Korean dramas have become the rage; their popularity isn’t just limited to South Korea, but has taken over the world: When it comes to talking about some of the most versatile actors in this industry, Shin Hye Sun’s name is quite difficult to miss out on. Her brilliant and diverse performances speak for themselves. Because of her brilliant acting, Shin Hye Sun has been awarded the Top Excellence Award not once, but three times since her debut lead role in 2017. In order to honor her reign of acting, let’s look at some of Shin Hye Sun’s best performances, ranked.
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5 My Golden Life (2017)
KBSStudio Dragon
My Golden Life is a drama series that narrates the story of Seo Ji Ahn, who gets a chance to rise in social status. While doing so, she unfortunately falls into the dark abyss of her life, and has to seek happiness again. While this K-drama has 52 episodes, one would never feel its long runtime because of the engaging plot and twists. Shin Hye Sun plays the character of Seo Ji Ahn, who might seem like a hardworking, and confident employee at first glance. However, when the audience scratches beneath the surface, they discover Seo Ji Ahn’s anguish, and hopelessness with her societal status. Hye Sun does an outstanding job of depicting her character’s exhaustion as a poor struggling individual. Her acting really makes the audience emphasize with her, as they see how she wants to break free from her poverty with the help of the Haesung group, a wealthy and powerful organization. Because of her incredible acting as Ji Ahn, Shin Hye Sun won the Excellence Award for Actress in a Serial Drama. Furthermore, it kick-started her career as a lead actress.
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4 Angel’s Last Mission: Love (2019)
KBS
Angel’s Last Mission: Love centers around Lee Yeon Seo, played by Shin Hye Sun, an extremely arrogant, star ballerina. After a tragic accident that takes away her ability to see, she gives up on one thing she found solace in — ballet. However, things take a new turn when Kim Dan, portrayed by Kim Myung-soo, is assigned to find her true love. Now, this is a role in which the audience gets to see Shin Hye Sun depict two extreme ends. On one hand, she does a remarkable job of acting not only physically, but also mentally broken. At the same time, she effortlessly acts cynical and arrogant. One of the most iconic scenes where she nailed being a cynical and arrogant brat, is when Kim Dan is advising her to be respectful to her relatives. However, she gets extremely defensive and ends up throwing food at him. When both end up pulling each other’s hair, fans could especially see how crazy Yeon Seo can truly get.
The wide range of expressions and emotions she portrays as Yeon Seo, who is tormented by her greedy family members and as a struggling ballerina is praiseworthy. It is worth noting that Shin Hye Sun could have easily opted for a stunt double to do ballet scenes, yet she took professional ballet classes for this role, and did every stunt by herself. This once again reminds the audience of how earnestly Hye Sun takes each and every role, proving once again what a talented, skilled actress she truly is.
3 The Hymn of Death (2018)
SBSNetflix
Based on an extremely true, but tragic love story of Yun Shim Deok, the first Korean Soprano, and Kim Woo Jin, a stage drama writer, The Hymn of Death is set during the time when Japan colonized Korea. This show is a miniseries starring Shin Hye Sun and Lee Jong Suk. When Hye Sun initially picked the script for Shim Deok’s role, she probably did not have any idea of the success this show would gather. This is because it was a risky, but very courageous move to opt for a role that is not only extremely challenging but also carries the burden of correctly portraying Korea’s cherished first Soprano. The final dance scene left the audience in floods of tears. While there is no dialogue Hye Sun conveys her character’s love for Woo-jin and hopelessness all through her eyes and expressions as both walk towards the ship’s railing to give their love a tragic end. While the show has a heart-wrenching ending, it opened doors of opportunities for Shin Hye Sun. Her role as Shim Deok was nominated at the 14th Seoul International Drama Awards for the Best Actress Award. Even though she did not win the award, her performance is recognized and loved to this day.
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2 Mr. Queen (2020-2021)
tvN
One of Shin Hye Sun’s most iconic roles is without a doubt her performance as Jang Bong Hwan in Mr. Queen. This rom-com revolves around a modern playboy chef named Jang Bong Hwan, who gets trapped inside a queen’s body, from the Joseon era. It would be an understatement to say that Shin Hye Sun completely stunned the K-drama watchers with her amazing performance as a man trapped inside the body of a woman. In the earlier scenes, the audience gets to see her manly charms — whether they were through her expressions or body language. Especially in the scene where she flirted with her court lady, fans could see the gay panic radiating through the screen. Another iconic part where Shin Hye Sun nailed it was her cooking scenes. Whether the scene requires her to juggle a large knife or show off her chef skills, Hye Sun left no gap in wooing her fans. It is not only her delivery of dialogue that makes this role so loved, but the performance as a whole becomes the ultimate star of the entire show. Her character was loved by the audience to such an extent that the show got a prequel release called Mr. Queen: The Bamboo Forest. Due to this, Mr. Queen became a must-watch k-drama to watch.
1 Still Seventeen (2018)
SBS TV
If someone had to decide on one defining performance of Shin Hye Sun, it would definitely be her portrayal of Woo Seo Ri, a 17-year-old violinist, who goes into a coma for 13 years after getting into a bus accident. Through this role, the audience gets to see Hye Sun’s skill as an actor. When Hye Sun’s character wakes up from the coma for the first time and sees herself in the mirror, she depicts Seo Ri’s confused and disorienting state perfectly by repeatedly asking for a new mirror as she is unable to recognize the women she sees. The audience will find themselves shedding a tear or two when they get to see Seo Ri go through despair and angst about missed opportunities and youth as she looks at everyone around her to reach places and accomplish things.
Since she is still seventeen in her mind and heart, the audience gets to see her innocence and naivety seamlessly in each episode. In one of the initial scenes, Seo Ri is seen obsessing over her favorite snack, Choco Pie, as soon as she gets discharged. In fact, she throws an entire tantrum when she is unable to find it, only to discover someone sat on it and ruined her precious Choco Pie. It was not an easy feat to highlight Seo Ri’s naivety, while also showing her struggle to make up for all the lost time. However, if there is one actor that could have done justice to this role, it was certainly Shin Hye Sun, and the justice she did.
