But her true passion has always been acting.
Why we love her
A native of Daejeon in central South Korea, Go, who prefers to spell her name in English as “Go” instead of “Ko” to highlight the fact that she is a go-getter, is a particularly determined performer who dreamed of being an actress from a young age but had a hard time getting opportunities.
Two years after graduating from high school she left a career in wedding planning against her parents’ wishes and moved to Seoul, where she worked odd jobs and took acting classes. She did not have an acting degree and endured rejection after rejection.
Finally, after appearing in the third season of the web series 72 Seconds and getting a part in a music video for K-pop idol Thunder’s song “Sign”, she was signed by Mystic Story (formerly Mystic Entertainment) and her career took off.
Go is a versatile performer who, despite becoming a star thanks to her small-screen work, remains very active in cinema, her first passion.
While many big names carefully craft their personas, appearing in a limited range of roles, Go has been unafraid to experiment with formats and performance styles, and tends to play both lead roles and supporting parts.
The star-making roles
After a small part in the film version of Cheese in the Trap, Go was cast in the action-horror The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion as the best friend of Kim Da-mi’s lead character. Go’s bubbly turn drew the attention of the industry.
A year later, and in the same month in which she appeared in the independence-fighter epic The Battle: Roar to Victory, Go turned heads with a major supporting role in her Netflix debut, the fantasy romance Love Alarm.
The iconic parts
Go picked up a best new actress prize at the SBS Drama Awards for her part in Secret Boutique. But it was her next major role, In Netflix’s runaway monster hit Sweet Home, that cemented her stardom at home and abroad.
Go plays Lee Eun-yu, the adoptive sister of Lee Do-hyun’s character and a ballerina who is forced to give up dancing following an injury, shortly before a monster apocalypse traps them in their dilapidated apartment building.
Go was able to reprise her role in the second season, which was not as well received as the first.
She next appeared, again alongside Lee Do-hyun, in Youth of May, a period romance set against the backdrop of the 1980 Gwangju Massacre.
Though not hugely successful upon its launch, the series gained a loyal following and got good ratings.
In the summer of 2023, Go showed her comic chops in Ryoo Seung-wan’s 1970s-set crime movie Smugglers.
Go steals the show as the young owner of an old-school countryside coffee shop, who helps a motley crew of haenyeo (female seafood divers) plan a heist.
The role landed her the best new actress award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.
The unheralded performances
Tomorrow’s turns
Following Sweet Home season 3, which will be released on July 19, Go has another Netflix original lined up – thriller series The Frog, in which she appears alongside Kim Yun-seok, Yoon Gye-sang and Lee Jung-eun. It is scheduled for release later in 2024.