[CELEB] Lim Yoon-a sings, dances, acts and juggles two careers at once

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[CELEB] Lim Yoon-a sings, dances, acts and juggles two careers at once

Lim Yoon-a during a scene of the new MBC drama series "Big Mouth" [MBC]

Lim Yoon-a during a scene of the new MBC drama series "Big Mouth" [MBC]

 
A good work ethic may be one of the most commendable characteristics of Lim Yoon-a, who is juggling two careers at once.  
 
MBC drama "Big Mouth," starring Lim, premiered on Friday while Lim prepares to make a highly anticipated comeback to the K-pop scene this week with members of Girls' Generation. The group is scheduled to release “Forever 1,” its seventh full-length album, in celebration of its 15th anniversary. 

 
"Big Mouth" is about Chang-ho, an incompetent lawyer with the nickname Big Mouth, who gets mistaken for Big Mouse, the country's most notorious con artist. Lim plays Chang-ho's wife and a veteran nurse, Mi-ho, who works on clearing her husband’s name.   
 
The series landed No.1 among the programs airing in the same time slot, recording a 6.2 percent in viewership ratings, according to Nielsen Korea on Saturday.  
  
Undertaking the workload for her two careers is something that Lim is used to doing, since her debut in July of 2007 as an actor, and then just one month later, her debut as a K-pop singer. One of the high points in her career is considered to be in 2009 when Girls' Generation's song "Gee" became a national hit, while "You Are My Destiny" (2008-09), a drama series for which she was the lead, recorded a viewership of 43.9 percent, one of the highest local viewership ratings of all time. Over her 15-year career, Lim released some 40 albums and singles as a member of Girls' Generation and appeared in 17 dramas and films.
 
Lim Yoon-a, third from left, with members of her girl group Girls Generation. The group is performing its song "Holiday" which was released in 2017. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Lim Yoon-a, third from left, with members of her girl group Girls Generation. The group is performing its song "Holiday" which was released in 2017. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

 
Lim Yoon-a in a new concept photo of Girls' Generation's upcoming album "Forever 1" on Aug. 5 [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Lim Yoon-a in a new concept photo of Girls' Generation's upcoming album "Forever 1" on Aug. 5 [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

  
What has kept Lim centered amid her immense workload is her strong inner core and a healthy mindset, which are qualities that "Big Mouth"'s director Oh Chung-hwan and co-star Lee Jong-suk saw in her when casting for the role of Mi-ho. 
 
“The actor for Mi-ho needed to reflect an incredibly strong inner core at the center of all her different faces," said Oh during an online press conference on Friday. 
 
Oh said that when he thought of Lim for the role, he discussed the idea with actor Lee Jong-suk, who was already set to play to play the character of Chang-ho. "He was on the same page as me in thinking that Yoona would be the right person to play Mi-ho," said Oh.
 
Lim Yoon-a, left, and Lee Jong-suk during the online press conference for drama series "Big Mouth" on Friday [MBC]

Lim Yoon-a, left, and Lee Jong-suk during the online press conference for drama series "Big Mouth" on Friday [MBC]

 
Mi-ho and Chang-ho are newly-weds in the new drama. The couple's relationship is not short of hardships, but they have a great amount of trust and love that holds them together.  
 
“Yoona is my longtime friend, and the thought of acting with her as a couple made my heart flutter," said Lee. "But we didn’t get to act together on set too much because the narrative has us separated most of the time. So, I imagined Yoona a lot while I was acting alone, and when I saw the edited excerpts of the series, I would realize how hard Yoona was working on the other side!”  
 
Lim also expressed her slight regret of not having too much screen time with Lee. 
 
“I had no worries going into 'Big Mouth' because I knew that Lee Jong-suk was going to play the husband," she said. "It was too bad we didn't have too many scenes together. Jong-suk's acting is so detailed that it surprises me every time I see it. It influenced my acting in very positive ways.”  
 
Lim Yoon-aduring a scene of the new drama series "Big Mouth" [MBC]

Lim Yoon-aduring a scene of the new drama series "Big Mouth" [MBC]

 
Lim said Mi-ho is an "extremely wise character with a strong core, yet can be very flexible according to different situations," adding that they are characteristics that Lim herself certainly aspires to attain. 
 
She continued, "It is my first time trying my hand at noir and a character of a nurse, so I think I can definitely show off a different side of me."  
 
"Big Mouth" airs Fridays and Saturdays at 9:50 p.m. and is also available for streaming on Disney+.
 
Singer and actor Lim Yoon-a [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Singer and actor Lim Yoon-a [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

 
Yoona (Lim Yoon-a)
 
Date of birth: May 30, 1990
Zodiac sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul 
Debut: 2007 through MBC drama series "Two Outs in the Ninth Inning"
Agency: SM Entertainment 
 
Lim Yoon-a debuted as an actor in July 2007 with supporting roles in “Two Outs in the Ninth Inning.” In August of the same year, she entered the K-pop scene as a member of Girls’ Generation. Since its debuting track "Into the New World,” the group produced numerous hits, such as "Gee" (2009), "Genie" (2010) and "The Boys" (2011). Its current members are Taeyeon, Sunny, Yoona, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung and Seohyun. As an actor, Lim is known for her performances in films "Gongjo" (2017), “Exit” (2019) and “The Miracle” (2021), and dramas “You Are My Destiny” (2008), “Hush” (2020) and “The K2” (2016). 
 
This information was confirmed by SM Entertainment on July 29, 2022. 


Lim Yoon-a, middle, in a scene in the action film "Exit" (2019) [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

Lim Yoon-a, middle, in a scene in the action film "Exit" (2019) [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]


BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
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