Lim Eun-kyung (; born July 7, 1984) is a South Korean actress. Lim first rose to fame as the "TTL Girl" in a series of

SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 perce ...

commercials, then pursued a professional acting career. She starred in the films ''

Resurrection of the Little Match Girl ''Resurrection of the Little Match Girl'' () is a 2002 South Korean action film. It was screened at the 2003 London Film Festival and was the opening film of the Fantasia Festival that same year. The film was inspired by the 1845 Hans Christian A ...

'', '' Conduct Zero'', '' Doll Master'', and ''Marrying High School Girl''.

Early life

Lim Eun-kyung was born as an only child to

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

parents. She became fluent in

Korean Sign Language Korean Sign Language or KSL ( or short name ) is a sign language used for deaf communities of South Korea. It is one of two official languages in the country, alongside Korean. Beginnings The beginnings of KSL date from 1889,Fischer, Susan ''e ...

. Her family's story was later published in 2006.

Career

Modeling

Lim made her entertainment debut as a model for

in 1999 when she was still in high school. TTL was a mobile phone service targeting the younger generation, especially those in their twenties. After appearing in a series of TTL ads, Lim's mysterious yet innocent looks attracted attention and popularity, and she became known as the "TTL Girl."

Acting

She made her acting debut in

Jang Sun-woo Jang Sun-woo (; born March 20, 1952) is a South Korean film director. Film career Before his directorial debut, Jang made a name for himself by writing film criticism and scripts. His first film, ''Seoul Jesus'' ( 1986), based on one of his sc ...

's big-budget

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

blockbuster ''

'' in 2002. But the film received mixed reviews, and became a box-office flop. Lim's performance was panned, with critics and audiences saying her unimpressive acting was merely a replay of her image in the TTL commercials. Later in the year, she rebounded with her most commercially successful film, the 1980s-set teen comedy '' Conduct Zero''. Lim received good reviews for transforming into a nerdy high school girl who becomes

Ryoo Seung-bum Ryoo Seung-bum (; born August 9, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He made a name for himself in his older brother director Ryoo Seung-wan's eclectic films, notably '' Die Bad'' (his acting debut in 2000), ''Arahan'' (2004), '' Crying Fist'' (2005), ...

's love interest. This performance earned her a Best New Actress nomination at the 2003

Korean Film Awards The Korean Film Awards was a South Korean film awards ceremony hosted by the broadcasting network MBC from 2002 to 2010. History Originally named the MBC Film Awards, the ceremony was first established in 2002. It was renamed the Korean Film Awa ...

. Lim then appeared in the popular television comedy series ''

Bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

'' in 2003. She returned to the big screen in 2004, with leading roles in the

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

s '' Doll Master'' and '' To Catch a Virgin Ghost'', and the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

''Marrying High School Girl''. All three films did not do well at the box office. After hosting the variety show ''!Exclamation Mark'' and starring in the short-lived

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' Rainbow Romance'', Lim stopped acting in 2006.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Eun-kyung South Korean film actresses South Korean television actresses South Korean female models Living people 1983 births

Eun-kyung Eun-kyung, also spelled Eun-kyeong, or Eun-kyong, Eun-gyoung, Un-kyong, Un-gyong, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 30 hanja with the reading "'' eun''" and ...