In 1998, the year she turned 14, she debuted as an exclusive magazine model and began appearing in advertisements.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 16, she played a Vietnamese girl in Jo Sung-mo’s “Do You Know” music video and became known as the commercial model Yang Min-a. After criticism that her name was close to another entertainer’s, she changed her stage name to Shin Min-a and was cast in the film Volcano High.
In 2001, she made her first TV appearance in SBS’s Beautiful Days, and at the end of the year she made her screen debut in Volcano High. In 2002, she was cast opposite Zo In-sung in the film Madeleine. In 2003, she played the boxer Jang Yoo-bin in SBS’s Punch and won the New Star Award at that year’s SBS Drama Awards.
In 2005, she appeared in KBS2’s A Love to Kill and played a crime boss’s lover in the film A Bittersweet Life. In 2007, she played the psychometrist Hae-in in KBS2’s Lucifer.
In 2008, she performed feats of strength in the film My Mighty Princess and won Best Supporting Actress at the University Film Festival of Korea for Go Go 70s. In 2009, she played Mo-rae in the film The Naked Kitchen and also worked as a model for several ads.
In 2010, she played the nine-tailed fox Mi-ho opposite Lee Seung-gi in SBS’s My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho. In 2012, she appeared in MBC’s Arang and the Magistrate and won the MBC Drama Awards Best Couple Award that year with Lee Joon-gi.
In 2013, she made a cameo in Kim Jee-woon’s short film The X, which was first shown at the Busan International Film Festival. In 2014, she played the teahouse owner Gong Yoon-hee in the film Gyeongju. In 2015, she won the Wildflower Film Awards Special Jury Prize for Gyeongju and donated 100 million won to earthquake-hit Nepal.
In 2017, she played Song Ma-rin in tvN’s Tomorrow, with You. In 2019, she played the lawmaker Kang Sun-young in JTBC’s Chief of Staff season 2. In 2020, she played the diver Lee Young in the film Diva, which took No. 1 at the box office on its opening day.
In 2021, she played the dentist Yoon Hye-jin in tvN’s Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. In 2022, she played Min Seon-ah in tvN’s Our Blues. In 2024, she played Son Hae-yeong in tvN’s No Gain No Love. In 2025, she appeared in Netflix’s Karma, and in December she married the actor Kim Woo-bin.
Shin Min-a (born Apr 5, 1984) became known on Sep 17, 2000, the year she turned 16, through Jo Sung-mo’s “Do You Know” music video, and made her first TV appearance on Mar 14, 2001, the year she turned 17, in SBS’s Beautiful Days. She later appeared in A Bittersweet Life, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Chief of Staff and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, among other works.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.