Still famous for her “baby face”, it’s not surprising that Im started out as a teen model back in 1998 given her striking looks. She made her TV debut in School 4 before becoming a household name with Kim Jee-woon’s 2003 horror flick A Tale of Two Sisters. She then cemented her place even further with K-drama I’m Sorry, I Love You in 2004 opposite So Ji-sub.

But she wasn’t content to rest on her laurels – instead, she constantly tried to shatter her previous image by opting to play unique female characters. “I’m not very scared of change. I actually want to break through [whatever is thought about me]. You could say I’m trying to break off from the image I’ve piled up until now,” said Im, according to Yahoo! News.

She’s starred in more films than TV dramas

Despite her early success in television, Im continued to deliver powerful performances on the big screen. From Park Chan-wook’s I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (2006), Hur Jin-ho’s Happiness (2007), Lee Yoon-ki’s Come Rain, Come Shine (2011) and Min Kyu-dong’s All About My Wife (2012). In contrast, she has only appeared in five K-dramas throughout her career.

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She is a proud vegan

She has been nominated for awards 30 times

She received 10 nominations for her role in A Tale of Two Sisters in 2003, including a Blue Dragon Film Award, Korean Film Award and Busan Film Critics Award – and won nine of them!

Over the years, Im has received over 30 nominations for her film and TV roles. She received the most nominations again for All About My Wife, and even nabbed the best actress nomination at the Baeksang Arts Awards in 2013.

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She plays a maths teacher in Melancholia

Im will play a passionate maths teacher in the upcoming Melancholia. According to Soompi, in a press conference on November 2, she shared, “All the lines where Yoon-soo and Seung-yoo could relate to each other through maths were so beautiful. I also thought that the study of maths was quite serious and beautiful, making it special.”

She also praised her co-star Lee for his immense talent: “Although he’s my junior in acting, I think Lee Do-hyun is an actor whose depth of emotion and acting skills transcend his age, as well as time and space.”

TVN’s Melancholia marks Im’s return to TV after a two-year sabbatical; she was last seen on the smashing hit Search: WWW opposite Lee Da-hee and Jeon Hye-jin.