Kim Ga-young is a South Korean actress, before she countinued acting, she was a former member of the South Korean girl-group Stellar between 2011 and 2017. She is currently also the manager of her own cafe called "Hartogela" in Itaewon, South Korea.
Early life
Gayoung was born and grew up in Seoul. From primary-school to high-school she learned traditional Korean dance and participated in contests, in which she won awards, including:
She entered Sungkyunkwan University to major in dance, and studied during her activities as an idol in Stellar.
Career
2010-2011: "Gugak high-school girl" and entering Stellar
Gayoung initially gained fame as the "Gugak high-school girl" when she appeared on a "2 Days & 1 Night" special as a viewer. She was later scouted by the agency, Top Class Entertainment. She entered the agency with the intention of being an actress, and she debuted as such in "Spy Myeongwol", however her agency wanted her to sing and dance as well and she was soon debuted as an idol as part of the girl-group Stellar.
2011-2017: Stellar
Stellar initially debuted with a quirky and cute concept, but as the agency was struggling financially due to multiple unsuccessful album releases, the girl-group later turned to a more provocative concept which received a lot of controversy and backlash, but also made Stellar become more well-known.
2017-2018: Acting, running a cafe, and revealing the realities of being an idol
In August 2017 she did not renew her contract with her then agency, The Entertainment Pascal, and started pursuing roles in acting for herself. In 2018 she revealed that she has opened a cafe called "Hartogela" in Itaewon and is running it while continuing to pursue her dream of being an actress. In an interview with Insight on December 17, 2018, she revealed her history and the difficulties that she and her members faced from performing the sexy concept, from both the perception of the public, as well as the pressure that their company placed on members to follow their direction. When asked if she would be an idol again, she responded that "I don't think I would do it again". She concluded the interview with advice to new aspiring idols, that while it is important to work hard, the direction in which you are pursuing is important too.
