Jae Hee

This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Jae Hee
Born Lee Hyun-kyun
May 25, 1980
South Korea
Education Dankook University - Theater and Film
Occupation Actor
Agent Star K Entertainment
Korean name
Hangul 재희
Hanja 在喜
Revised Romanization Jae Hui
McCune–Reischauer Chae Hŭi
Birth name
Hangul 이현균
Hanja 李賢均
Revised Romanization Yi Hyeon-gyun
McCune–Reischauer Yi Hyŏn-kyun

Jae Hee (born Lee Hyun-kyun on May 25, 1980) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his leading roles in the 2004 arthouse film 3-Iron and the 2005 television series Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang.

Career

Jae Hee began his acting career as a child actor in the 1997 drama Mountain. He continued to appear on television, such as in the campus drama School 2 and the family sitcom Wuri's Family, as well as the 2000 horror film Bloody Beach.

In 2004, he was cast as the lead actor in Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron, playing a silent young man who breaks into vacant houses and while living there for a few days, he cleans the house and repairs broken gadgets during his stay. The arthouse film won critical acclaim both locally and internationally.[1][2] For his performance Jae Hee was named Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

But Jae Hee's breakout role would come in 2005, when he played the playful but loyal Lee Mong-ryong in Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, a modernized romantic comedy based on the well-known folktale Chunhyangjeon.[3] It became a huge hit not only in Korea, but throughout Asia, making him and co-star Han Chae-young into Hallyu stars.[4][5][6]

He followed that with action comedy film The Art of Fighting in 2006, in which he played a bullied high school kid who learns about martial arts and life from a wizened mentor (played by veteran actor Baek Yoon-sik).

Jae Hee returned to television, playing a chef in 2007's Witch Yoo Hee (in which he reunited with Choon-Hyang director Jeon Ki-sang), and a surrogate father in 2008's One Mom and Three Dads, but those series were less successful ratings-wise.

On August 5, 2008 he enlisted for mandatory military service. He was assigned to the Defense Media Agency until his discharge on June 18, 2010.[7][8]

For his first post-army project, Jae Hee was initially cast in Hooray for Love, but had to drop out after he sustained a back injury during windsurfing practice for the role. Instead, he starred as the chaebol heir of a cosmetics firm in cable romantic comedy Color of Woman, which aired on Channel A in 2011.[9]

Jae Hee played the antagonist in May Queen, a 2012 generational epic set against the backdrop of the shipbuilding industry in Ulsan during Korea's modernization. He received an Excellence Award from the MBC Drama Awards.

In 2013, he joined period drama Jang Ok-jung, Living by Love, a revisionist take on the titular Jang, more infamously known as the royal concubine Jang Hui-bin. Initially cast as Jang Ok-jung's first love,[10] his screen time was drastically reduced. Later that year, his Chinese film A Sentimental Story received a theater release three years after Jae Hee shot it in 2010.[11]

Other activities

Jae Hee is currently running an online apparel shopping mall called Easy by Step, which he established in May 2007.

Personal life

After an article appeared in Korean ladies magazine Woman Sense that the presumed bachelor actor was leading a secret life, Jae Hee confirmed on October 23, 2012 that he had been married to a non-celebrity since 2010, and that he and his wife have a son. He said he didn't reveal his marital status not because he was ashamed or hiding his family (the marriage and his son's birth were officially registered at the borough office), but because he wanted to be "private" and "protect his loved-ones."[12][13][14]

Filmography

Television dramas

Films

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Bertolin, Paolo (15 September 2004). "Kim's 3-Iron Hailed as Moral Winner of Venice Film Festival". The Korea Times via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  2. ↑ Lee, Rachel (21 January 2006). "Kim Ki-duk Latest Film 3-Iron Gets Rave Reviews". Dynamic Korea via Hancinema. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  3. ↑ "Han Chae-young, Jae Hee Named Chun-hyang Festival Spokespersons". KBS Global. 24 March 2005. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  4. ↑ "Han Chae-young, Jae Hee Selected 'Coolest Couple'". KBS Global. 29 March 2005. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  5. ↑ "Jae Hee Makes Inroads into Taiwan". KBS Global. 5 July 2005. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  6. ↑ "Han Chae-young, Jae Hee Hold Fan Meeting in Tokyo". KBS Global. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  7. ↑ Kim, Jessica (18 June 2010). "Jae-hee smiles after military discharge". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  8. ↑ Park, Kun-ouc (18 June 2010). "Lee Jun-ki "having a hard time" in military, says Jae-hee". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  9. ↑ Kim, Jessica (15 November 2011). "Jae-hee to take on 1st small screen role in new series". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  10. ↑ Ho, Stewart (24 January 2013). "Actor Jae Hee Joins Jang Ok Jung as Kim Tae Hee's First Love". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  11. ↑ Xie, Tingting (20 January 2013). "Recommended Movie: A Sentimental Story". CRI English. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  12. ↑ Lee, Hye-ji (23 October 2012). "Jae Hee Uncases Secret Marriage and Child". 10Asia. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  13. ↑ Kim, Ji-yeon (23 October 2012). "Actor Jae Hee Reveals He is Indeed Married and Has a Son". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  14. ↑ Sunwoo, Carla (24 October 2012). "Jae Hee admits marriage, child". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2013-03-16.

External links