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Byung-hun Lee
Lee at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival for The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Born	(1970-07-12) July 12, 1970 (age 54) Seoul, South Korea
Nationality	South Korea
Occupation(s)	Actor, Singer
Years active	1991–present
Korean name
Hangul	이병헌
Hanja	李炳憲
Revised Romanization	I Byeong-heon
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Pyŏnghŏn
Website	www.leebyunghun.kr

Byung-hun Lee (Template:Lang-ko; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He first achieved fame in the box office hit Joint Security Area (2000) and in popular television dramas Beautiful Days (2001) and All In (2003). He received critical acclaim for his performances in A Bittersweet Life (2005), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) and I Saw the Devil (2010). In 2009 he returned to television in the popular drama Iris.

Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, are the first Korean actors to imprint their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Career

Lee made his debut in the television drama Asphalt My Hometown after auditioning in a KBS talent audition in 1991.

He made his big breakthrough in 2000 with Joint Security Area directed by Park Chan-wook, which broke the box office record and became the highest grossing film of all time. His portrayal of the border-guard soldier won him Best Actor at the Pusan Film Critics Awards.

In 2001, he gained wide popularity in the drama Beautiful Days as an arrogant businessman who falls for an innocent orphan (Choi Ji-woo). In 2003 he received the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in the poker drama All In.

In 2005, he earned critical acclaim for his performance in A Bittersweet Life directed by Kim Ji-woon which was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. 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 Critics Choice Awards.

He reunited with director Kim Ji-woon in The Good, the Bad, the Weird, taking on his first villain role. The film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The followng year he appeared in I Come with the Rain opposite American actor Josh Hartnett and Japanese actor Takuya Kimura. He then made his Hollywood debut as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, also starring Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller.

In late 2009, Lee returned to TV in the espionage action thriller Iris as a secret agent who finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy. It was one of the most expensive shows ever produced with filming locations in Hungary, Japan as well as South Korea. It became one of the highest rated dramas of 2009 and his performance earned him the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Acting Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

In 2010 Lee starred in I Saw the Devil with Choi Min-sik, his third collaboration with director Kim Ji-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His portrayal of the intelligence agent won him the Grand Prize at the Paeksang Arts Awards.

In 2012, he reprised his role as Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. On 23 June 2012, Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, became the second Asians after director John Woo, and first Korean actors to leave their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was recognised as an emerging star in Hollywood for his role of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation. In October, he won Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his dual role in the lavish period drama Gwanghae. The film was a box office hit, becoming the 7th film in Korean history to surpass 10 million admissions.

Lee was then cast in the American film RED 2, the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy hit RED, alongside Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich.

Other work

Lee formed a management company BH Entertainment which manages many actors including Han Hyo-joo, Go Soo, and Han Chae-young. He owns a shop BHNC which sells hats, scarfs and wallets.

Personal life

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea. His father was a businessman. He has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who was Miss Korea in 1997. 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.

Lee dated his All In co-star Song Hye-kyo. They broke up in 2004. In his spare time, Lee Byung-hun practices taekwondo.

As of August 2012, Lee confirmed his relationship with actress, Lee Min-jung.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Albums

Single

Soundtrack

Awards and nominations

References

1. http://www.yesasia.com/us/yumcha/lee-byung-hun-man-of-the-world/0-0-0-arid.209-en/featured-article.html
2. "Joint Security Area". koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
3. http://www.korean-drama-guide.com/List-of-Pusan-Film-Critics-Awards.html
4. http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0001111/2006
5. ^ "Festival de Cannes: A Bittersweet Life". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2011-01-01. Cite error: The named reference "festival-cannes.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Obsessedwithfilm.com
7. IESB.net - Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! - UPDATED WITH STUDIO CONFIRMATION - GI Joe Casting!
8. "Lee Byung-hun in Expensive Spy Drama Series IRIS". Beyond Hollywood.
9. http://www.mb.com.ph/node/236653/gi-joe-
10. http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/isawthedevil_sundance2011
11. Park Soo-mee. "Lee Byung-hun to Reprise 'G.I. Joe' Role". The Hollywood Reporter.
12. "'G.I. Joe 2′ Gets a Release Date; But Will We See The Cast Return?". The Film Stage.
13. "Ahn Sung-ki, Lee Byung-hun to Leave Handprints in Hollywood". Chosun Ilbo. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
14. "'Gwanghae' sweeps Korean Oscars". The Korea Times. 31 October 2012.
15. Lee, Rachel (21 October 2012). "'Masquerade,' 7th film to reach 10 million viewers". The Korea Times.
16. http://collider.com/red-2-cathertin-zeta-jones-bruce-willis/165440/
17. Schwartz, Terri (2012-05-11). "'Red 2' Adds Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-Hun Lee". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
18. http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SH/SH_EN_7_2.jsp?cid=1017491
19. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/29/entertainment/la-et-mn-masquerade-movie-20120930
20. "Byung-Hun Lee Talks Storm Shadow and "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
21. "Q&A - G.I. Joe Star Byung-hun Lee Explains Storm Shadow's Martial Arts Style". ACMTV. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
22. Cho Chung-un and Lee Woo-young (2012-08-19). "Top actors say they are dating". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
23. "Actor Lee Byung-hun admits dating". The Korea Times. 2012-08-20. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
24. "Lee Byung-hun and Lee Min-jung Admit They're Going Steady". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
25. "Lee Byung-hun to star in ‘The Prince and the Pauper’ remake" JoongAng Ilbo 15 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-23

External links

• Lee Byung-hun official homepage Template:Ko icon
• Lee Byung-hun official Japanese fan club Template:Jp icon
• Lee Byung-hun at IMDb
• Lee Byung-hun at the Korean Movie Database
• Template:Amg name
• Lee Byung-hun at HanCinema

Template:Persondata

• 1970 births
• K-pop singers
• Living people
• People from Seoul
• South Korean film actors
• South Korean male models
• South Korean male singers
• South Korean pop singers
• South Korean television actors
• South Korean actors
• South Korean taekwondo practitioners