The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 21, she debuted in the title role of A Muse, and the film made her name known. That year she won Best New Actress at the Grand Bell Awards, the Blue Dragon Film Awards and others.
In 2013, the independent film Neverdie Butterfly, shot before A Muse, was released. In 2014, the film Monster was released.
In 2015, she went to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time with Coin Locker Girl and also appeared in The Advocate: A Missing Body. In 2016, she played Hong Seol in tvN Cheese in the Trap, and in December she started Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.
In 2017, Guardian ended with the highest ratings in cable drama history. In 2018, she appeared in the film Sunset in My Hometown. In 2019, Tune in for Love broke the record for the biggest romance film opening day.
In 2020, she began SBS The King: Eternal Monarch. In 2021, she appeared in TVING Yumi’s Cells. In 2022, she appeared in tvN Little Women and the film Hero.
In 2024, the film Exhuma was released and passed 10 million admissions, and she won Best Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards. In November, she won Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards, 12 years after her debut and the first winner born in the 1990s.
In 2025, she appeared in the Netflix series You and Everything Else and The Price of Confession. In 2026, she won the grand prize at the Blue Dragon Series Awards.
Kim Go-eun (born Jul 2, 1991) debuted in the film A Muse on Apr 25, 2012, the year she turned 21, and became known with it. In 2024, the year she turned 33, she won Best Actress at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for Exhuma.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Debuted in the title role of A Muse. That one film won her Best New Actress awards at several film awards that year, and her name became known.
Won Best New Actress for A Muse at the 49th Grand Bell Awards at KBS Hall in Yeouido.
Source 02 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · 49th Grand Bell Awards · opens in a new tabWon Best New Actress at the 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards at Sejong Center as well. She also won Best New Actress at the Buil Film Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards that year.
Source 03 · Financial News (Korean) · 33rd Blue Dragon Film Awards · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Etoday (Korean) · The rising star of the 2012 film world · opens in a new tabAn independent film shot in 2011, before she was cast in A Muse, in which she played Su-yeon, a model student who looks after a wayward friend.
Source 05 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · Cameo in Neverdie Butterfly · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Korea Economic TV (Korean) · When Neverdie Butterfly was shot · opens in a new tabReleased through GomTV on IPTV at the same time as in theaters. She played Bok-soon, who sets out for revenge after a killer takes her younger sibling.
Source 07 · TV Report (Korean) · Monster released online · opens in a new tabStarred with Kim Hye-soo, playing Il-young. The film was invited to the International Critics’ Week of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, and she attended the May 16 screening, her first time at Cannes.
Source 08 · MBN (Korean) · Coin Locker Girl opens, invited to Cannes · opens in a new tabStarred with Lee Sun-kyun, playing Jin Sun-mi, an eager prosecutor.
Source 09 · Joynews24 (Korean) · Preview of The Advocate: A Missing Body · opens in a new tabPlayed the heroine, Hong Seol, in a drama based on a webtoon. It opened with a 3.6% rating and rose to 5.7% by episode 4.
Source 10 · Herald Business (Korean) · Preview of Cheese in the Trap · opens in a new tabSource 11 · Etoday (Korean) · Cheese in the Trap ratings · opens in a new tabStarred with Gong Yoo, playing Ji Eun-tak, the bride of the goblin.
Source 12 · NSP News (Korean) · First broadcast of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Newsis (Korean) · Guardian: The Lonely and Great God ends · opens in a new tabEnded with episodes 15 and 16 aired back to back on the 21st. The final episode rated 20.5%, peaking at 22.1% (Nielsen Korea, paid platforms), above the 19.6% that had been the cable drama record.
Source 13 · Newsis (Korean) · Guardian: The Lonely and Great God ends · opens in a new tabIn the film by Lee Joon-ik, starring with Park Jung-min, she played Seon-mi, the unrequited love of Park’s character, Hak-su. It drew 480,000 viewers.
Source 14 · Seoul Economic Daily (Korean) · Sunset in My Hometown on VOD · opens in a new tabDrew 173,562 viewers on its opening day, setting a new opening-day record for a romance film, the first time in seven years that the record changed hands.
Source 15 · Sports Donga (Korean) · Tune in for Love opening day · opens in a new tabStarred with Lee Min-ho, playing Jung Tae-eul, a detective in the Republic of Korea.
Source 16 · Sports Donga (Korean) · First broadcast of The King: Eternal Monarch · opens in a new tabReleased as a TVING original and a tvN Friday-Saturday drama, with her as the office worker Yumi.
Source 17 · Newsis (Korean) · Yumi’s Cells starts at 2.4% · opens in a new tabA drama about three poor but close sisters who take on the wealthiest family in Korea. Episode 1 rated 6.4%.
Source 18 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · First broadcast of Little Women · opens in a new tabIn the film about the last year of the independence activist An Jung-geun, she played Seol-hee, who witnesses the killing of Empress Myeongseong and goes from court lady to an informant for the independence army.
Source 19 · Edaily (Korean) · Hero passes one million · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Seol-hee in Hero · opens in a new tabIn the film by Jang Jae-hyun, she played the shaman Hwa-rim. It passed 10 million admissions on its 32nd day in theaters, the first occult-genre film to do so.
Source 20 · The Fact (Korean) · Exhuma box office · opens in a new tabSource 21 · Financial News (Korean) · Exhuma passes 10 million on day 32 · opens in a new tabSource 22 · OSEN (Korean) · Exhuma invited to the Beijing International Film Festival · opens in a new tabSource 26 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · 45th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actress · opens in a new tabWon for Exhuma at the 60th Baeksang Arts Awards at COEX in Seoul. Exhuma won four awards that day, including Best Director.
Source 23 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · 60th Baeksang Arts Awards · opens in a new tabIn the film based on Park Sang-young’s novel, she starred with Noh Sang-hyun, playing the free spirit Jae-hee.
Source 24 · Media Today (Korean) · Love in the Big City opens · opens in a new tabSource 25 · JTBC (Korean) · Jae-hee in Love in the Big City · opens in a new tabWon Best Actress for Exhuma at the 45th Blue Dragon Film Awards by a unanimous vote of the judges. It was her first Blue Dragon award since Best New Actress in 2012, 12 years earlier, and her first lead-actress award, and she was the first winner born in the 1990s.
Source 26 · Sports Chosun (Korean) · 45th Blue Dragon Film Awards Best Actress · opens in a new tabStarred with Park Ji-hyun, playing Ryu Eun-joong, one of two friends whose lives are entangled over a lifetime.
Source 27 · Newsen (Korean) · You and Everything Else released · opens in a new tabIn the mystery thriller starring Jeon Do-yeon, she played Mo-eun, a character known as “the Witch.”
Source 28 · Sisaweek (Korean) · The Price of Confession released · opens in a new tabWon the grand prize for You and Everything Else at the 5th Blue Dragon Series Awards at Paradise City in Incheon.
Source 29 · Newsis (Korean) · 5th Blue Dragon Series Awards grand prize · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2012–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Film & TV · South Korea
Jul 2, 1991 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1991: the year of the event minus 1991, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.29 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.