Oh Yeon-seo

Oh Yeon-seo
Born	Oh Haet-nim (1987-06-22) June 22, 1987 Jinju, South Korea
Education	Dongguk University
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	2002–present
Agent	Imagine Asia
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	48 kg (106 lb)
Musical career
Also known as	Haet-nim
Genres	K-pop, Dance
Years active	2002 - 2003
Korean name
Hangul	오연서
Hanja	吳漣序
Revised Romanization	O Yeon-seo
McCune–Reischauer	O Yŏnsŏ
Birth name
Hangul	오햇님
Hanja	吳寒妮
Revised Romanization	O Haet-nim
McCune–Reischauer	O Haetnim

Oh Yeon-seo (born Oh Haet-nim, on June 22, 1987), is a South Korean actress and former member of South Korean girl group, LUV.^[1] She is best known for her roles in television dramas My Husband Got a Family (2012), Jang Bo-ri is Here! (2014), Shine or Go Crazy (2015) and Please Come Back, Mister (2016).

Early life

Oh Yeon-seo was born in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province and grew up in Changnyeong County with her parents and younger brother who studies cooking.

In the second year of middle school, Oh followed a group of friends to an audition for S.M. Entertainment, held in Daegu, but was rejected. However, another company contacted her saying that she had qualified and she moved to Seoul, debuting in just four months at the age of 15.

Oh was accepted into Anyang Arts High School after her band's disbandment and went on to become an actress. It was then where she changed her name from Haet-nim to Yeon-seo after consulting a shaman with her mother.

Oh then entered Dongguk University, joining the theater and film department.

Career

Oh Yeon-seo made her entertainment debut in 2002 when she was only 15 years old under her real name Oh Haet-nim, with the band LUV, alongside Jo Eun-byul and Jeon Hye-bin. They released their first album "Story" that year, which included the singles "Orange Girl" and "I Still Believe in You." However, the band was short-lived and disbanded barely after six months due to their low popularity. Oh then shifted to acting but remained unknown for a long period of time.

In 2012, she planned to quit the entertainment industry as it had already been ten years since her debut,^[2] but was cast in the family drama My Husband Got a Family. Oh felt that the role of Bang Mal-suk was tailor-made for her, and she did everything she could to be cast. Her popularity rose following the airing of the drama, and she was cast in the popular variety program We Got Married alongside MBLAQ's Lee Joon.^[3]

Towards the end of 2012, Oh was cast in daily drama Here Comes Mr. Oh where she had her first lead role. She plays Na Gong-ju, a chaebol daughter who wanted to find true love instead of men that dated her only for her money. To focus on her drama, Oh left We Got Married after five months, citing scheduling issues.^[4]

In 2013, Oh played a thoracic resident surgeon in medical drama Medical Top Team^[5] alongside SHINee's Choi Min-ho. She was appointed an ambassador for the first annual Animal Film Festival in Suncheon along with Kim Min-joon and Gal So-won to help raise awareness for animal rights and welfare in August.^[6]

On 8 May 2014, Oh was appointed a Red Cross Ambassador together with actor Ryu Soo-young. She also played the lead role of Jang Bo-ri, a compassionate and selfless person, in the highly acclaimed series Jang Bo-ri is Here!. The drama's ratings peaked at 40.4% and her popularity exploded once more.^[7] She had a hard time playing the character as she grew up in Gyeongsang-do but her character had to speak the Jeolla-do dialect, which she had never used in her entire life.^[8] She also experienced stress of having to portray the flawless character, stating in an interview that finding a person like Jang Bo-ri is impossible in real life.

In 2015, Oh played Shin Yool, the last princess of Balhae, in the historical drama Shine or Go Crazy, co-starring Jang Hyuk.^[9]

Oh then starred alongside Rain in the SBS drama Please Come Back, Mister, which aired from 24 February to 14 April 2016. She played Han Hong-nan, a male character reincarnated in a female's body. Oh was praised for her chemistry with co-star Lee Ha-nui, whom she has acted with in her previous project Shine or Go Crazy.^[10] She also impressed viewers through her comedic portrayal of her masculine role.^[11]

The same year, she starred in Take Off 2, the sequel to the 2009 movie Take Off. She plays Park Chae-gyeong, a member of the first South Korean woman's national ice hockey team.

On 11 May 2016, it was announced that Oh would be the MC for the audition program Boys24, said to be the male version of Produce 101.^[12] This would be Oh's first time mc-ing for a program.

Oh would be starring in two upcoming remakes. First, a historical drama remake of the 2001 box office hit My Sassy Girl, titled Joseon's Sassy Love Story alongside Joo Won. This is followed by a film remake of the 2016 television series Cheese in the Trap alongside Park Hae-jin, who also played the role of Yoo Jung in the drama.

Filmography

Television drama

Film

Music video

Variety / Entertainment Shows

Awards and nominations

See also

• LUV

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oh Yeon-Seo.

• Oh Yeon-seo at Imagine Asia