Lee Byung-hun

Lee Byung-hun: Biography in Details

Who is Lee Byung-hun?

Lee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably A Bittersweet Life (2005), Joint Security Area (2000), The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), and Masquerade (2012).

Lee Byung-hun: Age, Parents, Ethnicity, Education

Lee Byung-hun was born on July 12, 1970. He was born and raised in Seongnam, South Korea to Lee Jong-Kun (father) and Park Jae-soon (mother). He also has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee. Lee was Miss Korea in ’96.

As per his academics, he graduated from Hanyang University and has Asian ancestry.

Byung grew up in a wealthy family, thanks to his father, who was a successful businessman. He never dreamed of pursuing acting until a friend of his mother’s suggested it.

Lee Byung-hun auditioned for the KBS television network in 1991 for the television drama, Asphalt My Hometown and was accepted.

Lee Byung-hun: Career, Profession

Byung began his acting career in 1991 after auditioning for KBS television and making his debut in the television drama series, Asphalt My Hometown.

Throughout the 90s, he continued to grind as an actor and made a name for himself in the Korean film industry. Byung drew attention with the romantic film The Harmonium in My Memory and the action drama Asphalt Man.

In early 2000, Byung’s popularity continued to rise when he starred in melodrama Beautiful Days, All In, and Bungee Jumping of Their Own. Eventually, Byung’s popularity started to grow across Asia, particularly Japan. From 2005, he focused on films. He starred in films like A Bittersweet Life, The Good the Bad the Weird, Hero, and Once in a Summer.

Byung’s popularity started to grow worldwide. This led to his debut in Hollywood with the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra where he played Storm Shadow starring alongside Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller. He also starred in G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Lee Byung-hun is a critically acclaimed actor and has a large fan base. Recently he has raised even more in popularity for his role in the Netflix Original, Squid Game (2021).

Some of his works:

• Asphalt My Hometown (1991)
• Run Away (1995) as Lee, Dong-ho
• Kill the Love (1996) as Love
• Lament (1997) as Park Jong-man
• Beautiful My Lady (1997) as Hwang Jun Ho
• The Harmonium in My Memory (1999) as Kang Soo-ha
• Happy Together (1999) as Seo Tae-poong
• Bungee Jumping of Their Own (2001) as Seo In-woo
• Beautiful Days (2001) as Lee Min-Chul
• All In (2003) as Kim In-ha
• A Bittersweet Life (2005) as Sun-woo
• Once in a Summer (2006) as Yun Suk-young
• The Good the Bad the Weird (2008) as Park Chang-yi
•  G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) as Storm Shadow
• Ailiseu (2009) as Kim Hyun-Jun
• I Saw the Devil (2010) Kim Soo-hyeon
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) as Storm Shadow
• Rush Hour 4: Face/Off 2 (2015) as Det. Lee
• The Magnificent Seven (2016) as Bill Rocks
• Mr. Sunshine (2018) as Eugene Choi
• Squid Game (2021) as Frontman

Upcoming Projects

Lee Byung-hun is currently working on two projects; Concrete Utopia and The Match. The released date of both movies is yet to be announced.

Awards and Nomination

Byung is a very talented and hard-working person. Throughout his professional career, he has won many awards. According to IMDb, he has won 37 awards and 31 nominations. He won his first award in 1996. He won Grand Bell Award for the category “Best New Actor” for his performance in Run Away.

Some of the awards he has won:

• Baek Sang Film for Best Actor (2006)
• Seoul International Drama Award for Best Award (2010)
• Bussan Film Critics Association for Best Actor (2012)
• The Seoul Awards for Best Actor (2018)
• Asian Film Awad for Best Actor (2020)

Lee Byung-hun: Net Worth 2024, Assets, Salary

As of 2024, Lee Byung-hun’s net worth is estimated to be around $20 million USD. He is one of the highest-paid actors in South Korea. Byung was paid around 150 million KRW (136,886 USD) per episode for Mr. Sunshine.

Body Measurement: Height, Weight

Lee Byung-hun is 5feet 8inches tall and weighs around 71 kg. Byung has black hair and a pair of dark brown eyes.

Is Lee Byung-hun active on social media?

Lee Byung-hun is available on Instagram. His IG account (@byunghun0712) has around 334k followers. But he is absent on Facebook and Twitter.

Trivia

• In addition to his native Korean, Byung speaks English, French, and Mandarin Chinese fluently.
• He has a younger sister who was a model and she was Miss Korea in ’96.

Also read: Sophie Marceau and HoYeon Jung

Lee Byung-hun's Anniversary Dates

Lee Byung-hun's Birthday Dates