Lee Sun-kyun facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lee Sun-kyun
이선균
Lee in October 2018
Born	(1975-03-02)March 2, 1975 Seoul, South Korea
Died	December 27, 2023(2023-12-27) (aged 48) Seoul, South Korea
Education	Korea National University of Arts (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–2023
Agent	Hodu&U Entertainment [ko]
Spouse(s)	Jeon Hye-jin ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Korean name
Hangul	이선균
Hanja	李善均
Revised Romanization	I Seon(-)gyun
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Sŏn'gyun
Signature

Lee Sun-kyun (Hangul: 이선균; March 2, 1975 – December 27, 2023) was a South Korean actor. Internationally, he was best known for his role in Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award–winning film Parasite (2019), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award along with his castmates. He received several other awards, including a nomination for an International Emmy Award.

Lee debuted as an actor in 2000 and performed in TV dramas and musical theatre. The dramas Coffee Prince and Behind the White Tower (both 2007) brought Lee mainstream popularity, which he followed with Pasta (2010), Golden Time (2012) and My Mister (2018).

Meanwhile, on the big screen, he received a Best Actor award from the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival for his role in Paju (2009), followed by critical acclaim for mystery thriller Helpless (2012), romantic comedy All About My Wife (2012), and crime/black comedy A Hard Day (2014). Lee also continued to collaborate with director Hong Sang-soo, and his arthouse films with Hong include Night and Day (2008), Oki's Movie (2010), and Nobody's Daughter Haewon (2013).

On December 27, 2023, Lee died at the age of 48.

Early life

Lee Sun-kyun was born in Seoul on March 2, 1975. He attended the Korea National University of Arts in 1994, and graduated in the first ever class of its School of Drama with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Career

2000–2012: Acting beginnings

Lee made his debut as the lead actor in the 2000 short film Psycho Drama. In 2001, he made his stage acting debut as Brad Majors in the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show, and his television debut in the sitcom Lovers.

Lee eventually achieved his breakthrough in 2007 with the critically lauded medical drama White Tower and the highly popular romantic series Coffee Prince. He was nominated for Best New Actor in Television during the 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards. Besides Coffee Prince, he worked with director Lee Yoon-jung two other times—in the sports-themed Taereung National Village in 2005, and in the slice-of-life drama Triple in 2009.

Despite his burgeoning fame, Lee then turned to low-budget arthouse films to polish his acting caliber. He appeared in films directed by Hong Sang-soo, such Night and Day, Lost in the Mountains, Oki's Movie, Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Our Sunhi. Hong had been renowned for his realistic portrayal of ordinary lives in his films. Lee also headlined Paju, for which he won the Best Actor award at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival held in Spain. Film distributor Myung Film quoted the judging committee as handing Lee high points for portraying the anguish his character felt for loving his wife's younger sister.

Lee successfully shook off his "gentle" TV drama image in Pasta, where he played a brilliant-but-abrasive chef. The series' popularity made him a bankable romantic leading man. Petty Romance reunited him with his My Sweet Seoul co-star Choi Kang-hee, and one-upmanship action comedy Officer of the Year (also known as Arrest King) soon followed.

Lee showed his support for the revival of Drama Special (formerly Drama City) by starring in Our Slightly Risque Relationship (his acting was later recognized at the KBS Drama Awards). He continually defended the importance of the short drama format as a training ground for young talent, acknowledging its contribution to his own career.

2012–2017: Rising success

In 2012, he starred in two consecutive well-reviewed big-screen hits—mystery thriller Helpless and romantic comedy All About My Wife. Reuniting with Pasta director Kwon Seok-jang, Lee played a trauma doctor in Golden Time. His third collaboration with Kwon was Miss Korea, a drama set amidst the IMF crisis in the 1990s.

Lee returned to the theater opposite wife Jeon Hye-jin in Mike Bartlett's stage play Love, Love, Love in 2013. The following year, he headlined the film A Hard Day, which screened at the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and became a critically acclaimed sleeper hit at the box office.

In 2015, Lee starred in the courtroom drama film The Advocate: A Missing Body.

Lee in October 2016

2018–2023: Return to television and resurgence

In 2018, Lee starred in the critically acclaimed television series My Mister. The same year he starred in the action thriller film Take Point. In 2019, Lee starred in the legal television series Prosecutor Civil War.

Lee (fifth from left) in April 2019 with Parasite cast

In 2019, Lee had a starring role in the critically acclaimed film Parasite as Park Dong-ik (Nathan; Hangul: 박동익; RR: Bak Dongik), the Park family father. Parasite was directed by Bong Joon-ho and became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d'Or as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture. The cast of Parasite, including Lee, also received an SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

In 2021, Lee played a neuroscientist trying to solve the mysterious death of his family by hacking into the brains of the deceased. Dr. Brain is the first Korean-language show produced for Apple TV+. As the drama series debut of renowned filmmaker Kim Jee-woon, the sci-fi thriller is based on the Korean webtoon of the same name. For his performance he was nominated for a Best Actor award for the 50th International Emmy Awards. The same year, Lee appeared in the political drama film Kingmaker as political strategist. He received a nomination for Best Actor for his role in the film at the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards; however, the award went to his costar Sol Kyung-gu.

In 2023, Lee starred alongside Lee Ha-nee (Honey Lee) in Lee Won-suk's comedy Killing Romance. While the film received a tepid reaction upon release, it has since become a cult favorite in Korea, and made its North American debut at the 22nd New York Asian Film Festival on July 14, 2023. In that same year, Lee also starred alongside Jung Yu-mi in the critically acclaimed horror film Sleep.

Personal life

Marriage

Lee married his partner of seven years, actress Jeon Hye-jin, on May 23, 2009. Their agency announced that their first son was born on November 25, 2009. The couple's second son was born on August 9, 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Web series

Television shows

Music video appearances

Stage credit

Theater

Musical

Discography

Awards and nominations

State honors

Listicles