Im Jin-ah (born September 14, 1991), professionally known as Nana, is a South Korean singer, actress, and model best known for her work with the South Korean girl group After School and its subgroups, Orange Caramel and After School Red. Nana has appeared in a number of television dramas, including Love Weaves Through a Millennium (2015), The Good Wife (2016), Kill It (2019), and Justice (2019).
Nana's birth date is September 14, 1991. She graduated from Cheongju's Ochang High School and competed in the 2009 Asia Pacific Super Model Contest.
From 2009 to 2013, she made her debut with After School and Orange Caramel.
In November 2009, Nana debuted in After School along with Raina as third generation members with the release of After School's second EP, Because of You. Nana, Raina, and Lizzy from After School formed the sub-unit Orange Caramel in June 2010.
Nana's 2010 performance
Nana released the single "In the Night Sky" in July 2011 as part of the After School sub-unit A.S. Red, alongside After School members Kahi, Jungah, and Uee. She was chosen as the main model for the Tokyo Girls Collection fashion show in September 2011.
Nana walked the S/S 2012 show for the Tokyo Girls Collection in March 2012. She also appeared in the Japanese fashion show Girls' Award and Park Yoon-S/S yoo's 2012 Seoul Fashion Walk. After School released their fifth maxi-single, Flashback, in June 2012. Nana has a solo song called "Eyeline" on the album. In December, she performed the song "This Person" with fellow K-pop stars Hyolyn, Hyuna, Hyoseong, and Nicole as part of the super group Dazzling Red for SBS Gayo Daejun. She also became an endorser for Juvis, Korea's largest diet brand. Nana was also a regular panellist on Tokyo Brandnew Girls, a Japanese fashion television show.
She walked the runway for a-"NYLON" nation's fashion show in 2013. Nana collaborated with Electroboyz on their single "Ma Boy 3" the same year. Nana rose to international prominence in December 2013, when she was named second on the Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2013. She ascended to the top spot in 2014 and again in 2015.
Acting career from 2014 to the present
Nana was announced as a member of a new SBS variety show called Roommate in March 2014. The show follows 11 celebrities who live in a single house. Nana, Hong Jong-hyun, and Cho Min-ho co-hosted the second season of OnStyle's Style Log in April. Nana competed in the Chinese fashion elimination show Muse Dress in August 2014, finishing as runner-up. She also appeared in the Korean film Fashion King, which premiered on November 6, 2014.
Nana made her acting debut in the Chinese television drama Love Weaves Through a Millennium, a remake of the Korean drama Queen In-Man, hyun's in early 2015. (2012). She appeared in the Chinese romantic comedy film Go Lala Go 2, the sequel to Go Lala Go!, the same year.
Nana joined the cast of Real Men in February 2016 for the fourth season's female soldier special. Later that year, she was cast in a supporting role in the television drama The Good Wife, a remake of the same-named American series. Nana received positive feedback for her performance as Kim Dan and was named Rookie Actress at the 2016 Asia Artist Awards. Following her success on television, Nana was cast as the only female lead in The Swindlers (Conman) alongside her The Good Wife co-star, Yoo Ji-tae. The film received 213,185 admissions on its first day of release and topped the local box office for three weeks in a row.
She was cast in her first leading role in the upcoming romantic thriller Four Men in 2017, but she decided to leave the cast due to production delays.
Nana appeared as detective Do Hyun-jin in OCN's crime drama Kill It in 2019. The same year, she played prosecutor Seo Yeon-ah in KBS's melodrama Justice, which was based on the web novel Justice, written by Jang Ho and illustrated by Elja. Nana was honoured once more, this time with an Excellence Award at the 2019 KBS Drama Awards.
Nana was cast in the mystery thriller film Confession, based on the Spanish film Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest), alongside So Ji-sub and Yunjin Kim in 2020. Nana was announced as the lead actress for KBS's upcoming drama Into The Ring, alongside Park Sung-hoon, in April 2020. The drama sparked interest because it was based on a screenplay written by Moon Hyun-kyung, the grand prize winner of the Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation's (BCPF) 10th Find the Desert's Shooting Star Screenplay Competition in 2018. Nana also made her musical comeback after 6 years with the release of her first OST, "Our Memories in Summer" ( ) with co-star Park Sung-hoon. On September 7, it was announced that Nana would star alongside Lee Min-ki in the new MBC drama Oh My Ladylord, which will premiere on March 24, 2021.
Nana was cast in Netflix's upcoming series Glitch as "Heo Bora" alongside actress Jeon Yeo-been on May 28, 2021, following the completion of Oh My Ladylord.
Nana's contract with Pledis Entertainment was renewed for the second time on December 8, 2021.
Title | Year | Peak chart position | Sales | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gaon [48] | |||||
As lead artist | |||||
"Close Your Eyes" | 2011 | — | — | Shanghai Romance & Lipstick | |
"Eyeline" | 2012 | — | Flashback | ||
"This Person"[a] | — | Non-album single | |||
"Sleeping Forest" (眠れる森) | 2013 | — | Orange Caramel | ||
As featured artist | |||||
"Ma Boy 3" (Electroboyz featuring Nana) | 2013 | — | — | In Love | |
"Wait A Minute" (잠깐만) (Hello Venus featuring Nana)[b] | — | Would You Stay for Tea? | |||
Soundtrack appearances | |||||
"Our memories in summer" (우리의 여름처럼) (with Park Sung-hoon) | 2013 | — | — | Memorials OST | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | White: Melody of Death | Herself | Cameo |
2014 | Fashion King | Kim Hae-na | |
2015 | Go Lala Go 2 | Sha Dangdang | Chinese film |
2017 | The Swindlers | Choon-ja | |
2022 | Confession | Kim Se-hee |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Love Weaves Through a Millennium | Zhao Nana | Chinese drama |
2016 | The Good Wife | Kim Dan | |
2019 | Kill It | Do Hyun-jin | |
Justice | Seo Yeon-ah | ||
2020 | Memorials | Goo Se-Ra | |
2021 | Oh My Ladylord | Oh Joo-in | |
Genesis | Yeo Rin | ||
2022 | Love in Contract | Yu-mi | Cameo (Episode 1) |
TBA | My Man Is Cupid | Oh Baek-ryun |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
2022 | Glitch | Heo Bo-ra |
TBA | Mask Girl | Kim Mo-mi (after surgery) |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Playgirlz School | Cast member | |
2012 | Tokyo Brand New Girls | Fixed panelist | |
2014 | Style Log | Host | |
Roommate | Cast member | ||
Muse Dress | Runner-up in competition overall | ||
2016 | Real Men: Female Special | Season 4 (Episode 146 and 147) |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 7th Style Icon Awards | Tony Moly K-Beauty | — | Won |
2016 | 5th APAN Star Awards | Best New Actress | The Good Wife | Nominated |
9th Korea Drama Awards | Nominated | |||
1st Asia Artist Awards | Best Rookie Award, Actress | Won | ||
2017 | 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actress | Nominated | |
6th Korea Film Actors Association Awards | Popular Star Award | The Swindlers | Won | |
2018 | 54th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best New Actress | Nominated | |
Bazaar Icon Award | — | Won | ||
13th Asia Model Awards | Popular Star Award | — | Won | |
23rd Chunsa Film Art Awards | Popularity Award | — | Won | |
2nd The Seoul Awards | Best New Actress | The Swindlers | Nominated | |
2019 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Justice | Won |
Best New Actress | Nominated | |||
Netizen Award, Actress | Nominated | |||
Best Couple Award with Choi Jin-hyuk | Nominated | |||
2020 | KBS Drama Awards | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Memorials | Won |
Best Couple Award with Park Sung-hoon | Won | |||
2021 | 41th MBC Drama Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Oh My Ladylord | Nominated |
Best Couple Award with Lee Min-ki | Nominated |