Profile | Who is Kim So-hyun, star of K-drama My Lovely Liar, who has been charming audiences since her days as a child actor?

Kim So-hyun could almost be mistaken for a teenager, but she carries herself with the poise of an adult and her eyes have the depth of someone twice her 24 years. She has been a working actress for 18 years, and her experience and professionalism as a child star eased her transition to an acting career as an adult. Born in Australia, Kim moved with her family to South Korea when she was four years old, and her acting debut came two years later in 2006. Although initially not very passionate about acting, she became curious when seeing others perform on screen – a curiosity that was fuelled by competitive auditions. Rejections only made her more serious about succeeding. By the age of eight, she had made her debut on KBS, a national broadcast network in South Korea with which she would go on to be strongly associated right through to 2021’s River Where the Moon Rises. Her hard work paid off in 2012 when she became recognised for a major supporting role in a historical K-drama. She has been a household name ever since, and is currently on screens alongside Hwang Min-hyun in the fantasy romcom My Lovely Liar. My Lovely Liar: Kim So-hyun, Hwang Min-hyun in cutesy romcom K-drama Why we love her Kim has been given many nicknames by her fans, among them “Little Son Ye-jin”, owing to her resemblance to the Crash Landing on You actress. It is not just her appearance that is reminiscent of the veteran star, but also her graceful disposition and pensive charisma. Kim even played the younger version of Son’s titular character in the hit historical drama The Last Princess in 2016. Although often considered a period drama specialist – “Sageuk (historical drama) Queen” is another of her nicknames – she is a highly versatile actress. Early on, she appeared in several revenge thrillers, including her debut film, Man of Vendetta, in which she played the kidnapped daughter of the lead character, played by Kim Myung-min. She beat out 500 other actresses for the coveted part. Kim has developed a reputation for being hard-working and prolific, and she has an impressive filmography for someone so young. Determined to juggle both an education and a career, she opted for home-schooling during her high-school years, and largely sacrificed extracurricular activities and a social life. Thanks to her years of experience as a child actress, Kim as a young adult has often been called surprisingly mature by her colleagues. Many of her older co-stars have a habit of treating her like an older sister during filming. The star-making roles In the first half of 2012, a period that saw Kim appear in six productions, the child actress landed a supporting role in the period drama The Moon Embracing the Sun. She portrayed the younger version of Yoon Bo-kyung, the secondary female lead who – as an adult – was played by Kim Min-seo. The series was a major television event in South Korea, with ratings peaking at over 42 per cent. That role enabled Kim to rise to leading parts, and the one that turned her into a star came in Who Are You: School 2015. Kim played two characters, twins Lee Eun-bi and Go Eun-byul, in this continuation of the popular School anthology series on KBS. Who Are You also put her co-star Nam Joo-hyuk on the map. The iconic parts Kim made a big impression in fantasy romance Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, even though she appears in fewer than half the show’s episodes. In a memorable role, she plays a queen who is torn between love for her husband and loyalty to her brother, played by Gong Yoo. Season two of Love Alarm, one of the first major Korean original dramas to stream on Netflix, may have been a disappointment but we will always have the first season – in which Kim plays a secondary-school student. She finds herself in a love triangle that is exacerbated by an app which rings if someone nearby has a crush on you, without identifying them. Kim also starred in the period epic River Where the Moon Rises in 2021. While the show had to weather an off-set scandal, which culminated in her male co-star being recast halfway through the series, none of that turmoil affected her committed performance in this sweeping romance. The unheralded performance 2016’s Unforgettable, to date Kim’s only leading role in a film, was a pleasing throwback to the classic Korean melodramas that lit up the silver screen in the early 2000s. Co-starring Doh Kyung-soo, also known as D.O. of the K-pop boy band Exo, this nostalgia-tinged tale turns to the past to chronicle a tender rural romance. Tomorrow’s turns Following My Lovely Liar, Kim will be back on screens before long in the romantic drama Is It Fate?, adapted from a webtoon of the same name. Meet Han Hyo-joo, star of K-drama Moving who’s a chameleon actress Co-starring Chae Jong-hyeop, the story follows young adults who by chance cross paths with their first loves from 10 years earlier.