang Keun-suk have earned her a lot of fans and admirers. Shin-Hye has graced countless magazine covers and advertisements. She enjoys being a top brand ambassador and model for local and global brands like Mamonde, Lotte Department Store, Valentino, Prada, Swarovski, and many more.
Like most top celebrities, there are several dating rumors that involved Park Shin-Hye. She was linked to Lee Min-Ho during the time they were shooting The Heirs, a drama in that they co-starred together. These rumors were fleeting and most likely unfounded. Her relationship with fellow actor Choi Tae-Joon was confirmed in March 2018 by their respective agencies. They were married in January 2022 and had their first child in May of the same year.
“After I succeeded, I realized that success is only sweet when you have someone to share it with.”
Yoo Hye Jung as portrayed by Park in the drama series The Doctors 2016
How She Started
Park trained as an actress, singer, and musician playing the guitar and keyboards. Her stint with Dream Factory has opened doors for her acting career. After starring in the music video “Ggot” or “Flower” by singer Lee Seung-Hwan, she auditioned for a role in the drama Stairway to Heaven. She got to play the young Han Jung-Seo, one of the lead roles in the series. The drama became a huge success with ratings regularly exceeding 40% audience share throughout the 20-episode drama.
She starred in various films and television series after Stairway to Heaven in 2003 that are not as spectacularly successful but have honed her skills in acting just the same. Some of the notable ones are Daddy Long Legs in 2005, Tree of Heaven in 2006, and Prince Hours in 2007.
Rise to Popularity
A few years after the hit show Stairway to Heaven, Park stars in another hit romantic comedy-drama series You’re Beautiful. She plays the role of fraternal twins left in the orphanage who never knew who their parents were. Ko Mi-Nyeo wants to become a nun while her brother joined a band without her knowledge. One day, the band manager suddenly shows up and asks for Mi-Nyeo’s help to pretend to be her brother. He said that her twin brother, Ko Min-Nam, is injured and is recuperating in America. For her brother’s sake, she agrees to the arrangement just until her brother recovers. She joins the band undercover without anybody suspecting anything. Until her secret was found out and feelings became entangled in the process.
This drama started a series of successful shows that made Park Shin-Hye’s name a household name not just in South Korea but in other parts of the world as well. In Japan, You’re Beautiful gained a cult following. Park released “Lovely Day” and “Without Words” as the drama’s original soundtrack.
The romantic comedy film, Cyrano Dating Agency stars Park alongside actors Uhm Tae-woong, Choi Daniel, Park Chul-min, and Lee Min-jung was produced by Lotte Entertainment and released in September of 2010 garnering good reviews and attracting more than 2.7 million viewers.
Cyrano Agency Wikipedia Page
In 2010, Shin-Hye starred in the romantic comedy film, Cyrano Agency. It is a low-budget movie based on the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand called Cyrano de Bergerac. Theater actor Lee Byeong-hoon forms a dating agency that claims to help their clients capture their love interest with no fail. Park plays Byeong-hoon’s one-time drama student Min-Yeong who helps him set up elaborate situations for their agency’s clients. Their business is doing great until complications arise when one of Byeong-hoon’s exes turns up to be the love interest of one of their clients.
Transition to Lead Roles
In the hit series, The Heirs (2013), Park stars alongside a starstudded cast of Lee Min-Ho, Krystal, Kim Woo-bin, Park Hyung-Sik, Kim Ji-won, Choi Jin-hyuk among others. She plays the role of Cha Eun-sang, a poor working student caught up in the world of rich men’s children. She falls in love with Kim Tan, played by Lee Min-ho, the son of a rich family who owns many businesses. Of course, theirs is a love that will never be accepted by society. They go through numerous difficult situations and endure hardships in order to fight for their young love. In the end, love wins.
Following the success of the series, Pinocchio, lead stars Park Shin Hye and Lee Jong Suk are hounded by dating rumors. Reports say they were spotted vacationing abroad and going out late at night driving. Both parties denied the rumors through their respective agencies saying the two were just very close friends. Before news of their dating broke out online, fans were quick to notice that they both seemed to be wearing identical bracelets.
Channel Korea
Next on the list is Pinocchio (2014) where Park plays Choi In-ha alongside Lee Jong-suk who plays the role of Choi Dal-po and Ki Ha-Myung. The pair had wonderful chemistry onscreen while depicting their complicated relationship set in the newsroom. In-ha has a condition called “Pinocchio Syndrome” where she hiccups whenever she tells a lie. In the field of media, this is quite a challenging condition to have because everything that comes out of her mouth should be the truth.
Once called the Nation’s Little Sister, Park has continued to exceed expectations and evolves in her roles. In the 2016 series, Doctors, she plays Yoo Hye-Jung, a delinquent high school student with a troubled family life who became a successful neurosurgeon. Her leading man, Kim Rae-Won plays the role of Hong Ji-hong, her former teacher who is also a doctor. He lost his confidence to treat patients because of a prior incident that left him insecure about his abilities.
Music Career
Music being part of her roster of talents, Park released songs for many of her series. “Without a Word” and “Lovely Day” were the OST for You’re Beautiful. She recorded “It Was You” together with her co-star Lee Min-Jung for the series, Cyrano Agency. “Pitch Black” ranked at number 75 on the Gaon Music Chart in 2013 for the series, My Cute Guys while “Story”, the OST for The Heirs is at number 47.
Together with other artists, the brother of Shin Hye, Park Shin Won was the lyrics composer of two of the songs from Pinocchio’s OST with titles “Love Is Like Snow” (사랑은 눈처럼) and “Dreaming a Dream” (꿈을 꾸다). Vocals for both songs were performed and recorded by Park Shin Hye.
Pinocchio Wikipedia Page
In 2014, together with her older brother, Park Shin-Won, they recorded the soundtrack for Pinocchio, ‘Love Like Snow”. Shin-Hye played the vocals while Shin-Won played the guitar.
Fun Facts About Park Shin Hye
What was she like as a child?
- She did not grow up with a lot of money. One day, their house was robbed. Because of this incident, Park wanted to be a policewoman instead of an actress.
- Park came from a musically inclined family. She has a very good singing voice and can play various musical instruments like the guitar, piano, and gayageum. Her father is a professional saxophone player and her mother plays the flute. Shin-Won, her older brother is a composer and has composed some soundtracks that were used as OST in dramas.
- Her teachers believed in her talent. They were the ones who urged her to join auditions.
Dating Life
- Growing up in the limelight, Shin Hye is very private with her personal life. She had her fair share of dating rumors. Some names that were linked to hers were that of Lee Min Ho, her co-star in The Heirs, and Lee Jong Suk, her co-star in Pinocchio.
- She met her husband in school while they were still students at Chung-Ang University.
- They have been dating since 2017 and have been together for five years before getting married in the early part of 2022.
- Park Shin Hye gave birth to her and her husband Choi Tae-Joon’s first son in May, a few months after their wedding.
Park Shin Hye has been in the limelight since she was young and she has accumulated a huge number of projects. Here are some of her most notable portrayals to date.
Click the links to binge watch the movie or series.
Notable Movies and Series of Park Shin Hye and Where You Can Watch
A talented and accomplished actress, Park Shin Hye has showcased her acting prowess in a multitude of admirable portrayals. She adeptly embodies a high school gangster who became a top neurosurgeon as easily as she gives justice to an older sister looking for her genius brother who invented a complicated video game. Park’s filmography is a testament to her growth as a well-rounded actress ready to take on new roles with an in-depth skill born out of love for her chosen craft.
Check out Park Shin Hye’s collection of movies and television series below to witness her creative genius. Enjoy bingeing!!!
Which of her roles deserves an award?
Who is your favorite among her leading men?
What have you watched starring Park Shin Hye?
Doctor Slump
Following her hiatus from projects after giving birth, she came back with a romantic comedy drama series with fellow The Heirs actor Park Hyung Sik. She plays an anesthesiologist who is overworked and being bullied at work.
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