‘Happily Ever After’ Star Shuhua Yeh Makes the Leap From K-pop Idol to Actress: “It’s Really Happening”

Happily Ever After star Shuhua Yeh might be a fresh face in the acting world, but she’s no stranger to the global stage. Making her acting debut in Feng-I Fiona Roan’s sophomore outing, which is having its world premiere in Toronto, she’s finally achieving a goal that’s been in the cards for her since her high school days.

“I was aiming to become an actress at first,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter on a late night — actually, early morning — Zoom call from her home in Seoul. Yeh, who grew up in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and attended an arts high school in Taipei, where she majored in drama. She spent much of her young life believing her career in entertainment — which was always a certainty — would begin with acting and then she’d branch out. Things didn’t quite go to plan. Related Stories Toronto Rising Stars 'Look Back' Breakouts Furi Nanase and Rokka Okada on Growing Up on a Hirokazu Koreeda Set Movies Toronto Awards Analysis: 'I Play Rocky' Channels Namesake, Could Follow in Its Oscar Footsteps

Yeh ended up moving to Korea and began training to become a K-pop idol under Cube Entertainment. She debuted in the girl group I-dle, formerly known as (G)I-dle, in 2018. The group found quick domestic success and has continued to rack up hit after hit in Korea and beyond.

Despite her brief interlude from acting while amassing international success as a pop star, Yeh hasn’t found the transition to be that difficult. K-pop tends to lean into plot-based album concepts, so she had the opportunity to develop her craft while working on music videos.

“It somehow feels like picking up something from my childhood,” Yeh says. “It feels exciting rather than very challenging. I can finally demonstrate the things I have in my toolbox.”