Lee Jung-jae

Lee Jung-jae is a South Korean actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur recognized as one of his country's most prominent performing artists. He gained widespread global recognition for his leading role in the survival drama series Squid Game. Across his career, he has earned major accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and multiple Baeksang Arts Awards, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe and a Gotham Award. In addition to acting, he has established several corporate enterprises and commercial ventures.

Born on December 15, 1972, in the Jung District of Seoul, Lee was discovered by a fashion designer while working at a Gangnam café, leading to a modeling career. He made his television acting debut in 1993 on Dinosaur Teacher and entered feature films with The Young Man in 1994, the same year he achieved widespread recognition in the drama Feelings. His performance as a bodyguard in the 1995 series Sandglass turned him into a popular public figure. Shortly after, he fulfilled his national service obligations and subsequently pursued formal acting studies at Dongguk University, where he later earned a master's degree in 2008.

Lee achieved a major cinematic breakthrough in the 1998 film An Affair, followed by City of the Rising Sun in 1999, which secured him Best Actor honors at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Throughout the 2000s, he took on diverse screen roles, including the romance Il Mare, the melodrama Last Present, the comedy Oh! Brothers, and the action film Typhoon. During this period, he also returned to television with roles in Air City and Triple, and made his stage debut playing the titular character in a 2008 production of Hamlet in Water.

His career experienced a resurgence in 2010 with the erotic thriller The Housemaid, followed by a starring role in the ensemble heist feature The Thieves in 2012. Lee earned further acclaim and box office success with crime thrillers such as New World, historical dramas like The Face Reader—for which he received Best Supporting Actor honors—and the period piece Assassination. He continued taking prominent roles in major cinematic productions, including Operation Chromite, Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds, Svaha: The Sixth Finger, Deliver Us from Evil, and the television drama Chief of Staff.

In 2021, Lee achieved international fame starring as Seong Gi-hun in Netflix's Squid Game. His performance made him the first Asian male performer to win individual lead acting honors at both the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for a non-English role. He reprised the character in subsequent seasons and expanded his international profile with his English-language debut in the series The Acolyte, his directorial feature film debut Hunt, and the series Nice to Not Meet You.

Beyond entertainment, Lee is an active businessman who launched an Italian restaurant chain, established the development firm Seorim C&D, and co-founded the talent label Artist Company with actor Jung Woo-sung. He has also engaged in philanthropic efforts, including major contributions to disaster relief. In December 2022, he received the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit for his contributions to South Korean culture.