Kim Min Hee began modelling when she was in middle school and soon appeared as a cover girl in teen magazines. Thanks to her unique facial features and slender figure, in 1999 she was cast in the campus drama School 2 as a rebellious high school girl, which launched her to stardom. She became a popular young star at barely 20 years old, appearing on TV dramas and movies. However, a string of poor acting performances brought her negative criticism. Critics and viewers disparagingly called her an “attractive but blank actress”. more famous for being a fashion icon and actor Lee Jung Jae’s then-girlfriend
Her succeeding movie roles helped solidify her career reinvention. 2008’s Hellcats (also known as its Korean title I Like It Hot or Some Like It Hot) is a light-hearted comedy that explores the lives and loves of three women at different stages of womanhood. Kim played a twenty-something aspiring screenwriter agonizing over her insecure career and shaky romance with a deadbeat musician boyfriend, and reviews praised her “compelling performance”. She later won Best Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Busan Film Critics Awards.
After her contract with Lee Byung Hun’s agency BH Entertainment ended in late 2012, Kim signed with Management Soop, which also handles the career of her friend Gong Hyo Jin.
In 2013, Kim again earned raves for her performance in Very Ordinary Couple (also known as Temperature of Love or Degree of Love). Unlike the typical romantic comedy, the relationship drama tells a more realistic story of an on-and-off couple of three years. During her acceptance speech as Best Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards, Kim thanked her costar Lee Min Ki and director Roh Deok, who “helped shape (her) character Young on the screen.
