Byun Sang-mi (Hangul: 변상미) is a South Korean singer, actress and dancer under PHX Entertainment. She is the center of the girl group SWAN and she debuted with the group in 2021.
Background[]
Early life[]
Byun Sang-mi was born in Suwon, South Korea in a middle-class family to Korean parents. Ever since she was young, Sang-mi was recognized by many talent agencies for her looks, with many big companies asking her to model for them. However, she declined all of them, as she never wanted to become a model, as she had always been interested in the world of acting.
Acting career (2012-2019)[]
Sang-mi started taking acting classes at 12 years old. Managing her school career with her acting classes made it almost impossible for her to see her family, only coming home at late hours in the night. Because of her shyness, she also didn't have friends at school, making her feel alone. To keep herself occupied, she started singing whenever she had time, finding herself to really like singing, so, also helped by her love for acting, she grew more and more fascinated with theater and, specifically, musicals.
She started acting for musicals when she was 16 years old. Byun has said that she really felt at home while singing, but she only got minor roles in most of her plays, which made her quit theater to focus on other endeavors.
She starred as a background actor on many web dramas from 2016 to 2017. Because of her looks, she got noticed by an agent who saw her on TV. She signed a contract with a famous TV agency and got her first starring role in 2018, followed by another one later that year and another two in the following year.
PHX Entertainment scouting, training (2019-2021)[]
Still not giving up her love for singing, she sang the OST for her last two web-dramas. Talent scout Ryan Iseul discovered her in December 2019 at a k-drama convention, while she was singing her OSTs.
After the convention, Ryan Iseul talked to Sang-mi about potentially training to become an Idol. Her acting skills and her theater background were huge boosts to her skill-set, along with an amazing voice and a stunning face. Sang-mi has stated since that moment that "Though [she] hesitated in the moment, [she] thought.. singing is where [she] belong(s)." Iseul contacted her current agency at the time and both the company and Sang-mi agreed on moving her to PHX Entertainment. Later, she was put in a trainee group with Jang Chae-won.
Debut with SWAN (2021-present)[]
After two years of restless training, Sang-mi debuted in 2021 with SWAN.
Videography[]
To be added.
Trivia[]
- Mi-Sun is considered the "mother figure" of the group, due to her caring nature
To be added.