1999–2005: Early work Upon her return to Korea, Gong began working as a model. She appeared in advertisements, notably the "Happy to Live" commercial for
Telecom 700–5425. After a year and a half of modeling, she made her acting debut in a supporting role in
Memento Mori. Co-directed by
Kim Tae-yong and
Min Kyu-dong, the comedy film reinvented its genre with its fresh approach tn teenage femme sexuality and its destructive force, melding
sapphism and the supernatural at a girls' high school. Although it was not a box office hit in 1999, the film is frequently cited by young Korean
filmmakers and cinema fans as a modern-day classic. At first Gong wasn't serious about acting and couldn't wait for filming to be over, but
Memento Mori's critical success encouraged her to continue acting, After appearing in small roles in
Jang Jin's comedy
Guns & Talks and teen martial arts flick
Volcano High, the young actress had her breakthrough year in 2002, landing lead roles in
Emergency Act 19 and
A Bizarre Love Triangle. Gong's performance in
Ruler of Your Own World grabbed the industry's attention. The TV series was praised for its realistic writing and strong acting, earning it "mania drama" (or
cult hit) status in Korea. That same year, she again acted opposite Ryoo in
Conduct Zero, earning praise for her role as the tough-talking "boss" of the girls' high school. The 1980s-set retro comedy was well received by both audiences and critics. The 2003 series
Snowman paired Gong with
Cho Jae-hyun and
Kim Rae-won, in a controversial plot about a girl who falls in love with her older brother-in-law. She then returned to more mainstream fare in ''
Sang Doo! Let's Go to School, helmed by TV director Lee Hyung-min, with whom she had previously worked with in a Drama City episode. Gong played a high school teacher who meets her childhood sweetheart again, now a gigolo and single dad with a sick daughter. Known for being the acting debut of pop singer Rain, the drama did well in the ratings, and Gong won several awards at the KBS Drama Awards. and a scientist in Heaven's Soldiers'', Gong longed to portray meatier, "real women" roles, but she was unwilling to do
nudity in film.
2006–2008: Critical success In 2006,
Memento Mori director
Kim Tae-yong (whom Gong considers her mentor She received a Best Actress nomination from the
Korean Film Awards, and also shared Best Actress honors with co-stars
Moon So-ri,
Go Doo-shim and
Kim Hye-ok at the
Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece.
Family Ties marked a turning point in her career, Several actresses had turned down the unglamorous role of a single mother with an
HIV-positive daughter and a grandfather with
dementia; another reason being that this was lead actor
Jang Hyuk's comeback after his draft-dodging scandal. Despite little hype,
Thank You became a modest hit and rose to number one in its timeslot. Viewer response to the drama had been mostly heartwarming and life-affirming, which Gong said she treasures. The maternal role served to soften and feminize her image, but Gong was also praised for her nuanced portrayal that grounded her character in reality, helping to prevent the drama from being overly maudlin or saccharine. After
Thank You, Gong went back to film and took on supporting roles for the opportunity to work with some of the most talented directors in
Chungmuro. She played a coolly unsentimental ex-girlfriend in
Hur Jin-ho's melodrama
Happiness, a concerned fiancée in
Lee Myung-se's stylistic psychodrama
M, and a spy in
Ryoo Seung-wan's action comedy/parody
Dachimawa Lee. Strong performances in varied roles helped cement Gong's reputation as a serious actress, but
Crush and Blush in 2008 would become her most high-profile movie yet. Hailed by critics as one of the most original Korean films in recent years,
Lee Kyoung-mi's feature directorial debut was divisive, and though its box office performance was a disappointment, it acquired a sort of
cult status among Korean
cinephiles. The black comedy was a showcase for Gong, who transformed herself into a
misanthropic antiheroine with an unattractively blushing red face, frizzy hair, dowdy clothes, and a chronic case of inferiority complex and hopeless delusion. Gong had wavered at first when presented with the script, given the character's excesses. Reportedly urged on by fellow actress
Jeon Do-yeon, she eventually accepted and threw herself into the role. and told her that she might never be able to top this performance, joking that she should retire. She won numerous acting awards in Korea, among them Best Actress trophies from the
Korean Film Awards,
Director's Cut Awards, and Women in Film Korea Awards. She also received nominations from the
Blue Dragon Film Awards and
Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as a Rising Star Award from the
New York Asian Film Festival.
2009–2014: Mainstream popularity After starring with close friend
Shin Min-a in the 2009
indie Sisters on the Road, Gong played an aspiring chef in the romantic comedy series
Pasta in 2010. Originally written as the usual brash and spunky rom-com heroine, Gong thought it would be boring and clichéd to play her as such, and instead made the significant acting decision to play against type by creating the character as an ordinary girl who was seemingly meek, but had a quiet strength and slyly got her way. Her chemistry with co-star
Lee Sun-kyun and the drama's breezy atmosphere propelled it to the top of the ratings chart. Defying easy categorization into the actress dichotomies of innocent (
Choi Ji-woo,
Song Hye-kyo) or sexy (
Kim Hye-soo,
Uhm Jung-hwa), Gong belonged to a third, very minor group of eccentrics that also includes
Kang Hye-jung and
Bae Doona. Though not a typical beauty, after the success of
Pasta, Gong was given the label
Gongvely by the press, a
portmanteau of her surname and the English word "lovely." In 2011, Gong acted opposite
Cha Seung-won in the TV series
The Greatest Love. Written by the
Hong sisters, the romantic comedy is set in the entertainment industry and is about an unlikely romance between a has-been pop-star and a top actor. The series was a big hit with audiences, resulting in increased popularity for Cha and Gong. She was also praised for her naturalistic, no-nonsense acting, which served to balance Cha's wacky antics.
The Greatest Love swept the
MBC Drama Awards, including a Top Excellence Award for Gong (her third consecutive, after
Thank You). She worked again with
Kim Tae-yong for
Beautiful 2012, a series of four
Micro Movies produced by Chinese internet platform
Youku. that explore the concept of "what is beautiful?". In Kim's
short film You Are More Than Beautiful,
Park Hee-soon plays a man who hires an actress named Young-hee (Gong) to pretend to be his fiancée when he introduces her to his dying father in
Jeju Island.
You Are More Than Beautiful later received a theatrical release in 2013. Uninterested in stereotypical pretty roles, Gong said she preferred playing multi-faceted women, like the laidback, unpredictable female lead with unshaven armpit hair in
Love Fiction. Known for her candor on set and in public, Gong openly admitted that she had problems with her character and took her complaints to its director Jeon Kye-soo. Though Gong said she would rather continue making small-scale films rather than do a shallow blockbuster,
Love Fiction was her most commercial feature yet, and broke even at more than 1.7 million admissions. She then reunited with
Love Fiction co-star
Ha Jung-woo in
577 Project, a
documentary that follows a group of actors walking 577 kilometers (358 miles) across the nation. in 2013 In 2013 Gong starred in the comedy film,
Boomerang Family, adapted from Cheon Myung-kwan's novel
Aging Family about a grown-up trio of siblings who embark on a series of misadventures after they move back into their mother's home. Gong said she felt catharsis from her character's constant cursing, and pleasure from acting in an ensemble whose actors share great chemistry with each other. Veteran actress
Youn Yuh-jung said that the role of a twice-divorced single mother was perfect for her that she couldn't imagine anyone else playing it. The
Hong sisters cast her again in their next series ''
Master's Sun'', a romantic comedy with horror elements. Costar
So Ji-sub praised Gong as "the best Korean actress currently working in romantic comedy." The drama series was a commercial hit, and it renewed So and Gong's domestic and international popularity. In 2014, Gong starred as a psychiatrist who falls for a mystery novelist with
schizophrenia (played by
Zo In-sung) in the medical-melodrama series ''
It's Okay, That's Love. She said she chose the project because of screenwriter Noh Hee-kyung, who had also written a drama Gong appeared in a decade ago, Wonderful Days
. Despite lackluster ratings, It's Okay, That's Love'' ranked third on the year-end Content Power Index and received praise for addressing the discrimination and social stigma attached to people with mental health issues and other minorities.
2015–present: Stage debut and continued success Gong then made her stage debut in the
Willy Russell play
Educating Rita, which depicts the relationship during the course of a year between a young working class hairdresser and a middle-aged university lecturer (played by
Jeon Moo-song). In 2015, she starred in
The Producers, a variety drama series written by
Park Ji-eun who also wrote the hugely successful
My Love from the Star. Gong plays a
Music Bank variety show producer who has been working in broadcasting for 10 years. The drama drew solid viewership ratings domestically, and also gained popularity internationally. In 2016, Gong starred in the SBS romantic comedy drama ''
Don't Dare to Dream opposite Jo Jung-suk, playing a weather broadcaster. She then starred in the mystery film Missing'', in the role of a babysitter who one day disappears with someone else's child.
Missing proved Gong's versatility on the big screen. In 2017, Gong starred in the thriller
Single Rider with
Lee Byung-hun. She played a former violinist who lives in Australia with her son. In 2018, Gong starred in
Door Lock, a mystery thriller about the horrors faced by women. In 2019, Gong starred in a police action film
Hit-and-Run Squad alongside
Ryu Jun-yeol and
Jo Jung-suk, a car chase thriller that focuses on hit and runs; followed by a romantic comedy film
Crazy Romance alongside
Snowman co-star
Kim Rae-won. The same year, she made her small-screen comeback in the romantic comedy thriller
When the Camellia Blooms alongside
Kang Ha-neul. Both
Crazy Romance and
When the Camellia Blooms are commercial successes, and have solidified her position as a romantic comedy queen. Gong won the Grand Prize award at the
KBS Drama Awards. ==Other activities==