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Bang Minah Ends Starring TV Role on a High

Many viewers tuned into the final episode of "Beautiful Gong Shim" starring Bang Minah of Girls Day in her first lead role last week.

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Before the weekend soap started, there were concerns that Bang Minah had little acting experience, but doubters were soon silenced.

The heroine is unemployed and plain and longs for the love and attention her prettier and smarter sister gets from her parents. For a member of a manufactured girl band used to looking her best at all times it was a challenge.

Bang Minah was naturally compared to Lee Hyeri, another member of the same band who played a leading role in the hugely popular soap "Reply 1988" early this year. "As Lee Hyeri played that role very well, I did feel some pressure and tried harder", Bang Minah admits.

Before the soap, she says she lacked confidence because she thought she was not as beautiful as other celebrities. But the part changed that.

"Thanks to Gong Shim I came to think okay, I don't need to be beautiful. I just need to be myself", she says. "Even without eyeliner I felt loved, so now I feel I can accept myself as I am and do anything".

Asked why viewers were so drawn to the plain girl, Bang Minah muses, "Isn't anyone lovable who follows their dream no matter what?"

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