south korean actor, singer ( bear 1970 )
Lee. In this korean name, the family name is Lee Byung-hun ( korean : 이병헌 ; born July 12, 1970 [ 1 ] ) is a south korean actor and singer. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide compass of genres, most notably Joint Security Area ( 2000 ) ; A Bittersweet Life ( 2005 ) ; The Good, the Bad, the Weird ( 2008 ) ; the television receiver series Iris ( 2009 ) ; I Saw the Devil ( 2010 ) ; and Masquerade ( 2012 ). His critically acclaimed film Inside Men ( 2015 ) won him the Best Actor trophy in three prestigious award ceremonies : 52nd Baeksang Art Awards, 37th Blue Dragon Awards and 53rd Grand Bell Awards. Lee has five films— Joint Security Area, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Masquerade, Inside Men and Master —on the tilt of highest-grossing films in South Korea. Lee was Gallup Korea ‘s Actor of the class in the Film division in 2012 and in the Television division in 2018. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In 2021, he appeared in a recurring function as the Front Man in the Netflix survival drama series Squid Game.

Reading: Lee Byung-hun

In the United States, he is known for portraying Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra ( 2009 ) and its sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation ( 2013 ), and starring aboard Bruce Willis in Red 2 ( 2013 ). He portrayed T-1000 in Terminator Genisys ( 2015 ), Billy Rocks, a knife-wielding gunman, in The Magnificent Seven ( 2016 ), and the Front Man in Squid Game ( 2021 ). Lee was the beginning confederacy korean actor to present an academy award at the annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [ 4 ] Lee and Ahn Sung-ki were the first south korean actors to imprint their handwriting and animal foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman ‘s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles .

career [edit ]

Beginnings and breakthrough [edit ]

Lee ‘s career began in 1991 after a KBS endowment audition and making his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown. [ 5 ] Lee drew attention with the legal action play Asphalt Man and romantic film The Harmonium in My Memory, [ 6 ] but it was lone in 2000 that he made his big breakthrough with Park Chan-wook ‘s Joint Security Area. The film broke the box office record and became the highest gross korean film at the time. [ 7 ] Lee ‘s role as a border-guard soldier won him the Best Actor prize at the Busan Film Critics Awards .

global stardom [edit ]

In 2001, his popularity continued to climb when he starred in melodrama Beautiful Days and Bungee Jumping of Their Own. [ 8 ] In 2003, he received the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards for his function in the poker drama All In. [ 9 ] due to his film and television roles, Lee experienced a get up in popularity across Asia, peculiarly Japan. [ 10 ] [ 11 ]
From 2005, he focused on movie, earning critical applaud for his performance in A Bittersweet Life directed by Kim Jee-woon, [ 12 ] [ 13 ] which was screened out of rival at the Cannes Film Festival. [ 14 ] Lee was nominated for Best Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards, and won at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards. He reunited with film director Kim Jee-woon in the “ kimchi western ” The Good, the Bad, the Weird, taking on his first villain function. [ 15 ] The film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. [ 16 ] Lee ‘s attention-getting performance in the movie led to increased ball-shaped recognition for him. [ 17 ] This led to Lee ‘s debut in Hollywood, where he played Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, besides starring Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] back in Korea, he appeared in I Come with the Rain inverse american actor Josh Hartnett and japanese actor Takuya Kimura. [ 20 ] Lee returned to television in late 2009 in the espionage action thriller Iris as a mysterious agent who finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy. [ 21 ] He reportedly received over 100 million won per episode for his function, the one-third highest in the country ‘s drama history. [ 22 ] Iris was one of the most expensive shows ever produced, and was a overhead reach across Asia. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Lee ‘s operation earned him the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] In 2010, Lee starred in I Saw the Devil with Choi Min-sik, [ 27 ] his third gear collaboration with Kim Jee-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. [ 28 ] His depicting of the intelligence agent won him the Grand Prize at the Baeksang Arts Awards. [ 29 ]

Acclaim and Hollywood roles [edit ]

Lee received acclaim for his depicting of dual roles in the lavish period play Masquerade. [ 30 ] The movie was a box agency hit, becoming the 7th movie in korean history to surpass 10 million admissions. [ 31 ] Lee won Best actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his operation. [ 32 ] [ 33 ] On June 23, 2012, Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, became the first korean actors to leave their pass and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman ‘s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was recognized as an emerging star in Hollywood for his function of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and its sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. [ 34 ]
G.I. Joe Australia Premiere AtAustralia Premiere In 2013, Lee reprised his function as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] He then co-starred in the American film RED 2, the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy hit RED, aboard Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] Following his sex-chat scandal, Lee returned with the soldierly arts film Memories of the Sword in 2015. The film was shot in deep 2013 and scheduled for free in 2014, but was postponed due to Lee ‘s scandal. [ 39 ] He received praise for his scene-stealing function as a young and ambitious warrior with a humble status, but the film failed to do well and was criticized for its messy plot. [ 40 ] The same class, Lee played a T-1000 in Terminator Genisys opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. [ 41 ] [ 42 ] He then starred in Woo Min-ho ‘s political crime thriller Inside Men, [ 43 ] which became the top gross R-rated movie of all-time at the Korean Box Office. [ 44 ] Touted as the “ ace ” of the film, Lee received critical applaud and swing Best actor awards at respective film awards ceremonies. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] In 2016, Lee featured in the american english crime thriller Misconduct. [ 47 ] [ 48 ] On February 28, 2016, Lee attended the 88th Academy Awards and presented the “ Best Foreign Language Film ” prize with actress Sofia Vergara. He was the first base korean actor to present an award at the Oscars. [ 49 ] [ 50 ] The lapp year, Lee co-starred as knife-wielding gunman Billy Rocks in The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Returning to Korea, Lee starred in the crime thriller Master, [ 53 ] [ 54 ] followed by mystery drama Single Rider. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] In March 2017, Lee signed on with major Hollywood means United Talent Agency. [ 57 ] He was cast in the Hollywood action film Radiance. The film is directed by Patrick Lussier, who worked with Lee in Terminator Genisys. [ 58 ] Lee then starred in historical epic The Fortress, [ 59 ] [ 60 ] and comedy-drama film Keys to the Heart. [ 61 ] [ 62 ]

return to television receiver and applaud [edit ]

In 2018, Lee made his television rejoinder in diachronic war play Mr. Sunshine written by Kim Eun-sook. [ 63 ] The series was a commercial and critical achiever, and Lee won the Grand Prize at the 6th APAN Star Awards. [ 64 ] In 2019, Lee starred in the legal action film Ashfall. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] In 2020, Lee starred in the political play The Man Standing Next. [ 67 ] Both films were box function successes, and proved Lee ‘s brand power as a head actor. [ 68 ] Lee is set to star in political thriller aviation disaster film Emergency Declaration. [ 69 ] [ 70 ]

In 2020, Lee is set to star in the drama Here written by Noh Hee-kyung, revolving around NGO volunteers. [ 71 ] As of April 2021, he is filming Um Tae-hwa ‘s catastrophe thriller movie Concrete Utopia alongside Park Bo-young and Park Seo-joon. [ 72 ] In September 2021, he appeared on Netflix ‘s survival drama Squid Game as the Front Man. [ 73 ] In the fifteenth asian Film Awards, he was awarded with asian Film Excellence Award. He is the first korean actor to be selected for the award, which is given for outstanding achievements in asian film and culture. [ 74 ]

early work [edit ]

Lee formed a management ship’s company, BH Entertainment, which manages many actors including Han Hyo-joo, Go Soo, Jin Goo, Jinyoung and Han Ji-min. [ 75 ] He owns a shop, BHNC, which sells hats, scarves and wallets. [ 76 ] Lee Byung-hun is noted in the video game industry for providing his likeness for the main character, Wayne Holden, in the 2006 game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, for the Xbox 360, PS3 & PC. [ 77 ]

Ambassador roles [edit ]

In 2010, Lee was named California ‘s tourism promotion ambassador to Korea. [ 78 ] In 2013, Lee was selected as an honorary ambassador for that year ’ second annual meeting of the Association of Film Commissioners International, a group dedicated to helping facilitate international coproductions. [ 79 ] The like class, he was appointed honorary ambassador to promote the fiftieth Daejong Film Awards. [ 80 ]

personal life [edit ]

Lee was born in Seongnam, South Korea. He has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who won the Miss Congeniality part of Miss Korea in 1996. [ 6 ] He graduated from Hanyang University with a major in french Literature and the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University with a major in Theater and Cinematography. [ 5 ] [ 81 ] In his plain time, Lee Byung-hun practices tae kwon do. [ 82 ] [ 83 ]

Relationships [edit ]

Lee was previously romantically linked with companion All In lead sung Hye-kyo begin in the early-2000s. The relationship, though retain wholly low-key and rarely publicized, lasted fifteen months before they split in mid-june 2004. [ 84 ] Lee married actress Lee Min-jung on August 10, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. [ 85 ] The copulate had concisely dated in 2006, then resumed their relationship in 2012. [ 86 ] Lee ‘s wife gave birth to their inaugural child, a son, Lee Joon-hoo, on March 31, 2015. [ 87 ] After he had to clear some debts following his founder ‘s death, Lee fell into a depression. He then started to suffer panic disorders, and found it unmanageable to attend award ceremonies. Lee credits his wife with helping him overcome his genial health challenges. [ 88 ]

Civil lawsuit & accustomed gambling allegations [edit ]

On December 9, 2009, Lee ’ s ex-girlfriend Kwon Mi-yeon filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was tricked into having a sexual kinship with the asterisk based on the promise of marriage. She claimed Lee caused her genial anguish and physical wrong along with claims that Lee is a chronic gambler and sued for 100 million south korean won. Lee ’ south means, BH Entertainment, countered that her claims were all delusive and that the lawsuit was retaliatory in nature ascribable to the dissolution. Lee countersued Kwon for defamation and extortion. [ 89 ] [ 90 ] [ 91 ] curtly after the lawsuit was filed, television receiver prove master of ceremonies Kang Byung-kyu appeared on the fix of the television receiver drama Iris that Lee was working on at the fourth dimension. He was accused of bringing in gangsters and causing a disturbance due to a conflict with a producer that he claimed circulate rumors that Kang was behind the feud between Lee and Kwon. Due to this incident Kang was arrested on rape charges. Kang was besides late indicted on charges of blackmail and defamation with prosecutors alleging that Kang and Kwon colluded to blackmail Lee for big sums of money in November of 2009 before Kwon went on to file her civil lawsuit in December after Lee refused to pay. [ 92 ] [ 93 ] Lee was cleared of the illegal gamble charges on March 19, 2010, with prosecutors citing no testify. [ 94 ] Kwon ’ s title for damages was finally dropped in August of 2010 ascribable to her lack of engagement in proceedings. [ 95 ] Kang was finally sentenced to one year in prison and three years probation in 2013 on his fraud and assault charges. [ 96 ]

Blackmail scandal [edit ]

On August 28, 2014, Lee was blackmailed by singer Dahee from K-pop girl group GLAM [ 97 ] and model Lee Ji-yeon [ 98 ] for 5 billion won ( about $ 4 million ) in exchange for not releasing, on the internet, a compromising video of him making sexual jokes while drinking with them on July 3. [ 99 ] [ 100 ] [ 101 ] [ 102 ] Dahee and Lee Ji-yeon were arrested on September 1, [ 103 ] after Lee reported the crime to police when they handed him two suitcases to transport the money. [ 104 ] It was late revealed that the crime was in full designed and pre-planned, as both Dahee and Lee Ji-yeon looked for plane tickets to escape to Europe [ 105 ] and purchased two suitcases to be used for transporting the money. [ 106 ] furthermore, the two women attempted to film an extra television of Lee hugging Lee Ji-yeon by secretly placing a smartphone in a kitchen sink, but they failed to do thus. [ 107 ] however, Lee Ji-yeon claimed that the blackmail was an hotheaded act after Lee broke up with her, [ 108 ] [ 109 ] for which Lee Byung-hun ‘s means released an official statement stating that Lee had not once met her alone and that he mentioned to the two women that he wanted to stop meeting them when he sensed later motives from them after talking about their fiscal difficulties, [ 106 ] demand he buy them a theater. [ 110 ] The final examination trial was held at the Seoul District Court on January 15, 2015, [ 111 ] where Dahee was sentenced to a class in imprison and Lee Ji-yeon to a year and two months. [ 112 ] [ 113 ] In February, following the sentence, Lee requested a amnesty for the women while the pursuance in charge felt that the sentence was excessively lenient. [ 114 ] In March, both women, who were in jail for six months, received a freeze sentence for two years following Lee ‘s excuse request. [ 115 ] The K-pop daughter group GLAM was disbanded following the sentence of Dahee .

Filmography [edit ]

discography [edit ]

Albums [edit ]

Year

Album Name

1999

Lee Byung Hun – To Me

Singles [edit ]

Year

Single Name

2008

“Itsuka (Someday)”

soundtrack [edit ]

Year

Track

Album

2010

“Stay”
Iris OST

“Endless Road”

Awards and nominations [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]