Jang Na-ra is our feature for this week’s Actor Spotlight. Beginning her career at 20, this actress hasn’t stopped working since she debuted in 2001.
Starting off as a singer, Na-ra debuted in the entertainment industry in 2001. She has the voice of an angel, and throughout the many years she has been in the industry she has recorded a few albums in Korean and Chinese, which have been well received by fans.
Cute image
Jang Na-ra landed her first acting role in the same year she debuted in the sitcom ‘New Nonstop’. She received a lot of attention for her adorable image on screen which led her to get her first lead role in 2002 in the SBS production ‘Successful Story of a Bright Girl’.
In the same year she also starred in the romantic comedy ‘My Love Patzzi’ which was well received and loved by the audience. In 2003 she made her debut on the big screen with the production ‘Oh! Happy Day’.
Since her debut Jang Na-ra established herself as a rom-com queen, all her roles were cute, hilarious and she played well all these characters. However, in the following years she took on other roles with a more mature image.
For a few years, Na-ra worked only on her Chinese acting and singing career after she gained a lot of popularity with her previous works. In 2009, she went back to Korea and starred in the movies ‘55Size’ and ‘Sky and Ocean’.
In 2011 she went back to the small screen with the KBS drama ‘Babyfaced Beauty’, which was followed by the hit drama ‘School 2013’.
Stepping stones
For years Jang Na-ra worked between Chinese productions and Korean ones, moving from one country to the other for work.
In 2014 ‘Fated To Love You’ was released, this drama was a great hit and is one of my personal favourites, this one was followed by ‘Mr. Baek’.
‘Hello Monster’ and ‘One More Happy Ending’ are two of my favourite productions by Jang Na-ra, both roles are mature, balanced and show two completely different sides of her as an actress.
However, the role that definitely left me mind-blown was Oh Ssu-ni in ‘The Last Empress’. I already knew Jang Na-ra’s acting skills, however this character was intense, complicated and interesting with a lot of different sides to the personality and a lot of emotional conflict.
It was completely different to what we had seen before from her in previous roles. She definitely portrayed this one incredibly, and the drama itself had high ratings.
Jang Na-ra is definitely a legend in the Korean Acting scene, she has a very successful career not just domestically but also in China, and she is recognized by many across the globe.
Her more recent productions are ‘VIP’ and ‘Oh My Baby’, and I am quite sure we will be hearing more from her in the future.
If you want to listen to the music she has released, make sure to check in out here.
