Actor Moon Ga-young, who won the Best Acting Award in the film category at the Baeksang Arts Awards. JTBC broadcast screen

Actor Moon Ga-young won the Best Acting Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

Moon Ga-young won the Best Actress Award in the film category for the film ‘If We’ (director Kim Do-young) at ‘The 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards’ held on the 8th at COEX D Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. It was a result that saw her go from first-time Baeksang nominee to winner in the same year.

On stage, Moon Ga-young shared her thoughts amid congratulations from director Kim Do-young and actor Koo Kyo-hwan. She said, “Thanks to the director, who opened the way so I could run full tilt and who laughed and cried with me on set, no moment of acting felt lonely.” She added, “As senior Koo Kyo-hwan said, that we performed for each other even in unseen moments, this award is yours. Thank you for being a dependable shelter.”

Moon Ga-young said, “This year marks the 20th anniversary of my debut as an actor, and I will continue to grow into an actor I can be proud of,” adding, “I will carefully gather the hearts given by the audiences who loved our film, and I will go on living by portraying countless lives and characters.”

In ‘If We’, which opened on December 31 last year, Moon played ‘Han Jeong-won’. By unfolding a slice of youth surrounding love and separation with delicate emotional nuance, she marked her return to the big screen as a lead for the first time in 10 years.

‘If We’ surpassed more than double its break-even point of 1.1 million, reaching a cumulative 2.5 million admissions. It was recorded as the highest-grossing Korean melodrama since 2019 ‘The Most Ordinary Love’.

Moon chose tvN new drama ‘Whale Star’ as her next project. In this period piece set in Gyeongseong in 1926 during the Japanese colonial era, she will play ‘Heo Su-a’, signaling a transformation in her acting.