ProfileWho is Kim Da-mi, the enigmatic actress known for K-dramas Itaewon Class and Nine Puzzles?

The captivating young Korean star Kim Da-mi has been very careful with her project choices since exploding onto the big screen in 2018. But after a steady trickle of memorable parts, the floodgates have finally opened in 2025, with three projects on her docket this year. After appearing in the acclaimed thriller Nine Puzzles a few months ago, the 30-year-old will be back on screens this month in the 1980s-set bus hostess drama A Hundred Memories and again before the year is out in the Netflix film The Great Flood, as she shows off her ever-growing range. Kim has always been a fan of dramas, particularly shows like the 2003 classic Stairway to Heaven. As a child, she enrolled in an acting academy and then the Department of Performing Arts at Incheon University. Before her first acting role, she worked as a fitting model, but her true calling was always acting. Her screen acting debut came in the independent omnibus project film trilogy Same Name Project in 2017, in which she played a young woman who had recently experienced a break-up. Her mainstream debut soon followed when she was cast in a major supporting role in the mystery thriller Marionette, starring Lee Yoo-young. This was a challenging and daring debut, as the abuse-themed project called on her to play a minor who is sexually assaulted. Why we love her Beyond her screen acting talent and her special aura, Kim is a role model for aspiring actors. She belongs to an impressive cadre of current stars including Jun Jong-seo (Burning) and Kim Tae-ri (The Handmaiden), who landed major leading roles through auditions against the odds, instantly becoming household names. When fans see Kim on-screen, they also see themselves because of her personality. The actress has a reserved character; she is something of an introvert who finds it difficult to make new connections and maintains a small but tight network of friends. In her work, Kim has come to be known as straightforward and tight-lipped. She has surprised producers and agents alike during major casting and signing moments in her career, reacting to very good news with very few words and little visible emotion. The star-making roles Plucked from 1,500 hopefuls, Kim was launched to stardom after her audition for Park Hoon-jung’s popular action thriller The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion. The demanding role saw her balance a normal teenager’s vulnerability with intense action sequences. The film was a major commercial success and earned her a slew of awards, including best new actress awards from the Blue Dragon and the Grand Bell Awards, and a Cheval Noir award for best actress from the Fantasia International Film Festival. Following the film’s success, a sequel was made (The Witch: Part 2. The Other One), although Kim only reprises her role for a brief cameo. There were rumours that the original script featured more of her character, but the production was scaled down following the exit of the original film’s backer, Warner Bros, from the Korean market. The iconic parts After cinemas, Kim then conquered the small screen when she co-starred with Park Seo-joon in Itaewon Class, playing Jo Yi-seo, the memorable manager of the DanBam bar. Based on a webcomic, the series was a massive hit when it was released, reaching a peak viewership of 16.5 per cent. The role earned Kim more silverware, including a best new actress award at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards. Remaining on the small screen, Kim reunited with her The Witch co-star Choi Woo-shik for the tender youth romance Our Beloved Summer. Though not quite the ratings bonanza that Itaewon Class was, it became a firm fan favourite and cemented Kim’s power. This year, Kim conquered the small screen again in the thriller Nine Puzzles alongside Son Suk-ku; it was one of the most well-received K-drama events of the year. She plays criminal profiler Yoon E-na, who is suspected by a detective of having killed her policeman uncle many years earlier. It must have been a dream role for Kim, who is an avid watcher of dark Hollywood procedurals such as Dexter and Mindhunter. The unheralded performance Kim had a memorable role in the evocative youth romance drama Soulmate, a Korean remake of Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung’s 2016 Chinese hit Soul Mate. The film chronicles an evolving friendship between two girls, played by Kim and Jeon So-nee, starting in the late 1980s. Byun Woo-seok plays the boy who gets between them. Originally scheduled to open in 2021, Soulmate was eventually released in 2023, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Tomorrow’s turns Following the debut of A Hundred Memories, Kim will travel to the Busan International Film Festival for the world premiere of the Netflix disaster film The Great Flood. It marks the second film of the year from director Kim Byung-woo, following this summer’s Omniscient Reader: The Prophecy. In The Great Flood, the world is faced with a gigantic global flood following a meteorite strike. Kim plays an AI researcher who is trapped with her son in a block of flats as the water level begins to rise. Following its Busan premiere, the film will be made available globally on Netflix from December 19.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The reserved Kim, who this year appears in Nine Puzzles, A Hundred Memories and The Great Flood, is a role model for aspiring actors

The reserved Kim, who this year appears in Nine Puzzles, A Hundred Memories and The Great Flood, is a role model for aspiring actors