Ahn So-hee
June 27, 1992 — Gwangju, South Korea
Ahn So-hee, professionally known as Sohee, is a South Korean actress and former singer who rose to fame as a member of the pioneering girl group Wonder Girls. After stepping back from music, she built a respected acting career, earning widespread recognition for her role in the international zombie hit Train to Busan (2016). Her career reflects a broader shift among K-pop idols into serious film and television work.
Early Life
Ahn So-hee was born on June 27, 1992, in Gwangju, South Korea. As a teenager, she was scouted and trained by JYP Entertainment, one of South Korea's leading talent agencies, which was in the process of assembling a new girl group. Like many young trainees in the K-pop system, she spent years honing her singing, dancing, and performance skills before making her public debut. Her selection for the group that would become Wonder Girls placed her at the center of a project designed to compete with established South Korean girl groups and, eventually, to test the waters of the American music market. From an early age, So-hee displayed the poise and camera presence that would later define both her idol persona and her acting career, foreshadowing the versatility she would show once she moved beyond music into film and television.
Wonder Girls and Musical Career
Sohee debuted in 2007 as a member of Wonder Girls, a group that became one of the defining acts of the Korean Wave. The group achieved massive domestic success with hits such as 'Tell Me' and 'So Hot,' and later made history with 'Nobody,' which charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 — a rare feat for a Korean act at the time and an early milestone in K-pop's global expansion. As one of the group's most recognizable members, Sohee contributed to Wonder Girls' televised performances, tours, and promotional efforts both in South Korea and the United States. In 2010, she stepped back from active group activities to focus on her studies and pursue acting opportunities, marking the beginning of her transition away from music. While her departure shifted the group's lineup, her time with Wonder Girls remained central to her public identity and gave her the visibility that helped launch her subsequent acting career.
Did You Know?
Sohee's group Wonder Girls made K-pop history when their single 'Nobody' charted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 2009, one of the earliest Korean songs to do so. Years later, she found a new wave of international fame not through music but through her role in the hit horror film Train to Busan.
Acting Career and Legacy
Following her departure from Wonder Girls, Sohee pursued acting in earnest, appearing in various Korean television dramas and films through the 2010s. Her breakthrough came with the 2016 zombie thriller Train to Busan, an international box-office success that introduced her to audiences far beyond South Korea and earned her critical praise for her portrayal within the film's tense survival narrative. The film's global popularity helped cement her reputation as a capable dramatic actress distinct from her idol-era image. Sohee's career trajectory mirrors that of several former K-pop idols who successfully reinvented themselves as respected screen performers, broadening the entertainment industry's perception of idols as multifaceted talents. Her legacy rests on this dual identity: as a member of Wonder Girls, she helped introduce Korean pop music to Western audiences during a pivotal era of the Hallyu wave, and as an actress, she demonstrated the lasting versatility and staying power many former idols bring to their post-music careers.