Earnest and dedicated doctor, intelligent court insider, aristocrat shaped by war and loss — Ahn Eun-jin has taken on (and mastered) some of the best, most emotionally demanding roles in recent Korean entertainment history. And 2025 is shaping up to be a particularly busy year for the actress, with Genie, Make a Wish, Resident Playbook, and the ongoing Dynamite Kiss — each role more unique than the last. Never one to settle into a single mould, the actress’ diverse body of work has cemented her status as a compelling, ever-evolving performer. Here’s a look at the performances that defined her rise.
After studying alongside the likes of Kim Go-eun, Park So-dam, and Lim Ji-yeon at the Korea National University of Arts, Ahn Eun-jin stepped onto the stage, debuting in the 2012 musical The Sorrows of Young Werther. She performed in a string of theatre productions over the following years, perseverance and dedication allowing her to develop both confidence and range — traits that would become hallmarks of her screen work. In 2014, she began diversifying into television roles, and a major career highlight arrived in 2019 when she appeared in six series, including the first season of Netflix Korea hit Kingdom. She returned for the second season in 2020. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 2025, Ahn continues to cement her status as one of Korea’s most compelling actresses. She appeared in the big-budget Genie, Make a Wish, portraying Lee Mi-joo, Ka-young’s grandmother who magically becomes young again after a wish. She also revisited her Hospital Playlist character in Resident Playbook, delighting fans with her return. Most recently, she headlines the romantic comedy Dynamite Kiss as Go Da-rim, a spirited single woman who navigates life while pretending to be a married mother — a role that showcases her charm, humor, and emotional range. Speaking about the series, Ahn told Netflix, “Seeing viewers empathize with the characters’ emotions has been deeply meaningful and has made me feel an even greater responsibility as an actor.”
From the stage to the small screen, and now to major streaming platforms, playing roles in some of the most acclaimed productions, Ahn Eun-jin has had quite the journey. If you’ve yet to explore her work, here’s a look at the performances that define her rise as a versatile, ever-evolving talent.
Best roles of South Korean actress Ahn Eun-jin
Chu Min-ha, Hospital Playlist (2020–2021)
In this warm, ensemble-driven medical drama that follows five doctors who have remained friends since medical school, Ahn Eun-jin emerged as one of the show’s quiet revelations. While the series centres on the professional and personal lives of senior doctors at the Yulje Medical Centre, a few younger residents orbiting them truly drove the plot forward. And few did so as memorably as Chu Min-ha, the obstetrics and gynaecology resident Ahn brings to life.
Min-ha enters the story as a junior doctor still finding her footing: diligent, kind-hearted, and visibly anxious beneath her professional composure. She is capable but unsure of herself, eager to do well, and deeply affected by the emotional toll of her work. Her vulnerability quickly made her one of the most relatable figures in the series. The role proved star-making. Ahn gained widespread recognition and although Min-ha was not part of the central quintet of professors, by the time the second season aired in 2021, she had returned with significantly expanded screen time.
Speaking about the experience to SPOTV News, Ahn reflected on the realities of portraying medical professionals: “I didn’t know a doctor was such a hard job… I think they are great people who have overcome the trauma of going through hard times and meeting various patients.” The role also left a personal imprint. “Personally, I gained more energy in relationships through this work,” she said, noting that her character’s emotional honesty contrasted with her own more timid nature. “Min-ha is honest when she expresses herself.”
That emotional investment lingered well beyond filming. “I was so sad to see the last broadcast… I’m still quite over-absorbed in the character,” Ahn admitted — a sentiment that mirrored how audiences struggled to let Min-ha go. Her performance earned her the AAA Focus Award at the 2020 Asia Artist Awards.
Jo So-yong, The Night Owl (2022)
Following her surge in popularity from Hospital Playlist, Ahn Eun-jin tested herself on the big screen via The Night Owl. The critically and commercially successful historical thriller set in the Joseon era, marked her first substantial role in a feature film, and her first turn as a villain.
Directed by Ahn Tae-jin, The Night Owl centres on the mysterious death of Crown Prince Sohyeon, loosely inspired by historical speculation surrounding his return from the Qing Dynasty. The film follows Kyung-soo (Ryu Jun-yeol), a blind acupuncturist whose night vision allows him to witness the prince’s death, drawing him into a web of palace conspiracies and political paranoia. Against this tense backdrop, Ahn appears as Jo So-yong, a court figure whose calm exterior masks darker allegiances.
Though not the film’s central character, Jo So-yong plays a pivotal narrative role, operating within the shadows of palace power. Ahn approaches the part with restraint, portraying quiet calculation and an unsettling emotional opacity with ease. It was a notable departure from the warmth and openness that had defined many of her earlier television roles.
The risk paid off. The Night Owl became one of the highest-grossing Korean movies of 2022, surpassing three million admissions and sustaining its box office momentum for several weeks. It also found international recognition, screening in competition at the Festival du Film Coréen à Paris in 2023. For Ahn, the film served as a crucial credibility marker, proof that her screen presence translated beyond television and into cinema.
Her performance earned her nominations at both the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards, an impressive feat for a supporting role and one that underscored the impact she made within a crowded ensemble. More importantly, the role expanded the public’s understanding of her range.
Lee Mi-joo, The Good Bad Mother (2023)
Ahn Eun-jin delivered one of her most emotionally generous performances as Mi-joo in The Good Bad Mother, a rural healing drama that became one of the biggest television successes of 2023. The drama centres on Choi Kang-ho (Lee Do-hyun), an ambitious prosecutor whose life is upended by a tragic accident that leaves him paraplegic with the mind of a child. Forced to return to his rural hometown, Kang-ho must rebuild his life alongside his mother Jin Young-soon (Ra Mi-ran), a woman whose harsh parenting masked years of sacrifice and grief. Into this fragile domestic landscape re-enters Mi-joo, Kang-ho’s childhood friend and former girlfriend, now struggling financially after returning home broke.
Mi-joo is a study in quiet resilience. A nail artist by trade, she is warm-hearted, principled, and deeply intolerant of injustice. She gives freely, often at her own expense. Ahn plays her not as a conventional romantic saviour, but as a steady, grounding presence. As Kang-ho struggles, Mi-joo becomes his emotional anchor, navigating the awkwardness, tenderness, and moral complexity of loving someone who no longer remembers their shared past.
Ahn was immediately drawn to the character’s vitality. “The script was so interesting,” she was quoted saying by Soompi, adding, “I really wanted to participate [in this project] as I watched Mi Joo live her life brightly and confidently even in the face of hardships and adversity.” Speaking about the production, she also noted the collaborative environment on set, expressing her excitement about working with director Shim Na-yeon and praising her co-stars for creating “an enjoyable atmosphere.”
The audience responded well. The Good Bad Mother became one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable television history and set a new record for the strongest ratings ever achieved by a Wednesday–Thursday drama on JTBC. Ahn’s popularity grew, cementing her reputation as a dependable actress.
Yoo Gil-chae, My Dearest (2023)
This sweeping MBC romantic epic, set against the devastation of the Qing invasion of Joseon in the 17th century, marked a decisive turning point in Ahn’s career. Not only was it her first true lead in a period drama, but it was also the role that firmly anchored her at the centre of a prestige production.
Released in two parts, My Dearest unfolds as a story of love and survival amid war, following characters who cling to hope and humanity as their world collapses around them. Ahn stars opposite Namkoong Min as Yoo Gil-chae, the daughter of an aristocratic family whose life becomes irrevocably entwined with Lee Jang-hyun, an enigmatic nobleman who has long shut himself off from sincerity. What begins as a romantic entanglement slowly deepens into something a lot more transformational.
When the series opens, Gil-chae appears pampered, wilful, and emotionally sheltered — raised with affection and privilege, seemingly ill-prepared for the brutality that history has in store for her. As war descends and survival becomes paramount, she is forced to fend for herself, gradually shedding naivety for resilience and self-determination. Reflecting on the process of playing the role, Ahn admitted initially things proved difficult. “At first I had a hard time getting the tone right for the character,” she told Korea JoongAng Daily, explaining that the director and screenwriter worked closely with her scene by scene. Later, as Gil-chae’s “strong-headedness and vitality” came to the fore, new anxieties emerged, but the experience ultimately reshaped Ahn’s approach to acting. “Once you go on set, it all comes to a solution,” she said, describing the role as a significant learning curve.
Her effort paid off. What began as a cautiously-received period romance steadily built into a ratings hit, strong enough that an additional episode was commissioned beyond the originally planned 20. The ending, which Ahn herself described as “100 points out of 100,” resonated deeply with viewers. The accolades soon followed. Ahn earned the Top Excellence Award for Actress in a Miniseries at the MBC Drama Awards, as well as the Best Actress honour at the Grimae Awards. More importantly, My Dearest repositioned her in the public imagination: no longer a scene-stealing supporting presence, but an actor capable of anchoring an expansive historical romance.
Go Da-rim, Dynamite Kiss (2025)
This SBS romantic comedy, currently airing and streaming globally on Netflix, sees Ahn embrace a lighter register without relinquishing the emotional specificity that has come to define her performances. She plays Go Da-rim, a single woman juggling debt, family responsibility, and dwindling options, who pretends to be a married mother in order to secure a job at a childcare product company. Complications arise when she discovers that her new boss is Gong Ji-hyeok (Jang Ki-yong), the same man she once shared an impulsive, unforgettable kiss with before abruptly disappearing from his life. What follows is a romantic comedy built on mistaken identities, emotional proximity, and the gradual erosion of carefully maintained façades.
Da-rim is a deliberately multifaceted character. Over the course of the drama, she shifts between roles — unemployed jobseeker, office worker, fake wife, fake mother — each requiring a slightly different emotional register. Rather than smoothing these contradictions over, Ahn leans into them. Her Da-rim is cheerful but exhausted, resilient yet visibly stretched, capable of bright humour even as the stakes quietly accumulate. Speaking about her approach, Ahn explained to Soompi that “Da Rim’s circumstances are constantly changing, so there’s no room for monotony,” adding that she focused on “surrendering to Da Rim’s situation at any given moment.” As the character “becomes stronger as she keeps completing the quests she finds herself facing,” Ahn allows that growth to emerge organically.
Audience response to her and the series has been swift. Since its premiere on 12 November 2025, Dynamite Kiss has climbed Netflix’s non-English series chart, holding its position for a week as online buzz continues to grow around its characters and tonal warmth.
Which of these roles do you think were her most pivotal?
(Hero image: Courtesy of Genie, Make A Wish/Netflix; Feature images: Courtesy of My Dearest/Viki)
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.