| Lee Jung-jae | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 March 1973 |
| Other names | Lee Jeong-jae |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 이정재 |
| Hanja | 李政宰 |
| Revised Romanization | I Jeong-jae |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Chŏng-jae |
Lee Jung-jae (born 15 March 1973) is a South Korean actor.
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Lee Jung-jae, apart from being a top star in film and TV, also works as a highly successful fashion model. One year after his debut on television in 1993, Lee was cast in his first film, a feature by Bae Chang-ho. His breakthrough would come in late 1998 in the award-winning film An Affair by E-J Yong. This was followed up by another success, City of the Rising Sun, for which he received a Best Actor award at the domestic Blue Dragon Film Awards ceremony.[1]
After starring in the Korean-Japanese coproduction Asako in Ruby Shoes, released in December 2000, Lee found considerable popular success in a melodrama titled Last Present,[2] where he was cast opposite Lee Young-ae, and in the action/mystery/drama The Last Witness directed by Bae Chang-ho. In 2002 he starred in the romance Over the Rainbow with Jang Jin-young.[1]
In 2003 he starred opposite Lee Beom-soo in Oh! Brothers, a comic drama about two brothers, one of whom has an unusual disease. The film was one of Lee's biggest hits ever, topping three million admissions at the local box office. Nonetheless he remained out of the limelight for the next couple years. Finally at the end of 2005 he returned in Typhoon, a big-budget action blockbuster by Kwak Kyung-taek, the director of Friend.[1]
Lee's much-anticipated return to television a decade after his memorable turn in Sandglass was not successful ratings-wise; Air City and Triple both flopped.[3]
With the period action comedy The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan, Lee said he wanted to try his hand at playing a different kind of role, a comical loose cannon type of character.[4]
In August 2008 Lee was awarded his master's degree from Dongguk University's Department of Theater & Film Art in the Graduate School of Cultural Arts.[5] He made his first foray into theater in December of that same year, taking on the titular role in Hamlet in Water. The play ran for four days at his alma mater's Lee Hae-rang Theater.[6][7]
He then starred in the high-profile erotic thriller The Housemaid, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival[8] and Toronto International Film Festival.[9] Lee nabbed a Best Actor award at the Fantasporto Director's Week.[10]
He is currently filming The Thieves, a star-studded heist film inspired by Ocean's Eleven.[11]
Lee dated actress Kim Min-hee for three years; the couple broke up in late 2006.[12][13]
Apart from his acting, Lee is also known for having launched a chain of upscale Italian restaurants in Seoul named after his movie Il Mare. Having studied interior design, he himself took responsibility for designing the interiors of his restaurants.[1][14]
| Year | Title | Role | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Grief For Surviving (TV) | KBS | |
| Dinosaur Teacher (TV) | SBS | ||
| Love is Oh Yeah! | |||
| 1994 | The Lonely Man (TV) | KBS | |
| Feelings (TV) | KBS | ||
| Love is Blue (TV) | SBS | ||
| The Young Man | Lee Han | ||
| 1995 | Sandglass (TV) | Baek Jae-hee | SBS |
| 1996 | Albatross | ||
| 1997 | Firebird | ||
| Park vs Park | |||
| Snail (TV) | Dong-cheol | SBS | |
| 1998 | White Nights 3.98 (TV) | Lee Yeong-jun | SBS |
| An Affair | Woo-in | ||
| 1999 | City of the Rising Sun | Hong-gi | |
| The Uprising | Lee Jae-su | ||
| 2000 | Interview | Eun-seok | |
| Il Mare | Han Sung-hyun | ||
| Asako in Ruby Shoes | U-in | ||
| 2001 | Last Present | Yong-gi | |
| MOB 2025 | Dust | ||
| The Last Witness | Detective Oh | ||
| 2002 | Over the Rainbow | Lee Jin-su | |
| 2003 | Oh! Brothers | Oh Sang-su | |
| 2005 | Typhoon | Kang Se-jong | |
| 2007 | Air City (TV) | Kim Ji-sung | MBC |
| 2008 | The Accidental Gangster and the Mistaken Courtesan | Cheon-doong | |
| 2009 | Triple (TV) | Shin Hwal | MBC |
| 2010 | The Housemaid | Hoon | |
| 2012 | Speed | TV Chosun | |
| The Thieves | Popeye |