A Stalker's Guide to Yoo In Na

I previously did this kind of article for Lee Jong Suk, and I have to admit I enjoyed it a lot. So I decided to do it for Yoo In Na as well, because she is my favourite actress, and I think she is very underrated. She hasn’t gotten a lot of main roles so far, but since Man From the Stars got a lot of attention, I expect she will in the future. Her last drama finished a few weeks ago, it was My Secret Hotel (and yes, she had the main role!!) so I thought it is a good time to talk about her!

What you should know about Yoo In Na:

She was born in 1982, which makes her 32, and yes, she looks younger.

At 16, she entered an entertainment agency, and almost became a singer in a girl band. She later changed her mind and decided to become an actress instead. She also does some modelling.

She debuted as an actress in 2009, and her first project was High Kick Through the Roof.

She is the DJ of radio program Let’s Crank up the Volume, and recently she also became the new MC of Get it Beauty, a popular Korean TV show about skincare, make-up and fashion.

Her most famous role so far is the one of Choi Hee Jin, the main girl in Queen In Hyun’s Man. She dated her co-star Ji Hyun Woo for almost two years (they broke up this year in May).

Picture of Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo together before they broke up.

Yoo In Na’s best friend is singer-turned-actress IU!!

I’m not the only one who finds her adorable (gosh I want to be like her ^^). Her new co-star Nam Goong Min said that just like her character in My Secret Hotel, she is lovable~ 

Now let’s have a closer look at some of her works!

Dramas

Secret Garden

In Secret Garden, Yoo In Na is playing Ah Young, the best friend of Gil Ra Im (Ha Ji Won). She works at the same shopping mall as Kim Joo Won (Hyun Bin), but she is just an employee at the VIP tearoom. I thought her character, though a bit silly at first, is really important to the drama. Since she lives with Ra Im, she witnesses everything happening to both her and the CEO, not understanding a lot of it at first though. Her character is really cute and funny, and Yoo In Na is perfect for this role.

This was my first time seeing her act. It made me want to see more of her and to see her in a main role as well.

If you want  to have a quick glance at Ah Young and Ra Im/Ji Won, have a look at the video below. It's not a big spoiler and it’s really funny (the subs are in Spanish though, but it’s not really important ^^)

Yoo In Na won the Baeksang Best New Actress Award for her role in Secret Garden.

Queen In Hyun’s Man

In Queen In Hyun’s Man, Yoo In Na is playing Cho Hee Jin, an actress who, in search of recognition, got the main role in a historical drama, where she plays Queen In Hyun. Then she incidentally meets Kim Boong Do (Ji Hyun Woo), a scholar who served Queen In Hyun in the past, but has accidentally time-traveled to present days.

Cho Hee Jin is cute and clumsy – she is not very smart, but I have to admit, Yoo In Na is excellent at playing this kind of characters. The amount of butterflies I felt while watching this drama sure is huge. (The story is awesome - if you haven’t seen it, go watch it! It has a lot of funny scenes, a lot of cute scenes, the romance is beautiful AND the kissing scenes are awesome too. If you want some example, see the video below. Warning! It contains spoilers).

The OST is also great but.. let’s go back to Yoo In Na. This is her first main role in a drama, and she rocked it. This drama is both sweet and beautiful, thanks to her performance, and all I can say is "Congratulations!"

She won the Best Rising Star Award at the 1st K-Drama Star Awards for her role in Queen In Hyun’s Man.

You Who Came From the Stars

While the spotlight is obviously on Kim Soo Hyun and Jeon Ji Hyun, Yoo In Na is playing the main lady’s best friend, who is in love with their childhood friend, played by Park Hae Jin.

I disliked her character here, BUT it is a proof of how good of an actress she is since she managed to make me hate her character when I really like her as herself. That aside, I liked the fact that she was in love with the second male lead, and not the lead. It made her character more original and interesting in my opinion. She rocked it in the end, though I like her playing cute and nice characters so much more!

The good thing about this project (while it made me angry, because she still didn’t get a main role ^^) is that since it went viral, she will probably be able to get more and better roles now. 

I also think Yoo Se Mi is the hardest character she has played so far, because her looks usually make the viewers think she will act either cute or a bit stupid, but this was not the case. Se Mi has to put on an act all the time, but deep inside it’s not what she wants. She is in love with the guy who loves her best friend. This guy used her as his confidant, and she has to deal with all of this. Her character could have been a lot more in my opinion. Her scenes were my favorites in the whole drama; I was always expecting them.

My Secret Hotel

This time, Yoo In Na is playing an independent woman. She is still cute and sometimes a bit clumsy in a way we are used to seeing her. But she also has a strong determination and is used to being on her own. This is a new side of Yoo In Na that I love.

Nam Sang Hyo is the main character of My Secret Hotel. She is the wedding manager of the hotel. While she feels she might be falling in love with her boss (Nam Goong Min), her ex-husband shows up (of course no one knows they used to be married) and she has to manage his next wedding. The other thing is the wedding doesn’t go as well as it was planned…

I liked her performance here, because her character was a bit different than usual. You might not always understand her choices (I admit I was frustrated a lot at some point), but she makes them for a reason, and for that I respect her. Yoo In Na managed to show the complexity of the situation when it was necessary, while still being funny!

She also played in the following dramas:

High Kick Through the Roof: it’s her first work, she has a supporting role.

The Greatest Love: she has a supporting role.

Birdie Buddy: also a supporting role.

The Best Lee Soon Shin: another supporting role.

She makes cameo appearances in episodes 4 and 6 of Potato Star 2013QR3, as Do Sang’s dream girl.

I started watching it recently and I saw her scenes since those are at the beginning. They were cute, and I wished I could have seen more of her. The thing is that the most we see her character is in Do Sang’s imagination, which makes the scenes hilarious because he imagines all sorts of things. Even more so, he keeps thinking about their few encounters even when we don’t see her anymore, so that makes her cameo even more significant!

Movies

Little Black Dress

Little Black Dress is an average movie, but still enjoyable if you have some free time. It’s the story of a group of four friends, evolving through life together, with their ups and downs.

Yoo In Na’s character, Min Hee, is a girl with wealthy parents. They want her to study abroad, but her awful English makes that dream difficult to fulfill. The fact that her parents are divorced doesn’t help either, but she is still trying her best to improve.

Once again, she was cute and funny and that is what I like about her. You can see her struggle to get what she wants, trying to figure out different solutions. And also her beautiful friendship with her high school besties.

She got to sing in the OST for the movie, with Yoon Eun Hye and Park Han Byul. You can listen to the song below, it’s called My Mini Black Dress (the video may contain small spoilers though).

Below are my favourite moments from the movie. If you want to, check it out. It's hilarious ^^

She also played in the following movies:

The Fair Love: she has a supporting role.

Love Fiction: she makes a cameo.

She didn’t play in a lot of movies, but she is currently working on a Chinese production called Wedding Bible. I don’t know when this will be out, but I’m really looking forward to it since she co-stars with Ahn Jae Hyun.

This picture was taken on the set of Wedding Bible… I can’t wait for it to be available to the viewers!

And this is the end of my Stalker’s Guide,

I hope you enjoyed it!!

Bye then~

If there is an actor or an actress that is worthy of a Stalker's Guide in your opinion, and you have watched enough dramas of his/hers to prove it, please contact Elisabetta about it.