Go So-young debuted as an actress in the KBS2 drama Tomorrow Love in 1992. In 1994, she made her film debut playing the titular character in The Fox with Nine Tails, opposite Jung Woo-sung. They later reunited in the 1997 hit action film Beat and the 1999 romance movie Love. In 2001, she acted alongside Lee Sung-jae in the drama film A Day, which won her Best Actress at the 38th Grand Bell Awards. In 2006 and 2007, she starred in the films APT and Project Makeover, respectively. After years of hiatus, she made an acting comeback in 2017 in the KBS2 mystery-comedy Perfect Wife, which earned her a nomination for an Excellence Award at the KBS Drama Awards.


In May 2010, Go So-young married actor Jang Dong-gun, whom she starred with in the 1999 romance film Love Wind Love Song. They have a son and a daughter together.