Jang Nara celebrates her birthday today: Here are some fun facts about her that you probably didn't know of

"The Last Empress" star Jang Nara celebrates her birthday today. With her delicate doll-like features and porcelain skin, it is difficult to believe the actress just turned 40. The actress is immensely popular not only in Korea but also in China and has starred in quite a few movies and series in both countries, besides of course her musical career.

 

Here are facts about the singer and actress that you might not have known of:

Her interest in acting started very early

Jang Nara belongs to a family of actors. Her father, Ju Heo Seong, is a theatre actor, producer, and director. He also manages her career since her debut. Her brother, Jang Seung-won, is also an actor and CEO of her agency, Rawon Culture, which was established by her father. She appeared with her father in a play, Les Miserables, in her primary school days, thus sparking her interest to become an actress.

Jang Nara debuted as a singer

Jang Nara was signed under SM Entertainment and trained alongside BoA and Wheesung. But as she was about to debut in a girl group she was dropped by the agency because she had less popularity compared to others. She proved them to be extremely wrong afterward and launched a successful solo career in 2001. At the height of her solo career she was immensely popular rivalling not only the soloists but the biggest K-Pop girl groups back then. There used to be a Jang Nara syndrome. She even won a Daesang.

The Jang-Jang friends

Jang Nara has worked with many co-stars repeatedly and one name that often comes up is Jang Hyuk. They have worked together in "Successful Story of a Bright Girl", “You Are My Destiny" and "The Last Empress". According to an MBC interview, while shooting their first drama together, they never spoke except for when they were filming. They later became the best of friends.

One of her dramas might never be screened

Every celebrity has ups and downs in their career. And this is one of her downs. In January 2017, she joined 2PM's Chansung and many others for the script reading of a drama called "Housewife Detective". It was going to be her first time acting as a mother. The drama was supposed to be completely pre-produced but filming halted in April 2017 because of some issues. The production company declared that they were discussing details of the production with the broadcast company. But the agencies of the actors were releasing contrasting statements. No further explanation was provided and the drama is still stuck at the pre-production phase.

Received a lot of hate for wedding rumours

In the 2015 drama "Hello Monster", Jang Nara played the female lead, a police officer called Cha Ji An. After the drama ended, rumours arose claiming she was dating Park Bo Gum who played the antagonist in the same drama. Their agencies denied it. Not long after, in 2017, another rumour spread that the two actors were about to tie the knot. Their agencies, again, firmly denied the rumour. However, many fans of Park Bo Gum weren't kind. They spammed her Instagram and left hate comments in Korean, English and many other languages.

Teacher Jang Nara

In June 2010, she was appointed as an associate professor of acting in China's Beijing Huajia University. At a press conference after her appointment, she said that studying acting could help a person develop in many ways.

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