Shin Min-a born April 5th, 1984 with the birth name Yang Min-a (양민아), is a popular South Korean actress & model. Her family consists of a father, mother, older sister & brother. In middle school, she took a picture with her friends on a school picnic and sent the photo to the teen magazine KiKi ("키키"). From that picture, she was chosen as a model for the magazine. Afterward, she would first appear in commercials and music videos. In 2001, she made her acting debut in the movie "Volcano High" and would appear again two years later in "Madeleine". Her breakout performance would occur in the 2005 gangster film "A Bittersweet Life". Her character, Hee-soo, displayed a mixture of purity and maturity that captivated South Korean audiences. Since that time, she has received an assortment of acting offers from top Korean directors and expanded her acting repertoire by selecting various types of roles: from the martial-arts comedy "My Mighty Princess" to 70's go-go dancer "Go Go 70s" to the smaller independent film "Sisters on the Road".