From child actress to one of the brightest stars of the Baeksang Arts Awards, Moon Ga Young has come a long way, finally earning recognition for both her talent and years of dedication.
On the evening of May 8, Moon Ga Young’s name was announced as the winner of the Best Actress award at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance in Once upon a time it was us. She became the first actress born after 1995 to win the prestigious award, also setting a new record as the youngest winner in the history of the category.
According to Nate, Moon Ga Young’s result “broke the long-standing dominance of actresses born in the 1980s” at one of Korea’s largest film awards ceremonies.
While some have described it as a “surprising victory”, most viewers and industry peers believed the actress fully deserved the award after nearly 20 years spent steadily building her career and honing her acting skills.
Moon Ga Young was born in Germany before returning to South Korea when she was in third grade. That same year, she debuted as a commercial child model.
Over nearly two decades in the entertainment industry, Moon Ga Young has continually evolved as an actress. During her years as an actress, she often played emotionally sensitive characters or well-mannered girls with rich emotional depth. Even at a young age, one of his greatest strengths was his natural acting style, free from the rigid lines often associated with child actors. Unlike many child stars who relied primarily on cuteness, Moon Ga Young displayed stable emotional control and knew exactly when to hold back or escalate a scene.
During the era of school drama and idol drama with works such as True beauty AND EXO next doorshowed his strength in creating relatable chemistry with co-stars. In True beautyhe effectively portrayed the conflicting emotions of a character struggling with outward insecurities while longing to be loved.
As she matured, Moon Ga Young’s emotional acting began to reach another level. While his younger performances relied more on direct facial expressions, his later work demonstrated a deeper understanding of subtle emotions through eye acting, breathing, and carefully timed pauses in dialogue. Moving away from his youthful innocence, his facial features have become sharper and more refined, with expressive eyes and eyebrows adding depth to his performances.
In Baeksang’s winning project, he reportedly delivered a “surprisingly” layered performance, depicting his character’s emotional struggles with remarkable depth. His expressions appeared more mature, his gaze more intense, and his ability to tell stories became even more engaging.
Moon Ga Young’s appeal also extends beyond the screen.
His fashion style is often considered one of the rare “high fashion” aesthetic among Korean actresses born after 1995. Rather than following traditionally elegant and confident styles, she leans towards bold, chic, European-inspired fashion choices.
Fashion insiders especially praise her ability to wear luxury clothes like a catwalk model thanks to her height of 170cm, slim frame, sharp facial features and cool, sophisticated aura. These qualities have made her a perfect partner for luxury brands with sexy and dramatic identities such as Dolce & Gabbana, for which she became a global ambassador in 2023.
Another factor that sets Moon Ga Young apart is her willingness to experiment with outfits that many Korean actresses tend to avoid. At Milan Fashion Week and international airports, she often wore sheer dresses, lingerie-inspired looks and underboob-style fashion, often sparking heated debate on Korean social media. Many Reddit users have described his style as “minimal style, maximum impact” and praised its suitability for “high fashion”.
Moon Ga Young is also known for her ability to completely transform her aura depending on the occasion. She can appear sweet and feminine one moment, then radiate cool charisma and authority on the red carpet the next. He currently represents several major brands including Dolce & Gabbana Beauty, Le Coq Sportif, Calvin Klein, Dermafirm and Dinto. Among these, the collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana is considered by many to be the turning point that elevated its image to reality high fashion icon among the post-1995 generation of Korean actresses.
Born in 1996, Moon Ga Young has acted in works including EXO next door, Don’t you dare dream, Twenty more, Attempted, Find me in your memory, True beauty, Link: Eat, Love, Kill, The interest of love, My dearest nemesisAND Law and city.
Sources: Ngoisao
