Park Shin-Hye was born on Feburary 18th, 1990 in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Her family consists of her parents and one older brother. When Park Shin-Hye was in 6th grade at Hak-Kang Elementary School in Gwangju, she was advised to audition for pop singer Lee Seung-Hwan's music company "Dream Factory" by her English teacher at a private institute. Consequently, Park Shin-Hye went to Seoul and auditioned for Dream Factory. Through her relationship with Dream Factory, Park Shin-Hye began training as an actress, singer, and playing the guitar & keyboard. Her family also relocated to Seoul in 2001. In 2003 Park Shin-Hye debuted as the main female character in the music video "Ggot" (Flower) by singer Lee Seung-Hwan. In the same year she also successfully auditioned for a role in the SBS drama series "Stairway to Heaven". Park Shin-Hye was picked among 250 contestants. Park Shin-Hye played the role of main character Han Jung-Seo as a child (Choi Ji-Woo played the adult Han Jung-Seo). "Stairway to Heaven" was highly successful and regularly received ratings in excess of 40%. Park Shin-Hye's entrance to the entertainment was now opened. Although "Stairway to Heaven" boosted Park Shin-Hye's profile among the Korean public, the roles she took after "Stairway to Heaven" were initially less successful. Meanwhile, in her personal life, Park Shin-Hye was pretty much a normal student during this time, frequently text messaging with friends and having picked up the nickname "Park Pig," because of her fondness for food.[1] It wasn't until 2009, when Park Shin-Hye was cast for the female lead in the hit SBS drama series "He's Beautiful!," that Park Shin-Hye found herself in another hit title. According to Hong Seong-Chang, the director of "He's Beautiful!," Park Shin-Hye and her male counterpart Jang Geun-Suk were cast for the lead roles due to their bright characters and the way they both excelled at dancing & singing. Although TV ratings for "He's Beautiful!" were only in the low teens (as it aired opposite KBS2 mega-hit "IRIS") the show was a hit on the internet and among teens & young adults. The series was the most searched for title from SBS on Korean portals in 2009 and the four main actors were always in the top ten name searches for 2009. Park Shin-Hye has stated in interviews that her character in "He's Beautiful!" reflected her real life personality by about 80%.[2] In 2010, Park Shin-Hye took on a supporting role in the romantic-comedy "Cyrano Agency". In interviews she did to promote "Cyrano Agency," Park Shin-Hye stated that with her young age and inexperience in feature films, she didn't feel the need to land a starring role.[3] Park Shin-Hye also stated that peers she admires is actor Park Hie-Sun & actress Ko Du-Shim.[4]

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