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. ( 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 percent share as of 2008. ...

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 ''Conduct Zero'' (also known as ''No Manners'') is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Joh Keun-shik. Plot Joong-pil is the undisputed "king" of his high school due to his fighting skills. His life as a delinquent is comfortable until he fall ...

'', '' 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. 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 20 March 1952) is a South Korean film director. Life Jang attended Seoul National University and received a bachelor's degree in anthropology. Before his directorial debut, Jang made a name for himself by writing film crit ...

's big-budget

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

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 ''

''. 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 Aw ...

. 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 a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

'' 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 fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

s '' Doll Master'' and ''

To Catch a Virgin Ghost ''Sisily 2 km'' (), released internationally as ''To Catch a Virgin Ghost'', is a 2004 South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula ...

'', and the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

''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, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Rainbow Romance ''Nonstop'' () is a South Korean sitcom that broadcast its first season in 2000 on MBC. It continued with 5 more seasons. The series was popular for its cast of teen idols, many who debuted through the show gaining vast popularity. Cast (Nons ...

'', 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 Pungcheon Im clan